Important Steps To Take When Hiring A New Employee
The process of getting a new employee to join an organization should not be treated casually because any mistake in that hiring process can become a disadvantage in the long run. You might be a small company or a big company but the hiring process is basically the same.
Before the hiring process kicks off properly, you must be able to forecast. Forecasting is the process of predicting demand and supply. You need to be able to observe all the factors that affect your company, the internal and external and predict the future. Will you need to expand soon? How many more employees will you need? Check our production levels, sales increase, competition, etc. How these factors play out will affect your company as well as your employees…and hiring.
After forecasting, these are the steps to keep in mind as you hire that new employee:
- Research Market Hiring Conditions
Before announcing a vacancy in your company, you must have checked different corners relating to recruitment. What position are you trying to fill? With the current market and economic conditions, is this feasible? You don’t want to hire someone now and have to release that person in months. Can your company handle a new employee? How much are you willing to pay for that position, taking your competition and the current market rates for the job?
Good research never hurts. It prepares you to receive your employee and also to answer their questions when they come up. How can you guide the new employee if you do not have adequate knowledge?
- Do a Job Analysis and Job Description
This is the next step because you want to know exactly what you need and what you want. If you make a good job description, it will help you stay in line and not be diverted by distractions or confusion that might come up in the recruitment process.
The job analysis is a breakdown of the position requirement. It can be task-based, that is, focused on the tasks required of that position (e.g To design creative ads) or skill-based (focus on skills e.g must be creative, team player).
Your job analysis should be broken down into the following; employee information, job title, education level, key tasks and responsibilities, level of contacts, physical requirements, personal characteristics, certifications, soft skills, etc.
The job description is the responsibilities and tasks of the job and is derivated from the job analysis.
Writing The Job Description
The job description should be concise and answer the following questions:
- What are the tasks expected for that position? (Job function)
- What knowledge, skills, and abilities are needed?
- What educational qualifications are needed?
- What experience is required?
- Are there any physical requirements for the job?
Another benefit of a good job description is that it will help you get the right kind of applications, reducing your stress.
Here’s an example of a Job description, answering the above questions:
Tasks: Applicants for the position of a designer will be required to create new designs and supervision our new clothing line.
Experience: He/she should be a fast worker and have 3years of experience using the spinning wheel.
Education: Minimum of O’levels.
Should not be more than 25 years old.
- Develop a Recruitment Strategy
There are many ways to go about this. When you know what you need and your grade sheet (the job description) is ready now how do you tell people about this vacancy? You could employ the services of a recruitment agency or go about it yourself. They each have their pros and cons, taking angles like the size of the company, number of positions, etc into account.
Decide the kind of advertisement to use; print, broadcasting stations, internet, social media, etc, or a combination of them. Other options are depending on the kind of employees you seek. You could get them from special events, competitions, campus recruitment, professional associations, referrals, job websites, employee leasing, labour unions, unsolicited applications, and many more.
- Here Comes The Selection Process
Once the deadline for the job application is over you must carefully review ALL applications. You don’t want to bypass superior candidates because you did half-baked work or “got exhausted”. There are software companies use to help them screen and shortlist the first applications, reducing the amount of work. Such applications use criteria like keywords, skills, experience, or whatever you input to scan applications and only forward those that fit your set-up. An example of such is Zoho Recruit. This software is also called Applicant Tracking System (ATS).
Other methods of selecting candidates apart from the resume scanning software include checking of references, cognitive ability tests, reviewing work samples, giving personality tests. This will help cut down the list more.
At last, those who fit the job description can be selected by the interview committee or whosoever.
- Invite for an Interview
Conducting an interview is indeed important but not compulsory. It helps you have a first-person feel of the candidates. It could be an online or physical interview but you should give the applicants enough notice to prepare for you.
Conduct any kind of interview that best meets your needs. You might not need the traditional face-to-face, you could use the telephone interview, video interview, group interview, panel interview, and others. The interview is supposed to help you understand your applicants better. Here, you should bring up questions that arise from their resume or tests.
Prepare your questions very carefully. You can ask situational questions- where you give sample situations, asking how the applicant will deal with it. There can also be behavioural questions- asking how the applicant has dealt with a variety of given situations in the past.
Note: *Do more listening and observation of the applicant than more talking.
*Do not lie, downplay or exaggerate about any part of the job.
* Do not be stereotypical or biased. It can make you lose what would have been a future asset.
* Be fair.
* Don’t get carried away. This is where your job description will help you. Make sure the applicant fits your previously developed job description and analysis.
- Testing
In a situation where some specific ability is needed, applicants that pass the interview can be called upon to perform or demonstrate the ability for such tasks. This process can also be a part of the interview process to save time.
Further information can be sought here, a background check, a reference if it has not been done, social media personality (checking their handles which will give you a look at the real person, see it this tallies with what you want.
- Make Your Offer:
Once you have verified and found an applicant with the best fit for the job, you must not delay in making your offer. There are many other opportunities and you just might miss that choice and there’s the possibility that you’re not the only one who has noticed what a great addition candidate B would be to your company.
First, reach out to them through their emails. You should give the candidate enough time to consider your offer but not too much time so you don’t lose your other choices should he/she decline the offer.
Do not be a rock when it comes to the pay. You know what skills you need in the company, therefore you are best to decide if the person is worth it or not. Instead of an outright refusal, should the candidate ask for more, try other forms of compromise. Try to meet in the middle, offering a win-win situation for all.
You could compare your pay with others in the industry, and explain the other benefits of the job, the privileges, and packages. You could also promise a future increase should the candidate meet certain requirements and time.
Should your first choice candidate decline the offer for whatever reason, move on to your 2nd choice and others.
- Make It Official
Create the document offering the position, stating all agreed upon angles; the salary, benefits, compensation, job title, and others like start date, and orientation period. Receive a signed copy back and you have found your best candidate for the position!
- Orientation
I have decided to add this here because it’s also an important process. Conduct an orientation for your candidate. This will help them to settle in more than when left to their ways. The orientation should contain lectures or discussions on the core values, vision, and mission of the company, introductions to other workers, and the organizational chart of the company.
They could even be taken through an in-depth tutorial on what their task will be, what is expected of them, how to use some software, how they will be reviewed, how often they will be reviewed, the safety measures of their work or the organization, who they report to, who will be in charge of instructing them, and many more. If you can focus their first few days on helping them settle, you’ll be surprised at their speed and achievement when they commence work.
