Recruit and Select Staff

Determining your future human resources needs will require you to access your organisation internally and also consider external factors such as demographic shifts, the economy, legislation, and technology (to name a few). Of course, there are no tools available that can predict with 100% accuracy, but you can have strategies in place that can facilitate future human resource planning.

Scenario Planning - is imagining future events and identifying future possibilities.

Essentially, scenario planning is imagining future events and identifying future possibilities. The process can allow you to start broadly and then narrow down to what your human resource requirements will be. For example, when the GFC occurred, depending on the business and industry, scenario planning might have included potential sales losses/gains, downsizing, expansion, and increase/decrease in staff numbers. To put this into perspective, the table below provides an example of the different type of scenario planning that would have occurred for a retail store and an employment agency during that time.

As you can see in the table above, the scenario planning is different depending on the organisation. The retail store would need to be planning for downsizing and potential redundancies, and the employment agency would plan for increased demand for their service and the need to hire more staff. The way you scenario plan will depend on your organisation’s internal and external factors. Scenario planning can also be as simple as preparing for seasonal trends such as end of year sales, Summer, or Christmas periods. The table below provides various internal and external factors that you should consider when determining your organisation’s human resource needs:

Before you make decisions about future human resource needs, you should ensure that you are consulting and working with relevant managers and those involved with the recruitment and selection process. Through this collaboration, you may be able to identify further needs that were not uncovered during your scenario planning or internal/external factor analysis. For example, having a discussion with a line manager may identify a surplus in warehousing staff and/or the need for more floor staff (a deficit). Because line managers are involved in day-to-day operations, they will have more knowledge regarding the practicality of what staff may be needed that simply analysing data may not uncover.

If, for example your organisation was expanding and you were planning to introduce a new service, your scenario planning and analysis of internal/external factors might indicate the need for a new sales team, service providers, and/or additional administrative staff. Of course you will not always get it spot-on, but having the foresight to collaborate with line managers and analyse future needs will ensure that you are not over or understaffing. It is much better to plan and have systems and strategies in place to be proactive, rather than trying to do damage control when you are heavily over/understaffed.

Once you have assessed your organisation’s current staff levels and future staffing needs, you can then begin preparing for the recruitment and selection process.

Your organisation will most likely already have recruitment and selection processes in place, whether they are documented or an unwritten practice. Most organisations will determine a need for a position, begin advertising the position, undergo selection processes, and then offer employment to the most suitable candidate.

As the above extract explains, the recruitment and selection process primarily occurs across three stages: defining requirements, attracting candidates and selecting candidates. As mentioned earlier, it is good to build on existing processes rather than completely change them. We will go through each of the stages and identify the necessary factors that you need to be aware of.

Defining requirements focusses on ensuring job descriptors and person specifications are current and valid and that they are used by those involved in the recruitment, selection, and induction processes.

Job Descriptions

Job descriptions primarily outline the purpose of a role, the key responsibilities, and any reporting relationships that may exist (Armstrong 2006). The extract below outlines additional functions that job descriptions have:

It is important that each existing and future role within your organisation has a current job description. As above, a job description acts an expectation guideline for employees during the recruitment process and also once they have been selected. Generally, key parts (or even all) of the job description will be used within the job advertisement and the employment contract.

Person Specification

The person specification differs from a job description as it focusses on competencies relating to specific individual traits and skills. Person specifications will include components such as:

• Knowledge
• Behavioural competencies
• Skills and abilities
• Qualifications and training
• Experience
• Specific demands
• Special requirements

^{(Armstrong, 2014, p. 226-227)}

It is important to not only have job descriptions and person specifications, but they must be current and also legally sound. Job descriptions and person specifications should relate solely to the requirements of the role and should not make reference to any other personal characteristics. Additionally, it is important to remember that positions can change and evolve over time, so it is important that job descriptions and person specifications are updated regularly.

When you are recruiting potential candidates, a lot of them will self-select depending on the job description and person specification. This is why you need to ensure that both documents reflect, as accurately as possible, the job role and the attributes required for the role.

The extract above raises a good point in terms of what is “essential” and what is desirable. Remember, candidates self-select, so it is important that you are differentiating between what is “absolutely necessary” for the role and what “would be nice to have” for a role.

