Employee Management for Small Business - Lin Grensing-Pophal 101 for Small Business Series

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qualified applicants, consider the following:

      • Education. What level of education is necessary to perform effectively in the position? High school? College? Special training? Will job performance require any type of special certificate or license? Be careful here. What you need to do is identify the minimum qualifications required, not what would be nice to have. While you may think it would be great to hire someone with a master’s degree to head your bookkeeping staff, requiring a bachelor’s degree — perhaps even an associate’s degree — might be most appropriate.

      • Experience. How much previous, related experience should a new employee have? Will training be offered on the job? Experience and education requirements are often tied together: i.e., “Bachelor’s degree plus a minimum of three years’ experience in the field.”

      • Physical requirements. What specific physical skills will be necessary? Manual dexterity? The ability to lift ___ pounds?

      • Personality requirements. Is this a position that requires close adherence totight deadlines? Overtime? Ability to work with a variety of personality types? Ability to negotiate?

      Be careful that each requirement you identify is specifically job related. This can help you avoid potential problems later. For example, a job-related requirement for a typing position might be the ability to type at least 60 words per minute. Requiring that the candidate be female or have a master’s degree might not be job related.

      Don’t make these job determinations in a vacuum. Ask other members of the organization for their perspectives. If appropriate, talk to the person who is leaving the position. Ask colleagues at other organizations for their insights and experience.

      Once you have taken these steps in identifying and defining specific requirements of the position, you are ready to move on to the next step — recruitment.

      3. Where Do You Look for Help?

      Whether you are staffing up in anticipation of increased human resources needs, replacing an employee who is leaving, or just thinking about the possibility of future hiring needs, your first question will be, “Where do I find the person I need?”

      There are several options available to you — each offering unique advantages and disadvantages and each requiring slightly different approaches.

      3.1 In-house

      The most qualified applicant for a position may well be a person you already have on staff. Most companies have procedures established for hiring from within. The reasons for this are many:

      • The morale of employees improves when they may be considered for internal promotions or new opportunities.

      • Management can identify those employees who are interested in career advancement.

      • Management already knows the job history and capability of internal job candidates.

      • Less time is needed for employee orientation and training.

      • Turnover is reduced, as employees look for career progression within their company.

      • The company is able to make better use of its human resources.

      There are also disadvantages created by hiring from within.

      • The number of potential job candidates is limited to qualified personnel in the company.

      • It limits the introduction of new blood, which sometimes results in internal stagnation.

      • Internal recruitment produces a “ripple effect” in terms of hiring. As one person leaves a position to take another, a new vacancy is created. This effect continues down to the lowest-level jobs, which must then be filled through other means.

      It is important for a company considering an internal job-posting system to establish a formal process for using the system and to communicate that process to all employees. Most commonly, when there is a job opening, all employees are notified of the position and given specific information on the job title, salary, department, supervisor’s name and title, responsibilities of the job, qualifications, and skills required. The posting remains displayed in a prominent place for a specified number of days. The supervisor or manager doing the hiring reviews internal applications before going outside the company. Generally, employees are required to notify their current supervisor or manager when applying for an internal position.

      Even if you have an internal process for posting available jobs, there may be times when you decide not to follow this process. For instance, a position may have been created especially for a particular employee, or a job can be best filled through a predetermined and logical career path. Keep in mind, though, that straying from this process can create ill will, and employees will wonder why you are not following the process that has been communicated.

      The most important consideration when using a job-posting system is to be fair and consistent. Morale will be reduced dramatically if employees begin to feel that the system is administered in a biased or inconsistent manner.

      3.2 Recruiting services

      “Recruiting services” is a broad term that refers to personnel agencies, executive recruiters, headhunters, and any other agencies that perform the function of finding, screening, and recommending candidates for a position.

      There are some obvious advantages to using recruiting services:

      • You are able to take advantage of the agency’s knowledge and contacts for finding qualified job candidates.

      • You save the time (and expense) of advertising, screening résumés, and conducting preliminary interviews.

      • You are able to keep the name of your company and the fact that you are hiring confidential until you actually begin the interviews.

      • You are assured that the people you eventually interview are qualified for the position.

      With these important benefits, why don’t more people use recruiting services?

      • Unfamiliarity with the use of recruiting services or fear of the unknown.

      • Expense — fees can range from 10 to 25 percent of the candidate’s starting salary.

      • Personal experience or knowledge of others’ experiences with disreputable agencies.

      • Feeling that nobody else could know the type of candidate you are looking for as well as you could.

      These drawbacks are very real. Disreputable agencies do exist and fees can be high. If you do decide to use a recruiting agency, follow these guidelines to make the experience as positive as possible:

      • Seek recommendations for these service providers. Don’t hesitate to ask the agency itself for references.

      • Ask what the costs will be. Be sure to ask about possible hidden fees such as telephone or travel expenses.

      • Consider working with more than one agency until you become comfortable with one.

      • Establish a relationship and build loyalty with a particular recruiter, not necessarily the agency.

      • Be clear and specific about job requirements and candidate specifications.

      • Be firm and clear about your expectations of the agency and its services.

      3.3 Newspaper and trade journal ads

      Advertising in the newspaper or in trade journals is still a common recruiting method for many positions, and one that is familiar to most job seekers. Advertising for job candidates follows the same principles as any other type of advertising — you need to identify your target audience, write an ad that will attract its attention, and provide information that will help audience members determine whether they are

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