Recruitment Procedures

Nov 21, 2019 | STAFFING

Recruitment Procedures

This blog post is a sharing of my knowledge and experience of recruiting and interviewing over my years in Education. It incorporates: what went well, what to avoid and the background organisation required to make the whole process run smoothly, which can really make a difference on the day.

As a Head teacher, I recruited over 100 new staff over a number of years at every level of the organisation. This was due to amalgamating two schools, expanding the school to become a large three form entry primary school and, perhaps what I am most proud of, many staff leaving due to career progression.

Sections in this post:

Organisational steps for your recruitment process
5 tops tips to include on your advert
Application forms & templates
Communication is key
Help

Section 1: Organisational Steps for your recruitment process

Advert

Confirm content of advert.
Advertise the post where you believe your target employees are most likely to access.

Initial enquiry responses

Confirm and use one email account throughout if your business has multiple.
Send packs out to interested people. Include:

Thank you for your interest in the post and next steps.
Application form.
Job description.
Job specification.

Compile an overview of interest received on excel. Include:

Contact information.
Date when the application pack was sent to them.
Date when the applicant has applied.
Shortlist outcome
You may wish to track equality measures such as age, gender and ethnic origin.

After the closing date

Confirm with the interview panel if they would like applications sent electronically or printed out. (Remember if sending electronically, this needs to be secure in order to adhere to GRDP.)
Create a summary sheet for the panel of the received applications. You can quickly cut and paste this from your excel master you’ve created.
Send the applications received to the interview panel. Also include in their pack a copy of the advert, JD and Job Specification for their reference.
Put applications in alphabetical order and assign a letter / number to each. (If the panel have a large number to shortlist this is invaluable for them and help not waste time looking for specific ones from their piles during the shortlisting meeting.)
Ensure the interview panel have at least five working days to read through the applications to prepare.
Check all the interview panel are still able to attend both the shortlisting and interview days. Confirm and remind them of the date, time and place for the shortlisting meeting.
Ask the panel to put the applicants into three categories in their preparation as they read through them: Yes / Maybe / No.
Write provisional questions and tasks to be used for the interview ready to discuss on the ‘Shortlisting day.’
Compile a panel shortlisting overview grid if required. This helps to quickly see common trends on who to interview and also demonstrates that equal opportunities has been applied if anyone was ever to challenge you on this.
Prepare the letters to be sent to applicants inviting them to interview.
Prepare the letters to be sent to the referees.

On the shortlisting day

Send invite to selected applicants for interview.
Send requests for references.
Decide on the final format of the day and work out timings for the number you are interviewing.
Top tip: Build in time for refreshment and comfort breaks during the day.
Finalise the question and tasks for the day.
Decide if applicants will have access to the questions for ten minutes prior to their formal interview. If you decide to go with this remember to build into the days timings that someone / your hospitality person will need to give them out.
Check if a buffet lunch has been booked for the panel and book if required.
Confirm timings and expectations for the day with all members of the panel.

Before interview day

Collate references under the applicant name – chase if required.
Confirm attendance from shortlisted applicants.
Collate a pack for each member of the interview panel with everything they need in the correct order.
Ensure each of the panel have a collated recruitment pack of the following:
Timing schedule for the day
Sets of Interview questions & tasks for the number being interviewed
Copy of applications in order of interview time
References

Section 2: 5 tops tips to include on your advert

These look like common sense, but you would be surprised how many adverts miss one or more of these out!

Location – State your exact location on your advert, being vague may just stop the right person from applying because they don’t know where they are going to travel to and how!
Hours – Make it clear on your advert the hours you expect your new employee to work each week. If possible state if the timings of the day are fixed or flexible. This can really make a difference and will save both them and the panel time later on in the process.
Pay – State the salary that they will be earning. Be careful here as the amount is not what it will cost the business with tax, N.I. and pension contributions added on.
Skill set required – Make it clear what sort of person you are looking for and the key skills or experience that will be vital for the post.
Communication preference – If there is one format of communication you prefer over another make it clear on the advert. You may not wish to be inundated with phone calls and prefer email or post for instance.

