Tuesday 25 May 2010

How To Recruit The Right Senior Staff

Recruiting the right staff is very important for any business, especially when it comes to recruiting senior staff. The cost of recruitment can be high so you will want to find the right person for the job first time round. The wrong employee can be a burden on other employees and the company. The wrong senior member of staff can have a detrimental affect on their department or the company as a whole.

Getting the right senior member of staff could bring with them a positive attitude and a wealth of experience and skills that could lead to improvements through out the company. A lot of this experience may have been gained whilst working for top competitors in your industry.

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The current economic climate will effect the quality of candidates you come across. During times of recession or high unemployment there will be more to chose from. You will need to be aware of candidates that were previously in more senior roles then you are offering. They may just be trying to get any job they can while times are tough but they will move on once things get better. In times of prosperity and low unemployment candidates can afford to be more selective and therefore you may be approached by lower quality candidates in terms of their experience.

When recruiting for more senior roles it has become common to recruit candidates that have always worked within the target sector. This is especially true for the retail, health and transport industries. The obvious drawback to this is that you are limiting your pool of potential candidates. An eager hard working candidate with energy and good people skills would do better in the long run then a candidate that has industry specific experience and nothing else. So if you are recruiting for the long run then take this into consideration. Some extremely successful entrepreneurs have said they have made roles within their company for the right candidate, not the other way round. Felix Dennis says something along these lines in his book "How To Get Rich".

You should start by writing yourself a clear specification of what you are looking for. Consider what skills and experience required to fulfil the different aspects of their job. To attract the right candidate you need to put together an appealing package. For junior roles career progression and development will appeal more to the right candidate. For senior roles pay and benefits may appeal more. If the role is especially challenging then you should market it as such to attract the right candidate who will stay with the company.

Once you have your specification you need to decide on the most appropriate channels for finding the right candidate. Local papers, the local job centre and mainstream websites are good options for junior members of staff. For more senior members of staff you may want to use industry specific magazines and websites and specialist senior recruitment agencies and head hunters.

Once you have reached your specified closing date you should be in receipt of a collection of CVs. You will need to come up with a shortlist. It is best to also ask a colleague to come up with their own shortlist so you can discuss and compare any differences. You may then have two rounds of interviews.

Interviews are very important and for someone to shine at an interview they need to be interviewed well. It is also a two way process where you want to make them want to work for you. Especially for senior positions. You need to make sure the right candidate wants to work for you after the interview. Make sure you prepare for each interview and have questions specific to each candidates CV. Also make sure reception are aware you are interviewing so they can greet the candidate giving the impression you are organised. If you are going to show candidates round the office and where they will be working make sure it is tidy and other staff are aware. Thank every candidate that comes in for an interview even if you are already thinking they aren't right for the job. A negative end to the interview could leave someone with a bad impression of you and your company.

For senior roles you may want to have several people conducting the interview or present in the interview so you can discuss the candidate with them after the interview. How well you got on with the person and what you though of them can be just as important as experience and qualifications.

Once you have decided on a candidate you need to make them an offer. Most people will do this verbally and then confirm it in writing. If a senior member of staff is working for another company it is not unusual for the other company to make a counter offer where they offer the candidate more pay. At this point you can either try and beat the offer or if the interviews were close you could offer someone else the job. People generally wont move for less then 10% - 15% increase in pay.

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