Employing the right people – Induction and Recruitment
Recruitment
A vacancy within your business presents an opportunity to consider restructuring, or to reassess the requirements of the job. Carrying out this assessment is valid whether it is to fill an existing job or a new one.
Ask yourself questions such as:
- Has the role changed?
- Have work patterns, new technology or new products altered the job?
- Are there any changes anticipated which will require different, more flexible skills from the jobholder?
Answers to these questions should help to clarify the actual requirements of the job and how it fits into the rest of the organisation or department.
Also writing a good job description or job specification helps in the process of analysing the needs of the job moving forwards, and should detail the purpose, tasks and responsibilities of the job.
A good job description should include:
- Main purpose of the job – try to describe this in one sentence
- Main tasks of the job – use active verbs, like ‘writing’, ‘repairing’, ‘machining’, ‘calculating’, instead of vaguer terms like ‘dealing with’, ‘in charge of’
- Scope of the job – expanding on the main tasks and the importance of the job. Job importance can be indicated by giving information such as the number of people to be supervised, the degree of precision required and the value of any materials and equipment used.
Induction
Induction need not be an elaborate exercise, but it must be thought out in advance, carried out in a timely and careful manner, and evaluated to ensure that it meets the needs of the employee. The benefits of a good induction programme are a more settled employee, a more effective response to training, lower employee turnover, and improved employee relations. It is easy to forget that the selection process is only the beginning of the employment relationship, and the future of that relationship depends to a considerable extent on how the new employee is settled into the job. A good induction programme makes business sense, whatever the size of your business, and whatever the job. It is useful to have a written checklist of the items that need to be covered in the induction programme and also not only does this give some structure to the induction but it also ensures that both the new starter and the manager know what has or has not been covered at any given time.
A good induction programme should include:
- An introduction to the company
- Terms and conditions of employment
- Equal opportunities policy and personal development
- Worker/employer relations
- Organisation rules
- Welfare and worker benefits/facilities
- The job and key responsibilities
As with any work activity it is recommended that the recruitment and induction process be reviewed for its effectiveness. Recruitment and induction may be a continuous process in your business, necessitating more or less constant monitoring.
If you would like to discuss the above with us in more detail, please contact us on 0845 113 1234 or email info@businesslinkwm.co.uk
