The true success of any business can be measured by the relationships within the organisation. Business managers and owners will establish their road to success by optimising their most valuable asset – their staff.
Vlasta Eriksson is the founder and director of Signature Staff, a recruitment and labour hire company established in Cairns in 1998 and operating in Townsville since April 2023.
The recruitment process can be an incredibly time-consuming and costly exercise. Creating and nurturing positive relationships between the Employer and New Recruits are key to the ultimate success of any business, and a good recruitment process can start things off on the right note.
Here, Vlasta identifies 5 mistakes business owners and managers should avoid when recruiting:
1. Not Defining the Role
Know who you are looking for! Have an in-depth job description outlining duties, accountabilities, skills, and qualifications.
Identify what characteristics and behaviours would fit into your culture and the position. Do not focus on skills and qualifications only.
2. Chasing Pink Unicorns
Research the ‘market value’ for the position you are looking for and make sure your offer is compatible. If you wish to attract outstanding people, you need to offer conditions to match! Top-talented people are not attracted to the mediocre.
3. Unstructured Interviews
Have an organised, structured, and systematic approach to ensure all applicants are scored against the same criteria.
Create an interviewing template, this way all candidates are asked the same questions, and nothing is forgotten.
Prepare behavioural style questions to identify the characteristics and behaviours.
Use the same person to conduct the interviews and remember it’s a two-way conversation.
4. Not being diligent with background checking
Offering jobs to candidates on “gut feeling” can be devastating for a business.
Conduct at least two reference checks on all candidates that you are considering offering your position to. Make sure these are bona fide referees.
Consider social media checks, but ensure you are within the boundaries of the Anti-Discrimination Act and Privacy Laws.
Other checks such as criminal, health, drugs, skills and behavioural are recommended but this depends on he role you are recruiting for.
5. Taking too long to decide
Respect your potential employee’s time and let them know where you are at in the recruitment process.
If a candidate doesn’t know where they stand, they will most likely keep looking. The last thing you want is to miss out on a great employee to your opposition just because you dragged your feet.
For more recruitment and labour hire tips and assistance visit signaturestaff.com.au or call 4050 3888 to arrange a time to speak to our Townsville BDM, Vanessa McKinnon.
DOWNLOAD OUR 4 STEP RECRUITMENT HACK GUIDE FOR FREE!
Main image: Vlasta Erikkson, Founder and Director of Signature Staff (centre) with Cairns & Townsville team members.
Image credits: All images supplied.
Click here to read the latest articles from BDmag.
