Using Policies and Procedures in the Hiring Process

Almost every business owner has most likely complained about the difficulty in finding and retaining good employees. Yet, somehow successful companies do locate sufficient competent employees to operate and thrive.

As with all aspects of a thriving company, attracting, training, and retaining skilled workers involves a policies and procedures manual. Consistent actions lead to consistent results, and this applies to hiring workers as well as any other aspect of the company.

The initial step in hiring is to ascertain the type of individual you need to hire. In other words, before you can find a good worker, you must initially identity how you would define a competent worker. You must identify what you demand, for your benefit as well as the employee’s.

A few of the questions that you must consider are:

What abilities, practice, or schooling is required for the position?
Are these optional or required?
Are there particular personality traits that you insist on?

Job descriptions are a crucial component of defining your expectations. The job description identifies the obligations, wages, and necessary skills for each job. The job description offers you a yardstick for measuring potential workers, and provides personnel a clear awareness of the owner’s expectations.

The second step is to attract candidates who will meet your criteria. This is achieved by creating advertisements that emphasize the qualities you desire. By having a job description, you will be able to identify the type of person who will meet the position’s requirements. An advertisement that says “now hiring” will draw nearly everyone looking for a job; an ad that says “now hiring self-motivated individuals” will draw a different kind of individual.

The third step is use a process that will permit you to recognize individuals who satisfy your standards, and those who don’t. Again, a documented job description assists in this practice. At its most basic, the interviewing procedure entails measuring the prospect against the standard-your job description.

An effective approach to accomplish this is to test the applicant. Many small business owners use a written test to determine talents and knowledge, but less formal testing may perhaps be more illuminating. For example, if showing up on time is critical for the job, you might instruct the applicant to show up for a meeting at a exact time.

Interviewing personnel should not be a random activity. If you have identified the talents and traits you are looking for in an individual, your job interview should be directed at identifying whether the applicant has those abilties and characteristics. You should have a system for interviewing prospective workers in place before you place an employment ad.

An helpful process for interviewing is to ask questions that invite a discussion. The purpose of the interview is to find out about the prospect, and this can be accomplished by allowing him to have a discussion about himself, his experience, and his desires. Inquiries such as:

Could you explain the perfect boss?
Could you describe your favorite job?
How would you solve this dilemma?

These types of questions assist you to recognize if the individual is a good fit for your company. A very highly experienced prospect may not be the most effective worker if he has a temperament that will disrupt morale. Discovering this fact before you hire him can make it easier to prevent an expensive error, and having policies and procedures for your employment process makes this an easier process.