Member Article

Knee Jerk reaction to business growth in 2018

This is the month where business owners start to put into place the plans and dreams for the coming year. Very often that will mean plans for expansion and that may also mean increased staffing levels. This is certainly reflected in the latest Quarterly Economic survey (QES) results published by the North East England Chamber of Commerce. With two thirds of respondents aiming to recruit full time staff this year, which is the highest sine 2015.

Jayne Hart, Director at HR Dept South Tyneside warns against knee jerk recruitment as too often this results in big expense, time wasted and the wrong candidate being given the job. Hart advises that firstly a review of the existing staff and processes should be undertaken. “Ask yourself can anything be made more efficient, is anyone over stretched or does a role need to be split? Auditing what’s currently happening and what impact growth will have on other areas of the business as you grow, will your accounts team be able to deal with more invoices? Once this is done you will know exactly what role you are looking for and what knowledge, skills and attitude the new employee will need. Recruitment is time consuming and can be very frustrating. Wading through hundreds of CV’s because the advert was not specific enough or worse still facing a discrimination claim because the advert was badly worded”. “Every candidate that comes for an interview the manager is hoping will be the right one so they can get back to the real job. Preparing questions in advance that test out the claims in the CV and that give the applicant a chance to demonstrate their attitude, probably the most important aspect is vital. Many interviewers make the mistake of employing someone because they are like them, must be a good guy because he supports my team. This is a well known mistake in HR that even has its own term “halo” recruiting”. Hart further warns “remember interviews go both ways – prospective employees are checking to see if your business fits with them so a well conducted interview and a chance to meet other members of the team gives a positive impression”
“With many sectors in this region facing a real skills shortage not putting on your best show for a future employee can be an expensive mistake and will see your ideal candidate taking up your competitors offer”. Jayne Hart of The HR Dept said “Following a good process from job description through to onboarding the new recruit will make a huge difference. We help a lot of companies with recruitment, at any stage through the process and have a national network we can utilise to get you the best candidate.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jayne Hart .