Once you have current job descriptions and person specifications in place, you should add them to the recruitment and selection section of your policy and procedures manual. This can act as a central place of reference for all involved with the recruitment, selection and induction processes. Once you have determined human resource needs, and that the job description and person specification are current, you can then start looking at how you can attract candidates.

The way you attract candidates will depend on your organisation and the role. If the role can be filled internally (by an existing employee) then the way you advertise will differ from the way you would attract an external candidate (someone outside of the company). In some instances, you may even decide to advertise the job internally and externally – many organisations do this for equity reasons. The matrix below provides various advantages and disadvantages to consider when deciding whether a position should be advertised internally or externally:

^{(Adapted from Bika, n.d.; and Indeed for Employers, 2023)}

Once you have weighed up the pros and cons of internal and external recruitment, you can make an informed decision about which option will be best for your organisation and the position. It would be advisable to include a copy of the matrix on the previous page, or something similar, in your recruitment and selection policies and procedures to aid the decision-making process for those conducting the recruitment.

Job Advertisement

When you have made a decision about whether you will recruit internally or externally, you will then need to decide on how you plan to advertise the position.

The table below provides examples of how you can advertise internally and externally:

^{(Adapted from McQuerrey, 2019)}

Each of the options above will have different advantages, disadvantages, and costs. Many of the internal options can be conducted at little to no cost, whereas advertising externally will attract costs. Once you have decided on the best method/s for your organisation and the position, you can formulate your job ad.

When advertising positions, it is a good idea to think of it as a product you are trying to sell, with your potential customers being your future candidates. When creating job advertisements, you need to ensure that you are complying with your organisation’s policies and procedures and legislative requirements (as covered in the first section of this module). The list below outlines some “no-no’s” to consider when advertising positions:

• Over-designed graphics (distracts and slows reading)
• Extravagantly presented layouts and words (distracts and slows reading)
• Difficult to read quickly or at all for any reason
• Font (type-style) too small or too large
• Capital-letters (upper-case)
• Lots of italics - they are a lot more difficult to read quickly
• Strange-looking or fancy fonts
• Printed in inappropriate colours or tints against a coloured, patterned or picture background
• Clever or obscure headlines
• Coded and idiosyncratic communications
• Too much technical detail about the job or the company
• Too many words - they are a real turn-off - keep it simple
• Uninspiring, boring descriptions of roles and ideal candidates
• Too much emphasis on the job and not enough on the person
• Adverts in reverse (mirror) or upside-down (not permitted anyway by most media)
• Weird advert box shapes, for example wide and flat or tall and thin
• Huge half-page or whole-page or double-page spreads - a waste of money

^{(Business Balls, n.d.)}

Now that we have covered how to advertise and what not to do when advertising positions, you need to think of where you will advertise. Will you advertise in your town? State? Interstate? Internationally? Internally? Externally? How will you reach your candidates? With the help of the internet, employers are now able to reach a wider pool of candidates from a range of locations.

Utilise Specialists

For some positions, it may make more sense to call on the help of specialists including recruitment agencies. In general, recruitment agencies will have extensive databases and access to large numbers of potential candidates from all locations. They are good to use when you are looking for senior positions, specialty skills, or when you do not have the time or expertise to conduct recruitment yourself. There are a number of recruitment companies that you can use to outsource your recruitment in Australia including but not limited to:

• Michael Page International
• Hudson
• Ranstad
• Australian Recruiting Group
• Robert Half
• Adecco

Simply typing “recruitment agency [your location]” into a google search engine will provide you with a greater list of agencies local to you. If you decide to utilize a recruitment agency, it is important that you are aware of the advantages and disadvantages of using them.

The main disadvantages of using recruitment agencies are that they are quite costly and, in some instances, they may not fully understand the type of candidate you require. Company culture can be quite difficult to convey, so if you decide to opt for a recruitment agency, make sure that you paint a clear picture about your company, job description, and person specification. Another alternative you may like to consider would be to look into technology that can help streamline the recruitment and selection process.

