By now, most of you would have heard about the botched executive hire that occurred at Myers in August 2014. For those of you that haven’t;
A gentleman by the name of Andrew Flanagan was appointed by Myer as General Manager – Strategy and Business Development and then fired on his first day. The reason he was terminated is that it was found out that he had falsified his references in order to secure the position.
This high profile case put the spot light on Myers recruitment process and also that of its contracted recruitment partners assisting them with recruitment of employees and in Myers recruitment processes.
Any person in the HR space for over 15 years will sure to be a good recruiter. I certainly have some memories of the past and including some very fast paced recruitment environments i.e. conducting an employee interview at 5:00pm and having offered the applicant a position, papered them up, inducted them and then had them flying out to a remote site the next day at 7:30am. I am not sure what they told their partner when they got home from the interview – but she managed to make the plane on time the next morning.
$$$$$ There are times when HR must move fast $$$$$.
We have all probably hired sometimes without reference checking. It may be a casual or short term role whereby the selected applicant has ticked almost all of the boxes and well, he demonstrated high energy very positive attitude and appeared to be a real can do person. We may have been under the pump or, we may have delayed the process to at a later time and then just forgot to do it!.
Now I know there are some great actors out there…Maybe some of those graduates from the Western Australian Performing Arts (WAPA) Academy looking for work until they break into that acting career they have trained so hard for. It may be wise to do reference checks on these applicants.
As a fellow HR space occupant, I know I am not alone when I say recruitment decisions can be made fast. After recruiting hundreds and even thousands of people one just gets to know an instinctive awareness that becomes alerted, processes and sends messages to our brains when we meets a prospect applicant. I am not going to tell you how fast recruitment decision can be made. I have seen and heard theories on this. Truth is the answer may offend some people.
But, what I can do for Business Owners still engaged in recruitment and for those in the HR space is share with you my;
***** 21 Top Tips for Fast and Effective Recruiting *****
1. Determine job role criteria and focus on hiring only the best.
2. Draft job Ad and advertise vacancy. Always be up front with the remuneration on offer and feature it in the Ad.
3. Shortlist applicants based on pre-determined criteria and conduct quick telephone interview.
4. Make sure you have a written job description to present at the interview and in order to be able to answer questions quickly and actually give the correct answer.
5. Use many sources to source applicants and don’t limit your sources for good employees.
6. Avoid hiring someone who turns up late to the interview. A reschedule is OK.
7. Use a rating system so that early candidates are not forgotten in the interview process.
8. Where possible, promote from within to maintain employee motivation and morale.
9. A person with an extensive self-employment background is very likely to go back to self-employment as soon as possible. You may wish to hire this person as a consultant.
10.Strongly consider disabled workers. They often do a better job with greater loyalty and fewer absences.
11.When is doubt: “Over qualified” people are better than “under qualified” people.
12.Not essential but, you may have the person leaving the position interview their replacement and/or at least be present. As long as they are not Mr or Mrs Ego.
13.Test the skills, industry knowledge and key attributes of prospective employees. Get specific.
14.Assess the candidate’s energy levels, motivation and purpose. Depending upon the role, these attributes are many times more valuable than the applicant’s skills.
15.Investigate any significant gaps in employment.
16.Use pre-employment questionnaires for consistence. Questionnaires do not have to be super complex.
17.A medical and drug test may be required.
18.Check an applicant’s background and all references (previous employers) thoroughly. 3 references for high end positions i.e. Myer example above.
19.Once selected always be open with the terms and conditions of employment.
20.Give the successful candidate a copy of the employment agreement.
21.Be resolutions provider for any concerns the new applicant has in regards to the terms
and conditions of employment now and into the future.
For more great tips on recruitment check out…
About the Author:
Paul Marshall is a HR Pro, corporate trainer, author and a welcomed and trusted business partner with commercial awareness and extensive expertise in people, performance and HR capabilities. With decades of Business and HR experience, the ability to value add fast to business objectives and Company growth strategies, Paul is a past winner of Small Business Development Corporation Award.
A Fellow and Certified Practitioner of the Australian Human Resources Institute (FCPHR).
Paul is an author of:
103 Golden Tips to Turbo Charge your Business make More Money and Get Rich
103 Golden Tips to Turbo Charge your Employees Skyrocket Productivity and Get More Output
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