If you are a manager, you are already aware of just how integral it is to hire the right person for your team. It’s not even that other employees would be bad at the job, it’s about finding someone who will be a real asset to your team and therefore the company as a whole. Although training is an integral part of any employee’s journey with you, it all begins with employment. Below, you’ll find some tips on how to get the right employee in the hiring process, first time round.
Job Description
Whether you go through a recruitment consultant or not, you will need to put together a clear and concise job description to attract the perfect candidates. If you are replacing an existing role, review the job description for the original position. It may be that the duties and responsibilities of the employee moving from that position have changed. In which case, these should be reviewed in order to attract someone of similar calibre and experience.
While writing a good job description involves listing out the day to day duties and responsibilities of the job and any qualifications or experience required, it’s also a chance to market your company to job seekers and showcase your working culture and benefits. So, make sure you consider the perks of the job and why it’s a great place to work when you’re crafting your job description to attract the best candidates.
Similarly, you may want to arrange responsibilities differently on the team for the new employee. This might lead to a review of how work is allocated overall and it’s worth using bringing someone new in as an opportunity to refresh and therefore revitalise the quotas for the team.
Test Their Skills
The key thing about hiring a new employee is whether they can actually manage the responsibilities of the job. Whilst there is mileage in hiring someone with the potential to gain the skills required, depending on the size of your company/team and whether you need this employee to hit the ground running, on-the-job training might not be a viable option.
You may want to consider using a service hat provides a virtual job try-out as a means of employee assessment. This is a good way for candidates to demonstrate their skills to you but, likewise, offers them the opportunity to see if the job is a good fit for them. It saves everyone time, money and resources if the new employee is certain this is the right job for them before they start.
Employment Gaps
Depending on the nature of your company, these may not necessarily be a red flag on a candidate’s resume. Assuming that a clear reason for gaps in employment history hasn’t been highlighted (for example, taking time out of their career to raise a young family, or for other caring responsibilities) then it might mean that they have used the time to pursue something else which will contribute to them being a more diverse and three-dimensional applicant. Don’t discount applicants that tick all the boxes because of employment history gaps.
If this is your first time recruiting, then do some more research to determine exactly what you are hoping to gain from a new addition to your team or company. If you are a first-time business owner, then hiring employees and managing them might still be a skill you are developing. Have confidence in yourself and trust your instinct and the research you put in to find the best fit for your team.
