Firm Advice – Recruiting the right employees for your business

WHETHER you are recruiting for the first time or you're adding to you're existing workforce, employing the wrong person can prove costly.

Your business is precious to you, you want to bring in people who feel as passionate about what you deliver as you do.

And with employment law firmly on the side of the employee these days, it can be a minefield of legal advice, time and stress to go through the dismissal procedure if your choice of candidate proves to be the wrong one.

Jo Hand, Managing Director of Tees Valley recruitment specialists Jo Hand Recruitment, looks at the common mistakes employers make when taking on new staff.

She said: "Recruiting the wrong person can cost thousands of pounds. Particularly for a small business that is an expense they could do without.

"You have to factor in a number of things including advertising the role, the time taken to sift through unsuitable applications, days spent interviewing and then when you do choose a candidate there's the time spent bedding them into the company, as well as training and wages.

"If after a period you realise you have the wrong person then not only do you have to go through the whole procedure again, you have to look at how you are going to correctly dismiss the unsuitable candidate.

"Taking professional advice can save time, money and hassle and takes away any potential headaches to allow you to get on with the running of your business."

Here Jo looks at several ways to avoid the common mistakes when recruiting:

·Pre-screen applicants before inviting them for interview.


It is easy to just call them all in but it might be worth setting an aptitude or skills test for a selection of potentials before narrowing them down to the final interview.

·Not writing the right job description.


This might seem obvious but being too vague or too specific with the job description can lead to a pile of unsuitable applications.

·Not interviewing properly/asking the wrong questions.


Again, it may sound obvious but you should really research the role, talk to other staff members where possible and gain a good understanding of the type of person you are looking for. Make a list of relevant questions and get the answers you need.

·Selecting too many or too few for interview


The last person you see might be the most suitable candidate but having gone through so many interviews previously you could have easily lost sight of what it is you are looking for and overlook certain attributes in the latter stages of the interview process. If you have in your mind that you are going to short-list three candidates and those candidates prove to be unsuitable then the whole process could have been a waste of time.

·Too long a timescale during the recruiting process.


Taking too long between advertising the role, interviewing and making a decision may mean that good candidates could be offered jobs elsewhere and lost.

·Not asking if they have they researched the company prior to interview.


This can be a good test of interest in the company and how much they want to work for you.

Jo Hand Recruitment is based in Albert Road, Middlesbrough. For more information visit www.johandrecruitment.co.uk or phone 01642 242777.