Contents of the free course 
Introduction
Recruiting Staff
I Examine the Job Vacancy
2 Write a Job Description
3 Task Analysis
4 The Person Specification
5 Advertise the Position
6 Select the Best Applicant
Have you also considered these aspects of the course?
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Introduction
After studying the full course, you should be able to:
. Assess your recruitment requirements and identify the most effective and efficient methods of recruitment for your business in order to recruit additional staff.
. Describe the most important aspects of employment legislation appropriate to the size of your business.
. Outline the main ways of maintaining a committed and motivated workforce, and apply these to your business, and
. Part with staff.
A business depends on the people running it. Effort spent on human relations and people management will be repaid many times over.
There are eleven areas where problems may occur. These problems (or blockages) will reduce the efficiency of the organisation. They are:
. Poor recruitment and selection - The workforce lack the knowledge, personality, or skills necessary for the business.
. Contused organisational structure - The way in which people are organised is wasteful and inefficient.
. Inadequate control - Poor decisions are made because of faulty information (possibly in the hands of inappropriate people).
• Poor training - People have not been taught skills which could significantly improve their job performance.
. Low motivation - People are not concerned about the business and will not spend much effort to further common goals.
. Low creativity - Good ideas for improvement are not being put to use, so stagnation occurs.
. Poor teamwork - People do not work together, or find that there are too many obstacles to working together.
. Lack of succession planning and management development - Sufficient preparation for important future job vacancies is not being undertaken.
. Unclear aims - The reasons for doing things are either muddy or badly explained.
. Unfair rewards - People are not rewarded to their satisfaction.
. High expectations - You expect too much of your workforce.
This programme will introduce you to some of the main requirements of employing people and will give basic guidance.
From the programme you will see that it is possible to employ staff quite simply. Although employing people requires a carefully planned approach, it is not a legal or bureaucratic morass.
 Recruiting Staff
It is often said that the company’s most important assets walk out of the building each day at 5.30 pm.
Successful businesses employ people with the right skills and give them above average motivation. The first step to developing a top class workforce begins with recruitment.
Of course you could hit on the best people by chance but this is unlikely. A systematic approach is much more likely to produce results. The method shown in the full course has been proven to produce those better results.
The Recruitment Process
Recruitment takes place in stages. These are:
1 Examine the job vacancy.
2 Write a job description.
3 Define the skills, knowledge, aptitudes and attributes needed to perform that job. This is often called Task Analysis.
4 Write a person specification, i.e. a profile of the person best able to perform the job.
5 Advertise the position.
6 Select the best applicant.
These stages are explored in more detail following.
I Examine the Job Vacancy
The whole selection process hinges on a proper understanding of the job vacancy to be filled.
On the one hand, some jobs remain essentially the same over time so everyone thinks they know what is involved. However, it may still be worthwhile reviewing these jobs because examining the job is the first all important building block to selecting the right employee. You need a clear understanding of the job to select the ideal person to fill it.
On the other hand, recruiting a new employee could be an ideal time to re-examine the job. Could the job be restructured to operate in a more efficient way? Could it be redefined to include new technology? This way, we may be able to recruit a new member of staff who is already experienced in the new way of working.
Increase your earnings! Take the full course and receive nationally recognised qualification or call us free at 08000-75-8000 for further information
2 Write a Job Description
Once the nature of the job is understood, you can write a job description. The job description includes headings such as:
- job title
- main purpose of the job
- who the employee is responsible to
- what is the employee responsible for
- the employee’ s main duties
- how much work is the employee expected to process
- does he/she need to use any machinery
- who does the employee need to liaise with
- does the employee have to supervise anything or anyone
etc.
An example of a job description for an office supervisor follows.
Example Job Description for Office Services Supervisor
Job Title: Office Services Supervisor
Department: Administration
Main purpose of job: To ensure the provision of efficient typing, reprographic and switchboard services to company personnel.
Scope of job: Responsible to: administration manager.
Responsible for: 5 staff, equipment to value of E3O,OOO.
Main duties:
1 To allocate suitable personnel to switchboard, offset printer and photocopiers, as required.
2 To ensure the provision and maintenance of an accurate and efficient word processing and reprographic service by:
. receiving and recording work for typing and reproduction.
. deciding priority of work.
. allocating work.
. deciding most appropriate and efficient method of reproducing documents.
. checking a sample of work for accuracy and presentation.
. typing and operating machines as necessary to cover for absent staff.
