- You are here:
- Home »
- Blog »
- Managing »
- Management Success: Making Great Recruitment Decisions
Management Success: Making Great Recruitment Decisions
It is often said that people are an organisation’s greatest asset and in many organisations this is certainly true. One thing that is certain is that recruiting someone is a major investment decision. If you are a manager, are you viewing it this way? Think about it, imagine you hire someone on a modest salary of £20,000 and the average time in post is 3 years. You are in effect making a £60,000 investment decision. Given the scale of the investment, how can you start making great recruitment decisions?
Tip 1: Know what you have
Chances are you already have people in post. What skills, experience, knowledge and attributes do they have? Truth is few organisations take the time to even consider this. Instead they jump straight into what they need. Take the time to review what you currently have as the first step of the process.
Tip 2: Know what you need
In determining what you need, think about what you already have. You also need to consider what the organisation or team is going to need over the coming years. You should also be thinking about the overall business strategy and think about recruiting people who will contribute to achieving the strategy.
Tip 3: Provide good candidate briefings
Too often organisations dust down an old job description and send candidate’s one sheet of A4 with company information. While this is better than nothing ask yourself what would you want to know if you were a potential applicant for the job?
Tip 4: Plan the selection process
Interviews are still by far the most common way of selecting people. However, it might be worth adding extra activities especially if you are looking for particular skills. This might be for example a presentation, writing a report, creating a spreadsheet or even a group role play. Consider the role and the things that the successful candidate will need and use this to inform the best selection process.
Tip 5: If in doubt don’t recruit
This is what I would say is the golden rule of recruitment. If your intuition is telling you that for some reason a candidate is just not right, then don’t recruit. It is better to take a little longer to find the right person than appoint someone who only stays a few months.
Bottom Line – Recruiting a member of staff is a major recruitment decision. So what changes do you need to make to achieve more success as a manager when it comes to recruiting?
About the Author Duncan Brodie
Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.