Best Hiring Practice for New Managers
The recruitment and retention of quality personnel is one of the most important tasks faced by business owners and managers. It can also present many challenges to people who are just taking on risk management responsibilities for their organizations.
However, there are a few common-sense steps that can be taken to make the hiring process run as smoothly as possible. Here’s a look at some of them.
Have a Clear Job Description
Organizations are more likely thrive and grow if they can successfully attract the kinds of qualified applicants whose skills sets best match their needs.
Having a position open up or be created gives managers the opportunity to determine not only what those needs are, but what they are going to be in the future. If done property, the recruiting process can make it easier to do succession planning. This is particularly important with the growing number of Baby Boomers who have already retired or plan to do so in the next few years.
Updating that job description accordingly will go a long way towards making sure any advertisement for the position you’re hoping to fill will draw the kind of talent your organization will require moving forward. It also creates a clearer expectation from your new employees of the role they are to fill and what their duties will entail.
Do Not Allow Nepotism
From a legal standpoint, you want to keep your organization as free from potential liability as possible. Human resource actions have the potential to create a litany of issues if they aren’t done properly.
Some organizations, and especially smaller ones, end up with multiple members of the same family being hired. What makes it worse is when employees have direct supervising authority over relatives.
Your organization should have a written policy against any such practices that could give the appearance of nepotism. More importantly, it is critical that those policies be followed once they are in place. That will go a long way towards avoiding any allegations of unfavorable treatment in the hiring process and beyond.
Give Clear Communication to Applicants
Once your application deadline has passed, you will have the chance to review the various resumes that have been sent your way. From that pool, you should be able to determine which potential employees should make the first round of interviews.
Nobody likes receiving a rejection letter, and nobody likes sending them, either. But many applicants would rather know that they won’t be considered, so they can continue their job search. If they aren’t ever informed of the fact, they may still hold out hope that they can find a place with the company or organization.
Likewise, applicants who you would like to interview for the position will appreciate being informed of what the rest of the process will look like so they can plan accordingly.
Use Objective Interview Criteria
Before you conduct the first round of interviews, make sure you have a list of questions and that you ask them of all your would-be employees. You will want to accompany that with a separate document on which you can make notes during the interview. Figure out ahead of time how you plan to score those interviews and save that documentation after you have moved on to the next step.
Make a Contingency Offer
Hopefully, you’ve navigated through the interview process and found the best fit for your organization. The process is almost finished, but not quite.
Many positions, especially those involving levels of financial responsibility, will require a background check. You will want to be clear about that expectation from the beginning of the recruitment, so applicants aren’t surprised to learn later on that they will have to do one.
It’s appropriate at this point to offer the position. Doing so in person and in writing is the best approach. You can also inform your pending new hire that the job offer is contingent upon them passing the background check and other screenings you previously informed them of.
There are many companies that provide these services. They are fairly inexpensive, and you can typically get your results within a week or two. Those companies can also check references, but you can save time and money by doing it yourself.
After the references have checked out, you should have the potential new employee sign a form authorizing the background check. Wait until that clears before doing a drug screening, if the position requires one. And once your applicant passes that, you can let them know that they’re cleared to be onboarded.
If you need any more information at any stage of the hiring process, you can contact the highly trained staff at ABI Insurance.
ABI Insurance has specialists who focus on management liability and executive protection, and who can help select the right program for Employment Practices Liability and Directors & Officers insurance. Its team of qualified professionals are fully equipped to help you manage risks and ensure that your business is protected and you’re covered in the event that anything happens.
For more information on the products and services offered by ABI, call 503-292-1580 or go to www.abipdx.com.