Recruitment

Introduction

Recruitment is the essential process of finding and hiring the best-qualified candidate for a position, that fits into the organisation’s culture. The recruitment process includes analysing the requirements of a position, advertising the position, screening and interviewing candidates and hiring and introducing the new employee to the organisation.

Why

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This toolkit is relevant if your organisation:

• is growing and expanding its team, but has limited experience and skills in recruitment.
• has been doing recruitment in a casual way and needs to set up a standard process and tools for recruitment.
• wants to attract the right people,  who will fit the position and the culture of the organisation, and who will remain with the organisation for a longer period.

What you can expect

In twelve steps this toolkit will assist you in setting up systems that will help you recruit the team you need. Here you’ll find a step-by-step guide, tools, examples and other resources for making a recruitment policy.

Step 1: Needs Assessment

• Identify the needs for improving or implementing systems of recruitment in the organisation.
• Make sure leaders and team members recognise the importance of having a structured recruitment process.
• Watch this short video to get a clear idea of what a recruitment process entails.

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Step 2: Identification of Job Specification

• Discuss with leaders and relevant staff the vacancy and map out the details of the job specification. This includes identifying the criteria (required qualification and competencies) that are applicable for the role.
• Differentiate between key criteria (must-haves) and primary/secondary criteria (nice-to-haves).
• Have the position approved by the CEO or Board. 

Step 3: Vacancy Advertisement

• Write the criteria into a formal job description. This entails not only a list of requirements but will also include basic information about the organisation, educational and experiential requirements for the role, and the application process.
• Advertise the vacancy through internal channels (organisation’s website, social media, networks) and external channels (recruitment sites or organisations).
• Determine the medium in which the advertisement will be posted, as application instructions may vary accordingly.

Step 4: Involving the Team

• Inform everyone in the organisation about the new open position.
• Encourage staff to share feedback and opinions on appropriate projects, expectations and responsibilities for the new staff member.
• It is important that each employee understands the need, the role and responsibilities and any possible changes in their roles. This is the first step towards making the future employee feel welcomed in the organisation and managing change effectively for existing staff.

Step 5: Set-up Recruitment Process

• Discuss the following different steps of the recruitment process with the staff involved:
  • Screening
  • Shortlisting
  • Interviews
  • Reviews of work samples (or other assessment)
  • Checking References
  • Extending Offers
  • The orientation Process
• Clarify what happens in each of the steps and who will be responsible for it.
• Set clear timelines for each step of the recruitment.
• Document the recruitment process for future use.

Step 6: Recruiting

• Decide who will be involved in which recruitment process. Where there is not one designated human resource person, employees can assist leaders in the recruitment process with screening, shortlisting and interviewing applicants.
• Consider promoting internal candidates, if there are appropriate candidates in the team (volunteers, staff). They already know the organisation and have a proven track record.
• Keep a database with details on all applicants. This will help to streamline work and also provides a resource for future recruitment.

Step 7: Screening

• Screen curriculum vitaes.
• Refer to the job description and specific details so that the person screening the curriculum vitaes knows exactly what to look for.
• Consider those that absolutely match the criteria, but also keep a backup of candidates that are close to matching the criteria.
• Create a short list for the (phone) interviews.
• Add some information and comments to the shortlist to remember the candidates.
• Send regret letters or emails to all candidates, who are not on the shortlist.

Step 8: Interviews

• Set up an appropriate time for a (phone) interview with each candidate.
• Create an interview questionnaire for the interview and a basic rating sheet.
• Be sure that you create questions that cover your key criteria (check willingness to travel, work on weekends etc. if required).
• Make sure that an introduction to the organisation and the work you do is part of the interview, as the purpose is to figure out for both sides if working together would make sense.
• Create a shortlist for the next interview round based on your ratings.

Step 9: Next Interview Rounds

• Arrange in-person meetings with the people from the shortlist. It will depend on the organisation how many rounds will be conducted and what each will include.
• Create an interview questionnaire and a rating sheet for each round.
• Be sure that there is more than one person present at the interview to increase objectivity.
• Shortlist after each interview round.

Step 10: Reference Check

• Do a reference check before any job offer is made. The reference check gives an opportunity to talk to someone who has worked with the person before and it helps confirm or deny some of the concerns.
• Ensure that the candidate gives his/her agreement to do the reference check.
• Prepare some specific questions before calling the referee to ensure that all your concerns will be clarified.

Step 11: Offer of Employment

• Take the final decision on who to offer the job to.
• Issue a letter/e-mail to this candidate.
• Do not reject other candidates who made it to the final recruitment stage until the candidate has formally accepted your offer of employment.

Step 12: Contract

• Decide on the starting date and draft the contract, once the candidate has accepted your offer.
• Ensure that the candidate sends a signed copy of the contract back to you.
• Inform everyone in the organisation about the new employee and when they will be starting and ensure that they are welcomed.
• Set up a staff orientation plan and ensure everyone in the team knows about their responsibilities in the introduction process.

To summarise, watch this nice short video which repeats the steps to Effective Recruitment:

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Key To Success

• Involved staff in the recruitment process with their own responsibilities.
• Each organisation has different priorities at different times; it is important to identify if you are looking mainly for a specific skill set, for expertise in a specific area or for a cultural fit. Identify the must-haves vs. the nice-to-haves.
• It is wise to have back-up candidates in every stage of the recruitment process; some of your shortlisted candidates may have taken on another offer in the meantime.
• Candidates should have realistic expectations, so be clear and open about salary and other offerings.

Challenges

• Finding talented and qualified people who are willing to work in the development sector, where they will get less salary and other benefits than in the commercial sector.
• High turnover rate in the development sector.