Options for Technology

Also known as e-recruitment and selection, technology advancements have made it easier and quicker for organisations to connect and select future candidates. There are various online platforms available that will improve the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection which enable you to:

• Manage job vacancy requests
• Post jobs advertisements
• Respond to applicants
• Track applications
• Conduct interviews
• Online assessments
• Validate skills, knowledge and qualifications
• Create a data base
• Generate reports
• Auto screen applications
• Enable candidates to self-schedule

The most common online technology are online employment market places such as seek.com, jobsearch.com and careersonline.com. These act as a meeting place for employers and potential employees. Seek.com has over 365 million visits every month, so you can see why many organisations will use online employment facilitators. As with all recruitment and selection options, there are various advantages and disadvantages:

^{(Adapted from Phillpott, 2021; and Joseph, 2019)}

The way you choose to attract candidates will change with each new position. What may work for one role may not be the most suitable option for another. Also, your business needs change – the budget you have now may not be the same in twelve months’ time. It is best that you include various options in your recruitment and selection policies to promote flexibility toward what is most suitable with each individual position.

Once you have advertised the position, the first stage of the selection process will be to conduct a short-list of applicants. It would be impossible to interview every applicant, so at this stage you essentially want to select a smaller group of candidates who match your job criteria. You will find that no matter how well you write your job description and person specification, you will receive applications that are not suitable, especially when unemployment rates are high.

There is no magic number as to how many candidates should be shortlisted as it depends on the volume of applications. There are certain steps that can be taken to assist with the process of creating a short-list:

1. Determine your criteria: it is ideal to identify the essential and preferential (bonus) qualifications and experience before a job listing is posted.
2. Decide a maximum number of candidates for the short list: this could be a set number or a percentage. It is important for making sure you are cutting down the applicant pool to the most appropriate candidates.
3. Try blind screening: there are subconscious biases that can sway your feelings towards certain candidates. In order to avoid this, you could remove all demographic data from applications and resumes and focus on the criteria itself.
4. Eliminate candidates that don’t meet minimum requirements: using keywords searches can help with this step. Though it is always a good idea to check manually to ensure that you’re not overlooking a strong candidate that was otherwise eliminated unnecessarily.
5. Screen ‘in’, versus screen ‘out’: Harver (2021) suggests that, rather than simply looking for candidates that don’t fit the criteria, a better approach would be to look for transferrable skills – candidates that have potential, or show commitment.
6. Try assessments:  though assessments typically occur later in the recruitment process, they could be utilised in the short listing stage as well. If there is a specific skill that you need, for example, an assessment could help identify candidates who possess this skill.
7. Conduct a screening interview: phone screenings and video screenings are becoming increasingly common and are efficient options to hear from a large pool of applicants.
8. Give candidates a score: Harver (2021) suggests creating cut-off points may assist with ensuring an efficient elimination process. They suggest using a system called M.E.P (Mandatory, Essential, Preferred). For more information on how this works, see here: https://harver.com/blog/shortlisting-candidates/
9. Inform candidates of outcomes: an email is typically fine when it comes to informing unsuccessful candidates, especially when there is a large pool of applicants to contact. Informing candidates, though often time consuming, is helpful for most as it can let them know why. Harver (2022) further says that ‘leaving off the relationship on a good foot can encourage them to apply again in the future, or, at the very least, them with a positive impression of your brand.’

^{(Adapted from Harver, 2021)}

Once you have made your decision and short listed those who will be continuing on in the next selection phase, you will need to make contact and arrange the details of the next selection phase. It is good practice at this stage to also make contact with unsuccessful applicants. You need to think of it this way, if people are taking the time to apply for positions within your organisation, it is respectful to take the time to keep them informed irrespective of the outcome. During the first selection stage (short-listing) a lot of organisations inform unsuccessful applicants via e-mail or letter. Below is a sample unsuccessful template used by World Vision Australia:

As you can see from the e-mail above, you can inform unsuccessful candidates in a delicate and professional way. The way the e-mail was written also gives applicants options for other ways they can contribute to the company and the cause. There are many templates and examples available online that you can edit to suit your organisation. Many of the online employment facilitators and recruitment software will already have these types of templates available for you to use. Doing this extra step is not only the right thing to do, but it will also help soften the disappointment for candidates, reduce the number of calls and e-mails you would be fielding from eager applicants and help your organisations image.

When you have your list of shortlisted applicants and you have contacted all applicants (successful and unsuccessful) the next stage will be to conduct further selection.

