Employers urged to take care with new employees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(March 2012) – Recruitment pioneer and driving force behind recruitment organisation, The Slade Group, Geoff Slade has warned employers that now is not the time to make a bad hiring decision. While more than 46,000 people found jobs in January – a much higher result than predicted – overall job market growth remains variable. Some industries such as mining and agriculture face a serious skills shortage, while other industries, possibly spooked by rising costs and the looming carbon tax, are reluctant to invest in new staff, according to Geoff.

“Hiring new talent is not a short term proposition. A business needs to gear up for expansion before the expansion actually happens. That way, you have your A-team in place when you really need it. Making the wrong hiring decision at a crucial time can be a costly mistake, especially in the current market conditions,” said Geoff.

Jason Snell – CEO of one of Australia’s fastest growing shortlist recruiters agrees and says one of the most common problems when hiring new staff is ensuring a strong cultural fit. He advises employers to start integrating new recruits long before they sign an employment contract.

“The interview process is obviously the first step in assessing whether your candidate will fit in with the rest of the team and with the organisation’s culture,” he said.

“Of course you need to ask questions about whether they’re qualified to do the job, but it’s almost as important to ask more personal questions to find out what they believe in, what’s important to them and how that relates to the rest of the team.

“I think the biggest challenge when recruiting is finding people who believe in what you believe, live your values and want to contribute to the team over and above the ‘job requirements’. I have seen it time and time again in the football environment where people do not give of themselves for the team and the same happens in the workplace. You should be completely up front about your organisation’s culture and expectations from the very beginning. This will weed out the candidates who won’t fit into the environment,” said Jason.

“You should also ask the candidate some abstract questions that show the way they think under pressure rather than allowing them to stick to pre-prepared answers to common interview questions. I knew of a manager who would ask the candidate a confronting question in the middle of the interview just to see how they would react. If they took it in stride, he knew they would respond well to the teasing, informal culture at his organisation.”

Jason argues that the recruitment and integration process doesn’t end when the ink is dry on the contract. He advises employers to create a relevant, considered induction phase that includes checking in with the employee regularly and gradually increasing the depth of the information provided.

“Sometimes a new employee just slots right into the team like they’ve been working together forever and other times it can be a rocky start. Don’t write a new recruit off straight away if they haven’t found their niche – it can take a few weeks. Some employees need more attention and information than others. The trick to retaining the best talent is to give those employees what they need,” said Jason.

“Losing a new recruit or letting them go because they don’t fit the culture creates extra expense and can cause friction within the existing team. It’s much more effective to get it right the first time via a careful recruitment process and a well-planned induction process with plenty of open communication both ways.”

Shortlist to help a new recruit settle in:

- Be completely open about company culture and expectations – everything from what not to wear on casual Fridays to what the KPIs and performance review consist of.

- Be honest from the start about the role’s expectations, pressures and realities.

- Create time for the new recruit to interact with their new colleagues without the immediate pressures of work. Lunches, breaks and after work drinks are perfect.

- Consider a buddy system that matches your most sincere and enthusiastic team members with a new recruit – but be sure to recognise and support the mentor appropriately.

- Keep checking in with the new recruit on how the induction process is going and what information they’re looking for.

- Get the right person by using a recruitment or shortlisting agency like nexthire. These agencies take the legwork out of finding the right candidates by reviewing the resumes submitted for the job and providing you with a shortlist of five people to interview.

About nexthire

nexthire, formerly known as final5, uses the latest in recruitment technology and techniques to deliver quality, screened shortlists within 10 days for a flat fee. It does not charge placement fees. nexthire delivers targeted and well executed advertising campaigns to attract the right candidates, specialised candidate briefing to meet your brief, and a qualified shortlist of candidates ready for interview.

About Jason Snell

Jason has been at nexthire since it was founded as final5 in 2004. At the helm for most of the company’seight-year history, Jason has seen nexthire go from strength to strength as the leader in recruitment shortlisting.

With a BComm (International Business & Marketing) from Deakin University, Jason firmly believes that there is a better way to recruit excellent candidates without devoting endless hours in-house to the process or paying high placement fees. By challenging the way businesses approach recruitment, Jason is demonstrating that there is a better way to recruit.

A former AFL footballer, Jason retired from the game in 2002 after a severe leg injury left him unable to run.

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