A crucial aspect of any organisation’s ability to achieve its mission is to get the right people on board. Talented, committed people, with the right skill set and behaviours, will change the world. Therefore the process of recruitment is an important one. Andy Edwards, Managing Director of Axon Moore, shares his advice on securing the best people for your charity.
There are two ways of finding the right people to recruit into your organisation. Partnering with a recruitment organisation who have expertise, or finding people yourself.
Now, the benefit of an outside recruiter is that they will have the skills to find the right person for you and it will allow you to focus on your day job.
You might have already considered this but do not have the budget; so how do you go about recruiting yourself? Many jump immediately to writing an advertisement. I would say; hold that thought and take a step back. Firstly you need to ask yourself a couple of big questions, as if you were a prospective job seeker:
1. What is the purpose of your organisation? What do you do? What is your mission?
Then;
2. What opportunities are you offering potential candidates?
You may have already clearly answered question one and you can go back to your “mission statement” or objectives. If you are not clear on these, this is an excellent time to have a sit down and ask yourself some questions and get the answers written down. I am not thinking too strategically here about the wider goals for your organisation but just about how you communicate to potential candidates to whom you wish to give definition and context. Basically it should form the first lines of your job advertisement. Only the largest businesses can rely on their brand to do the talking, the rest of us have to explain.
The second question is much more specific. Again it might be a role that you’ve already clearly defined or are refilling, but if not you need to spend some time thinking about the tasks and duties required of this post holder. What’s the job title? It sounds obvious, but this will be a header for the job specification and it will directly impact whether you get a good or bad response. Also, what kind of experience or qualifications does the potential candidate need to have to be successful? All of these points considered, the job specification and the candidate specification should now be in place.
Most people expect to get paid something, for many it is the prime motivator, fair enough. However, for Non-for Profit organisations, it is often a secondary consideration and the reward is often linked with other motivators. Either way you need to give some details.
Next up, have a think about what the process will be once you’ve generated the response.
Decide what the selection process looks like; How many candidates will be interviewed? Who will host interviews? What interview techniques will be used? How will suitability be measured?
You will also need to manage and action the responses you get. I would suggest contacting those you’re interested in first and rejecting non suitable applicants soon after.
There are a myriad of options here from traditional advertising in newspapers, to internet job boards and even social media. You need to think about what’s relevant to your organisation and this role to choose the best option. Expensive is not always best and you can often get it done for free!
Once your interviews are over and you are confident you have found “The One”, let them know quickly and with a fanfare. I would suggest putting it in writing straight after they have accepted, otherwise it is not real.
When you have got an acceptance, be aware of any gap between their “Yes” and the start date. Sometimes employers are left standing at the altar complacently hoping that Mr or Mrs Right is just running late on their first day, only to find out they’ve been lured away to another job in the meantime. Keeping in regular contact can help to either prevent or forewarn you before the last minute.
On their first day, have a structured induction, necessary equipment, training and anything else they may need to get started and feel welcomed in to your organisation.