June 2013

How Not to Recruit the Best People for Your Business



Dear Reader,

Many business owners and managers think that when it comes to recruiting additional members of staff, they are looking for someone "a bit like me."

But could you really work with another 'you'? Are 'you' actually the best person for the job? You are unique, so in looking for another 'you' you're setting yourself an impossible job. What you should be looking for is someone with the same work ethic and values as you; and someone who meets the needs of your business and your team, to help you drive your business on.

In this issue of Pep Talk I'll share with you my thoughts on how best to find the right people.

Best wishes

Michelle Prescott


How Not to Recruit the Best People for Your Business


I believe that when looking for people to join your team, given a good recruitment process, you should be able to find candidates who have the skills and experience necessary to be able to do the job. Your challenge is more in finding someone with the personality and approach that will fit with you and the rest of your team. That does not mean that you need another 'you'. If you're an ideas person, always looking for the next great idea to bring to your business or your clients, you’re unlikely to need another ideas person. What you need is someone who can deliver on the ideas, while you go off to work on the next one. You need to look for people who can fill the gaps in your skills, so if you're not good with numbers or admin, you need to recruit team members who are.

Recruitment is not about assuming that just because you have a job to fill, that the right person will be ready and waiting to fill it – even in an economic downturn when there seem to be plenty of candidates available.

You might think that you're a good judge of character and that you just need to meet and chat with candidates. Or you may feel that you only need to meet someone once. They may have made a great first impression on you – but are your first impressions always right? You may have a gut feeling that they are the right person, but use questions and an effective process to explore that. Involve other people in the process, as they will see candidates differently. They may hear something you didn't hear; candidates will behave differently with a manager than with peers or subordinates.

Instead of making assumptions, get yourself on an interviewing course – get to know and understand the principles, psychology, thinking and research; then you can develop your own interviewing style.

You also need to remember that interviews are not just about candidates impressing you. It's also time for you to sell your organisation. Really good candidates are probably being interviewed by a number of organisations and need to hear from you why they should join you instead of one of your competitors.

Don't panic if you don't find your perfect new recruit. Don't be tempted appoint the best of a bad bunch, because it will cause problems done the line. Take on an interim or a temporary member of staff, if necessary. Revisit your recruitment advert and look at where you have advertised the position to see if either needs to be changed.

And finally, remember to do your research in order to get the salary right. I've covered this in the January/February 2013 issue of my newsletter – click here to read it.




Where Can You Get More Recruitment Help?


For more advice and ideas, have a look at the Persona People Management website, where you'll find a range of resources to download. 





www.personapm.co.uk
michelle.prescott@personapm.co.uk