Recruiting Staff – Structuring the process

There are strategies and techniques that employers can use to aid their recruitment process. Ian Hornby explains.
Youve had a resignation, youve composed a carefully crafted and creative advertisement that you have placed in your usual places and, when the CVs arrive, you find no one with the skills you need. Or, you find yourself sitting in an interview and wondering why the candidate in front of you bears no relationship to the CV you received. Sound familiar?

When I speak to managers both within the arts sector and elsewhere, they tell me that recruiting new staff is just about the most stressful, time-consuming and frustrating task they are required to undertake. And they do it in the knowledge that if they get the wrong person it can be very costly to the organisation. From my experience, the key to successful recruitment is to have a carefully designed process at each stage and to follow it closely. There are four key stages to the process.

Agree the job

Whenever a job becomes vacant, it is important to take time to consider what you actually need. Over time, jobs evolve and the last job description may not be a true reflection of the current job. Take time to analyse what the key responsibilities of the job are, what tasks are undertaken and the knowledge, skills and experience needed to undertake the job. Understand what is really crucial and which skills or experience are optional.

Initial screening

Many job applications suggest the submission of CVs, but from my experience it is difficult sometimes to make accurate and objective assessments of candidates skills and knowledge when this is presented in many and varied formats. I favour the use of a simple and structured application form, which requires presentation of the information you need in a standard format. Within this form there should be a page to allow candidates some free expression, but this supplements the information rather than being the main source of presentation of the candidates skills.

The information needs careful consideration. In many cases, it is possible that skills, knowledge and experience may have been overstated and where appropriate these should be highlighted to be challenged and checked if the candidate is called for interview. Selection of a shortlist is best done by using a scored matrix. This involves highlighting the key attributes and criteria of the job and each candidate being scored against each. Analysis of the matrix scores should indicate those candidates who do not possess the skills you need and those whose applications need to be considered further by way of interview. For those unsuccessful candidates, it is courteous to send a letter advising them that they have not been shortlisted and thanking them for their interest.

Interviews

First, it may seem obvious but it is important to ensure that candidates know when and where the interview is being held, how long you intend the interview to last and who they will be seeing. I think it can be helpful to have a minimum of two people conduct the interview but many more than this can overface the candidate. Remember, too, that the candidate may be nervous and will need to be put at ease. The format of the interview should be agreed in advance so that each candidate is faced with similar questions. This is not to say that specific issues from their application cannot be pursued, and should be, but it does provide a consistent structured outcome. Where more than one person is conducting the interview, agree roles and areas of questioning in advance.

The way in which questions are asked needs to be carefully considered. You need to ensure that the candidate does most of the talking and your questions should require them to talk about their skills, knowledge and experience. Questions that start Tell me about a time when you& or Give me an example of when you& will provide rich information to supplement the details on the application form.

It is necessary to ensure that questions are not discriminatory or are designed to seek irrelevant information. As with the shortlist, an assessment matrix is useful in making an objective assessment of each candidate  from which it should be possible to highlight those who possess the necessary qualities you are looking for. It is important at this stage to record the responses you have received and any specific information regarding the role you may have given.

Many organisations think it is useful to recall some candidates for a second interview. If the second interview can add value to the process, then it is worth doing, but I have seen situations where the second interview is simply a mirror image of the first and no additional information is obtained. Where I think second interviews do add value is if they can incorporate a specific task or presentation. For a Finance Officer, it may involve asking them to analyse financial data, or for a Marketing Officer you may ask them to undertake a presentation based around a marketing plan.

From the objective information you have gathered, you should be in a position to select a suitable candidate. Remember, of course, that finding someone who is a perfect fit for your job is unlikely to happen. You will need to make a decision based on the information you have and consider how best you can develop the skills that are needed. It is at this stage that you will need to exercise your personal judgement, and you will need to assess how well the candidates will fit within your organisation, how motivated they are likely to be and how well they are likely to react to any training and development you will need to provide.

Follow up

It is good practice to advise candidates if they have been successful (or not) as soon as possible after the interview stage. They may be attending other interviews and the longer you leave it, the more likely you will lose your best candidate. Similarly, unsuccessful candidates need to be told and feedback offered.

It is possible to make a conditional offer pending the taking up of references and verifying any professional qualifications. This follow up must be done, but dont be surprised if previous employers are reluctant to make too many judgemental comments about your candidates previous job. The purpose of the references is mostly about verifying identity.

This may seem a lengthy and convoluted process and you will, of course, need to be sure you have the necessary administrative resources to undertake the various stages. However, from my experience, a structured process with objective judgements at each stage is the best way to minimise the risk of a time-consuming and expensive mistake.

Ian Hornby runs Alpha Human Resources, a specialist personnel and training consultancy with experience of working with arts organisations of varying sizes.
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