The Recruitment Process and the Perfect Interview

Are you looking to recruit the next Employee of the Month? Not sure how to go about interviewing candidates? Our key pointers will assist you in preparing for the recruitment process:

Read the candidate’s resume before to the interview – This will ensure you don’t waste time re-learning the candidate’s background and provides you with a good sense of what the candidate is all about and what they may potentially bring to the position. Additionally, it will allow you to prepare in advance additional questions you may want to ask the candidate in order to delve deeper into their experience, skills and interests.  Last but not least and in all honesty, reading a candidate’s resume during the interview portrays a totally unprofessional picture of you and, hence, the business.

Pre-interview questionnaires – In some cases it might be useful for potential candidates to complete questionnaires prior to conducting the interview. Questions can relate to technical experience, how they would deal in certain scenarios and even non-work related personal goals and interests to get a good feel of how the candidate would fit the culture of the business.

Do not discriminate - Under the Fair Work Act 2009, prospective employers are subject to adverse action laws where a prospective candidate believes they have been discriminated against. For this reason, you cannot ask the candidate questions during the recruitment process about religion, age, height, weight, marital status, disability, national origin, etc., unless such questions specifically represent genuine qualifications required to perform the role.

Don’t be selfish – Depending on the nature of the position, it’s more favourable if several members of the team are present at the interview. The greater number of perspectives gained on the candidate the better the final result. It also avoids having three or four interviews with the same candidate, which can be time consuming, especially if you’re looking at filling the position soon.

Take notes – Don’t rely on your memory to remember responses!  It also shows the candidate that you’re interested in what they have to say.

Create a plan for the recruitment process and interviews. Although every position and company is different, there are some failsafe questions to ask candidates:

1.       Start with an icebreaker – “Did you have trouble finding our office?”, “This weather is horrible, don’t you think?”, “Would you like a tea or coffee?”

This will reduce any nervousness felt by the candidate and create a friendly atmosphere.

2.       Determine the candidate’s level of motivation – “Why have you applied for this position?”, “What do you know about our company?”, “Where does this position fit with your career path?”, “If you had to convince a friend to apply for this position, what would you tell them?”, “How important is the salary to you?”, “What are your long term career goals?”, “If we hired you what would be the number one priority on your to-do list for your first day? ”People apply for positions for various reasons – by asking such questions you will be able to gauge their true motivation for applying and actual interest in the job and company. 

3.       Ascertain whether the applicant is qualified for the position

4.       Throw in some whacky questions – “If you won $20 million in the lottery, what would you do with the money?”, “If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, who would it be and why?”, “If you were an animal what kind of animal would you be?”

The responses to these questions during the recruitment process will demonstrate the candidate’s ability to demonstrate competence, deal with challenges and confirm whether the candidate has actually produced results. Have they responded concisely and used practical examples or have they tried to talk their way out of answering the question? Most responses to these questions can be easily checked during reference checks.

These questions establish how creatively and quickly the candidate thinks on their feet as opposed to reciting well-rehearsed answers. It also allows you to find out more about how the candidate deals with surprises and how their mind works without asking overly personal questions. Pay attention to the candidate’s attitude, how they approaches these types of questions and the ease or difficulty they have in responding.

During the recruitment process you should also provide information on the company and the position. Keep it brief but detailed and allow the candidate to ask questions – this will also give you a chance to see how interested the candidate is about the role.

HR Management For SMEs

It is widely accepted that the SME sector is the engine house of the Australian economy. In employment terms it makes up 40% of the nation’s workforce. Unfortunately it is also the SME sector that has the least resources or capacity to effectively manage their human resource function.

HR management is as important, if not fundamentally more important, to SMEs compared to big business as the effect of poor selection and performance can cause considerable disruption to a small business whilst effective performance management can contribute more positively to the success of a SME.

How can SMEs introduce effective performance management strategies to attract, retain and reward the right people? The best advice would be to start with a simple system and consistently improve and review practices to ensure this area of your business is not overlooked.

An ideal performance and HR management system is one which satisfies 4 main objectives:-

-          To improve business and individual performance;

-          To link the key objectives and strategies of the business with individual objectives and strategies;

-          To measure the progress made towards the achievement of the strategic business objectives by evaluating performance, identifying improvements, developing new objectives and converting improved performance into rewards; and

-          To coordinate job design, recruitment and selection, training and development, career planning and reward structures.

The components of this system which may be introduced over a period of time depending on resources available include:-

-          Business plan linking company values and goals with its people;

-          Job Descriptions (reviewed and updated regularly);

-          Individual key performance indicators (KPIs) set at various intervals, e.g. monthly, quarterly, annually, etc;

-          Bonus policy and guarantee which links the performance of the business to individual remuneration – this may be a general policy or clause in individual employment contracts;

-          Performance reviews;

-          Professional development plans reviewed and updated annually; and

-          Ongoing feedback, communication, coaching and training.

In SMEs with multiple departments and line managers it may be appropriate to create a handbook and/or provide training with guidelines on how the above components can be developed internally with timelines and templates. This will equip managers with the ability to drive effective HR management and empower them with responsibility to ensure its ongoing success. It also ensures consistency and transparency across the business when it comes to HR management, and this is vitally important particularly when it involves the provision of a reward mechanism.

Questions SMEs need to ask themselves include whether a performance management system and effective HR practices can be developed internally or externally, and what resources are available in the business for the implementation of the system. Resources to be considered may include persons within the business, time, knowledge and skills, a budget or allocation of funds, and external expertise or assistance.

Employment Innovations can provide 3 separate streams of services depending on the requirements of an SME. They have an online portal which provides internal resources with the information and templates to develop and tailor the components of effective performance management outlined above which can be accessed for an annual fee. As an alternative to this, where external assistance is deemed appropriate, there is the option of engaging a part-time HR manager on a consulting arrangement to deliver the above objectives or a more comprehensive solution such as a fully outsourced HR department which takes care of all of your employment needs, including payroll, contracts, legal compliance and ongoing HR consulting and reporting.