Section 3: Application Forms & Templates

It’s a personal / company preference if you use these or not. I would always say yes!

Why?

Everyone is clear on the precise information that is needed.
Information is in a common place from each applicant and you don’t have to go searching for the same piece of information from what they’ve send in.
Not only does it set expectations and shows your business is of a professional calibre, but it also gives you a valuable insight if the applicant is able to complete a form correctly. You would be surprised!
Regardless if it’s the application or reference request form it assists the interviewing panel to be able to quickly compare like for like.

Application form top tip!

If you know you’re going to have large numbers of people apply for the post, you may wish to include a sentence at the bottom of the application form: “If you have not heard back from us after a period of two weeks you have not successful on this occasion on being shortlisted to go through to the next stage.”

Section 4: Communication is key

All it takes is one assumption that everyone knows what is happening for things to go wrong! This can be in the lead up to the interview day, during or after. Common assumptions can easily scupper your recruitment procedures:

No one is free to welcome applicants and make them feel comfortable whilst they are on site.
A waiting and / or task room hasn’t been booked out for the applicants to use.
If lunch is booked, what time is it booked for? Has a lunchbreak being built into the interview days schedule? Are the applicants also being provided with lunch?
Interview panel are not clear what time to turn up. There is nothing worse than a member of the interview panel arriving during the first interview with an applicant. Again, impressions that gives the applicant.
Discussion and decisions haven’t taken place with the panel for the what if scenarios. For instance if your first of five applicants are thirty minutes late, do you wait and make everyone else late or keep to the schedule and time?

Section 5: Help

If any or all of this seems overwhelming then Busy Lives! can help. I can take on as much or little of the organisation and processes as you wish. I have done different aspects for different clients:

Lead and organise the whole recruitment process.
Conduct or be part of the panel for the formal interviews and tasks.
Shortlist for the panel.
Provide questions and tasks for the panel to use at interview.
Organise, format and write the paperwork required for all or part of the process.
Collate and organise the packs for the panel.
Provide business support, PA and hosting duties for the business.
Collate applicant information onto a database and analyse demographics.

For more information contact me

A twist to finding out more about someone

Mar 21, 2019 | STAFFING

Knowing me, knowing you…

I think we would all be surprised if we counted the number of questions we ask in a single day regardless if it’s towards:

a client
in business
within a networking group
making an enquiry
colleague
family member.

The beauty of my niche business is the vast range of projects that I’m given that can make a difference to individuals and organisations. I’ve recently gained a new six-month contract to interview members of a network for their newsletter and website content: ‘Coach-in-the-spotlight.’

When invited to submit a pitch for the contract, it made me reflect on different questioning techniques I’ve used over time for different purposes. This post explores some of the common approaches which, if you read, will help you reflect on the methods you use.

Typical Question starters

We all know the five ‘w’ key question starters we automatically use in our daily lives without thinking: who, what, where, why, when…how, is another one used commonly.

Some questions we ask, depending upon how we ask them, are closed only requiring a short direct yes or no response.

For instance:

Is it raining currently outside?

Some questions have what I class as a second layer to them which require a person to respond in more depth.

For instance:

Which month of the year do you think has the most variation in the weather and why?

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Education professionals commonly refer to Bloom’s Taxonomy for developing questioning techniques (by Benjamin Bloom). This has six layers to it in a structure which increasingly requires the use of cognitive thinking skills.

It commences from a very simple recall of facts, through to developing a deep understanding. There is a wealth of information on the internet regarding this if you are interested in finding out more.

Question Stems examples for each of the six areas

Knowledge

What happened after…?
Which is true or false…?
Can you tell why…?

