THE RIGHT STAFF AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

For those of us in leadership positions, coping with challenging situations is a common aspect of daily life. The past 16 years of working in the field of leadership have certainly presented their fair share of typical, potentially challenging situations – both in terms of personal experience and through collaborating with clients in management. One such challenge is, of course, staff selection. So, how exactly do you find the right employees?

No doubt you are all too familiar with this kind of scenario: At times, you do not have enough applicants for a vacancy. At others, too many. And really, you have far too little time to find suitable candidates. On top of that, you are also obliged to fill the position internally and communication with the HR department, does not always flow as smoothly as it should.

Every single position in a company has its own individual profile that prospective candidates need to match. This not only includes professional qualifications, but equally an ability to cooperate within the existing team.

Clarity is everything. The following checklist should help you and your team form a clearer picture of candidate requirements:

• Title / Name / Job description
• How many vacancies are there currently?
• Why have new positions become available?
• Should the positions be filled internally or externally?
• Who ultimately decides on the appointment of the new MA? Who has a say in the decision? Who needs to be informed?
• Is there a specific recruitment process you need to comply with?
• What exactly will the new employee be working on?
• Who will she/ he be working for?
• Who /which team will she/he be managing?
• What kind of authority and powers will she / he have?
• What kind of mental and physical demands does the workplace present?
• Which formal educational qualifications does the candidate need to have?
• Which additional qualifications are desirable?
• What kind of professional experience must she / he have?
• How many years’ professional experience must she / he have?
• Which personal attributes, abilities and skills are necessary for this position?
• Which documents must be provided (letter of application, CV, photo, references, salary expectation)?

Once these – somewhat formal and qualification-based – points have been determined and met, incoming applications can be graded accordingly. If candidates match the desired profile, the question of whether the applicant “would fit within the existing team” can then be better assessed face-to-face.

Online recruiting – The right way

How often have you found yourself swamped with a large volume of applications – particularly after a position has been officially published? These days, this tends to happen more in an electronic capacity. Due to the convenience of this paperless medium, the amount of attached files and documents has multiplied considerably. And this in turn creates new issues – especially for HR departments, who are suddenly inundated with vast quantities of information that require processing. You can however counter this problem by taking the following points into consideration:

• Does your job ad sufficiently attract the really interesting candidates?
• How do prospective candidates find your job ads?
• Have prospective candidates interpreted your job ads correctly?
• With effective, targeted HR marketing, you will be able to draw the kinds of employees to your company (e.g. experts in technical areas), who are generally hard to reach.

If you take all these points into consideration, develop and implement them, you will save yourself a large amount of time and money when recruiting and appraising employees.

Wishing you every success with your staff search.