Selection Methods

As mentioned in the first section of this Study Guide, selection methods available for you to use include, but are not limited to:

• Aptitude test or IQ tests
• Interviews, including structured interviews, behavioural interviews or other interviewing methodologies
• Personality testing
• Psychometric testing
• Referee reports
• Use of an assessment centre
• Work samples

As with all of your decisions, you will need to consider your organisation’s existing systems, objectives and budget.

Interviews

There are different types of interviews and interview structures that you can use depending on the existing processes, the vacant position, the amount of applicants and your organisations resources. There are three common types of interviews that most organisations use. These are:

• Individual Interviews. These can be conducted over the phone or face-to-face whereby the manager in charge of recruitment and selection will have a discussion with a potential candidate. They usually last anywhere from fifteen minutes to up to an hour.
• Panel Interviews. Panel interviews are where two or more people interview a candidate. They usually last anywhere from thirty minutes up to one hour. Generally, one person will take notes and the other panellists will share the asking of questions
• Group Interviews. Group interviews are generally conducted in assessment centre type scenarios whereby a group of potential candidates are assessed on their individual characteristics and how they interact with others. There are usually a group of assessors that will be evaluating candidates, and this type of interview will generally occur over a few hours, an entire day, or even up to one week.

Once you decide on an appropriate interview type, the way you structure your interviews will also need to be considered. The two most common structures of interviews are structured and unstructured. Outlined below are characteristics for each type:

Most organisations will use a combination of structured and unstructured interview structures. That way part of the interview can be quantified and comparable for all applicants and the unstructured questions will allow for assessing the intangibles. Depending on your organisation, you may conduct more than one interview and the types and structures will vary. The diagram on the following page provides an example of what some organisations do for interview selection.

1. Short listing
2. 1st interview - Phone, structured
3. 2nd interview - Individual, mix of structured and unstructured
4. 3rd interview - Panel, unstructured
5. Final selection

Further to interviews, psychometric testing is often used by organisations to better select the best possible candidates.

Psychometric Testing

There are many kinds of psychometric tests that can be used and commonly they are designed around numeracy, verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, and logical reasoning. Psychometric testing should not be used in isolation; instead your selection methods should be complimentary. Depending on your selection process, psychometric testing generally occurs:

• After candidates submit an online application form.
• Alongside a first interview.
• At a later stage, possibly with a second interview or as part of an assessment centre. Applicants may be re-tested at this point to confirm the results of earlier tests.

There are many reputable companies who offer testing as a service. It is recommended that should you decide to incorporate psychometric testing, that you either outsource the work to reputable companies or ensure that you have skilled employees within the organisation who can administer the tests. Regardless of which option you choose for delivery, you need to ensure that the tests are:

1. Sensitive
2. Standardised
3. Reliable
4. Valid

You need to ensure these criteria are met to ensure that you are administering sound tests and to heighten the chance of choosing the most suitable candidate/s.

Despite which selection methods your organisation participate in, you need to ensure that you are remaining compliant with legislation and business objectives. Furthermore, you need to ensure that at the end of each selection round, applicants are being promptly advised of their outcomes. When you have made your final selection, the final part of this stage will be to prepare job offers and contracts.

Job Offers and Contracts

When you have selected the most suitable candidate, the final stage of the selection process will be to develop an employment contract. During the interview stages, discussions regarding the role and remuneration should have occurred, but the employment contract provides a final opportunity for a candidate to negotiate or agree to the role, salary, terms and conditions. There are two common types of contracts that are used – letters of offer and more detailed employment contracts. A letter of offer will generally include the basics of remuneration, job title, duties, and reporting relationships. Generally, most employment contracts will include similar information but in more detail, including but not limited to:

• An overview of job responsibilities,
• Intellectual property
• Confidentiality
• Reporting relationships
• Salary, benefits
• Paid holidays, vacation, sick leave, time off 
• Sales commissions
• Bonus pay potential and how bonus is determined
• Profit sharing and how profit sharing is determined
• Phone allowance
• Car mileage and travel allowance
• Any additional negotiated perks
• Details of employment termination including cause, severance package, and notice.