Comprehension

What do you think could of happened next…?
Who was the key person…?
Can you distinguish between…?

Application

Do you know another instance where…?
From the presentation given, can you develop a set of instructions about…?
What factors would you change if…?

Analysis

What was the underlying theme of…?
What were some of the motives behind…?
Can you compare your…with that presented in…?

Synthesis

If you had access to all resources how would you deal with…?
How many ways can you formulate…?
Can you see and construct a possible solution to…?

Evaluation

How effective are…?
Is there an improved solution to…?
Can you defend your position about?

Typical Questions asked

Whilst conducting my initial research on the group I’m going to be interviewing, I found they already had short biographies about themselves on their website. This made me want to avoid and not repeat those first introductory questions that we often used when you meet someone. Typical ones I often get asked are:

What do you do?
How long have you done this for?
What other careers have you had previously?

A twist to finding out something more about someone

What follows are ten from a range of questions I’m going to be using to probe and find out what makes each one an interesting, knowledgeable and unique person / coach:

If you could ask anyone a question in the world who would it be and what would you ask them and why?
What book has influenced your work the most in your work and how did it influence and enhance your coaching philosophy?
What tip would you give to someone new joining your profession?
Where does the majority of your work take place? Your home / Their home / Coffee shop / Business premises / other – does it make a difference?
Who inspires you the most and why?
If you won a week’s holiday where would you go and why?
What do you like to buy as a treat for yourself? How often do you do this?
What’s your favourite comfort food and is it the same as when you were a child?
What sort of marketing has generated the most new clients for you? Social media / referral / networking / literature / business expo’s / other
Thinking of your favourite character in your favourite film, what type of personality traits do they have? How are they similar to you?

…what would your answers be to them and why?

How to amalgamate teams

Feb 21, 2019 | STAFFING

I have previously had the task of amalgamating two large sets of staff, roughly each composing of around fifty people. At the time, amalgamations were occurring across many schools to make them into primaries.

Consequently, I spoke to other leaders who had been through the amalgamations listening carefully to both leaders and their staff. This gave me the opportunity to reflect upon how they had achieved their aims and where it had gone wrong so that I could transform issues and conflict into success.

Regardless of your business, consider the points below to inform how you lead and more importantly interact with others when joining teams or integrating new staff:

Key points where it is likely to go wrong:

Naively assume that just by giving the business a new name that everything will work out smoothly at your establishment.
Continue to let the staff work as two teams that don’t get the opportunity to mix with and know each other. This will breed an ‘us and them blame culture.’
If you already know one of the teams, don’t ‘talk them up’ at the expense of the other team, as this will create low morale and disengagement from your new employees.

Key points to implement to get it right:

Let staff know your vision and give them the opportunity to contribute to this, so that a new shared vision gives everyone the opportunity to succeed.
Create purposeful opportunities for the enlarged team to be mixed up regularly to work on strategic activities that will move your company forward. (Be careful how you initially mix the teams up i.e. personality, attitude towards change.)
Share and celebrate the strengths each team has and promote this as an opportunity to learn from each other.
Use professional development as an opportunity to interchange a few key members from the two teams so that they don’t remain static and run the risk of negative culture towards the each other.
Get to know your staff. Use it as an opportunity to share both your own values and learn theirs. This is also a subtle way of gently disseminating your professional expectations for the workplace.
Be visible daily and available to listen, especially within the first six to nine months. It’s far easier to smooth out potential issues and conflict before they end up encompassing a large number of staff in the problem. This will save you time in the long run from not having to deal with major HR issues and ensure staff continue to focus and be productive in their work.
Share and celebrate your new team successes, especially with those who often are the unsung heroes and are easily forgotten about. A weekly ten-minute briefing is an ideal opportunity for this, as it also reinforces the sense of one whole team.
Be careful how you disseminate new information. Again, a weekly briefing or post on the shared portal means everyone gets to know the same information at all once and will respect you for it.

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