3 To ensure the maintenance and upkeep of the equipment.
4 To collate control of information on departmental costs etc.
5 To order stationery, reprographic chemicals and other materials, recording use and maintaining suitable stock levels.
6 To train and assist in selection of new staff.
7 To do such other tasks as may be required by management from time to time.
(Source: ACAS Advisory Booklet ‘Recruitment and Selection’)
3 Task Analysis
You need to list the skills, knowledge, aptitude and attitudes necessary for the job. These will help you define the person specification (which is the next step). Given below is the task analysis for the Office Services Supervisor’s job.
Example Task Analysis - Office Services Supervisor
|
Task |
Knowledge |
Skills |
Aptitudes |
Attitude |
1 |
To allocate |
Skills to operate |
Management |
Time |
Pleasant |
|
work to suit- |
machines. Aware |
of people |
planning |
manner |
|
able staff |
of staff skills |
|
|
|
2 |
Typing/other |
|
Typing |
Manual |
Willingness |
|
work as |
|
Reprographic |
dexterity |
To join in |
|
necessary |
|
skills |
|
|
3 |
Upkeep of |
Maintenance |
Rostering |
|
|
|
equipment |
timetable |
|
|
|
4 |
Ordering |
Stores procedure |
|
Clerical |
|
|
materials |
|
|
|
|
5 |
Training |
|
Ability to use |
Teaching |
Pleasant |
|
staff |
|
all machines |
|
manner |
6 |
Monitoring |
Cost control |
|
Numeracy |
|
|
costs |
procedures |
|
|
|
Increase your earnings! Take the full course and receive nationally recognised qualification or call us free at 08000-75-8000 for further information
4 The Person Specification
This translates the skills, knowledge, aptitude and attributes from the task analysis into a profile of the ideal applicant. One way is to use the seven point plan which covers:
1 Physical make-up - health, physique, appearance, bearing and speech.
2 Attainments - education, qualifications, experience.
3 General intelligence - fundamental intellectual capacity.
4 Special aptitudes - mechanical, manual dexterity, facility in the use of figures.
5 Interests - intellectual, practical - constructional, physically active, social, artistic.
6 Disposition - acceptability, influence over others, steadiness, dependability, self-reliance.
7 Circumstances - experience outside the workplace (but not personal circumstances such as marital status, or children, as this is unlawful).
You may have to think carefully about the behaviour, characteristics and attitudes you are seeking, e.g.
. Do people have to work under pressure?
. Is the job stressful?
. How much initiative is expected?
. Will the person have to manage others?
You may think of many more criteria that the person should
meet. Think about situations in the business which the new
employee will have to contend with, then prioritise them.
This will help to prepare the personnel specification (and devise interview questions later on).
An example of a personnel specification is shown on the following page.
Physical Make-up
Good health record. Acceptable bearing and speech. No serious uncorrected impairment of sight.
Attainments
‘0’ level English language or equivalent. Ability to type, and to operate office machines. Experience of general office work.
General Intelligence
Above average.
Special Aptitudes
Reasonable manual dexterity.
Facility with figures.
Interests
No special interests.
Disposition
Persuasive and influential.
Self-reliant.
Circumstances
No extra experience outside work.
Pleasant appearance, bearing and speech.
‘0’ level maths or equivalent. RSA II typing. Experience of using simple statistical information. Experience of staff supervision.
Good degree of acceptability, dependability and self-reliance. Steady under pressure.
Example : |
Personnel Specification - Office |
Service Supervisor |
Essential |
|
|
Desirable |
5 Advertise the Position
You can advertise in a variety of ways including:
- In-house notice boards
- Local newspapers
- National newspapers
- Trade magazines
- Internet
- Local Job Centre
- Word of mouth
- Recruiting agencies
Careers offices for schools and colleges.
In most cases, you will probably advertise in the local newspaper and/or use the Job Centres, depending on the sort of person you are after. The object of the advertisement is to reach enough qualified people to provide a reasonable basis of choice.
Wherever you advertise, you will need to give details of the qualifications and experience you require together with the salary and benefits you will provide. State what sort of reply you expect, and a closing date.
6 Select the Best Applicant
With any luck, you will receive a good response to your advertisement. In fact the advertisement could produce more persons than you can possibly interview. This is why most businesses ask applicants to complete an application form.You can only use the application form to find out basic information
Increase your earnings! Take the full course and receive nationally recognised qualification or call us free at 08000-75-8000 for further information |