^{(Heathfield, 2019)}

With employment contracts and letters of offer, it is important that you are adhering to your relative industry award, enterprise agreement, and the national employment standards. It is against the law if you are offering less that the legal minimums of your industry. There is a lot of information that you can read on: http://www.fairwork.gov.au/awards-and-agreements/employment-contracts or you should consult an employment specialist.

You should ensure that job offers and contracts are executed promptly. This is important because once you have provided the chosen candidate with the letter of offer and/or employment contract, you should allow them a minimum of three business days to consider the offer. Some candidates may accept and get back to you straight away, whereas others will need to take the time to consider your offer. At this stage, the candidate may also have questions regarding the offer, or may want to negotiate some of the details. It is important that you are aware of what can be changed and what can’t be negotiated. If, for example, it had been discussed that the annual salary for the position would be $55,000 per annum and the candidate is now asking for $80,000 per annum, it is a good idea to have a limit in your mind about the absolute maximum that you would be willing to negotiate to. Examples of common questions and negotiation areas that you might be asked at this stage have been provided below:

When the candidate confirms and accepts the letter of offer and/or employment contract, the recruitment and selection process can end, and the induction process can begin. If the selected candidate rejects your offer or you are unable to negotiate a reasonable outcome for both parties, you can either conduct the entire process again or, if there was another candidate who was also suitable, you can offer the position to them.

In most organisations, not everyone will be an expert in all stages of the recruitment and selection process. It is important as a business professional that you are providing adequate training, access to training, and support for all of those involved in the process. Some employees may have more knowledge than others, so it is important that you are able to assess the skill level of your employees. In saying that, employees who may perceive they have excellent recruitment and selection skills may not have the required skills to conduct these processes in accordance to the way your organisation recruits and selects candidates. There is a vast difference between the ways each company recruits and selects staff, so it is a good idea to provide training to ensure that everyone is following the same procedure.

Training need not be time consuming and costly, but it is wise to invest the necessary resources to ensure that all employees are up to scratch. Basic preliminary training could be conducted using the following platforms:

• Online simulations
• Group workshops
• Written resources, policies and procedures

Even though initial training can be conducted using the platforms mentioned, on-the-job training is the most efficient method. Generally, for first time recruitment and selection staff, it is a good idea for them to shadow an expert in the organisation. Once they have developed an understanding of what is required, they can then conduct the recruitment and selection processes with the expert shadowing them. Once they have the confidence and expertise, they can then begin managing the recruitment and selection processes by themselves.

It is important to understand that whilst you can provide all possible information on how it should be done, each candidate will be different and will have different needs and questions to be answered. You need to ensure that whoever is involved in the recruitment and selection process has enough training, skills, and knowledge about the process as to field any unexpected curve balls. To remedy this, most organisations will have a minimum of two staff that will handle each step of the process, with some organisations having an internal recruitment and selection department comprising of anywhere up to fifty employees.

Another important factor to consider is that the person conducting recruitment and selection is acting as the face of your organisation. If they are unskilled, unorganised, unmotivated and not displaying the image of your company, candidates may get the wrong impression and self-select themselves out of the process. Having unskilled staff conducting recruitment and selection can add more adverse costs to your business than the cost of training them correctly!

Once training has been provided, you need to ensure that there is ongoing support for the recruitment and selection staff. The organisation as a whole needs to be working openly and cooperatively to ensure that the best possible applicants are getting hired and also inducted properly. Training refreshers and quarterly meetings are a good way to provide feedback and the support your staff may require.

To further heighten your understanding of managing the recruitment and selection process, we will continue with the case study introduced in section one of this study guide – “Northside Allied Health”. The second part of the case study will look at how Abi manages the recruitment and selection process.

As demonstrated in the case study above, the recruitment and selection process needs to incorporate existing company processes and adhere to relevant legislation. In this case example, applicants were advised of outcomes over the phone and promptly. While it is important to ensure that you are following existing policies and procedures, do not be afraid to try and improve the process. If in doubt, have a chat with your supervisor.

In this section you learned how to determine future human resources needs in collaboration with relevant managers. From there you learned how to follow the recruitment and selection process by defining requirements, attracting candidates, and the selecting candidates. Finally you learned the importance of providing access to training and support for all staff involved in the recruitment and selection process. The final section of this module will teach you how to effectively manage the staff induction process.

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