There are many factors at play when it comes to finding the right person for the job. This goes both ways for both the employer and the employee.
Knowing what to consider and what will considered about you can give you a winning edge in the long run.
The important thing to remember is that there are specific things to look for and have in place that are applicable to almost every industry.
The way to make more of your best asset
The staff of your business are often not the fully utilised resource that they can be. It all depends on whether you have a talented team and how well you have recruited those staff.
It doesn’t matter if someone is going to apply for nanny jobs through different childcare recruitment agencies, the ideais that you want to find the best person for the job.
There are special ways to ensure that you hire the highest standard of employee (and you, as an employee, are seen as one).
The main points are:
- Be genuine – sooner or later, the real person and their abilities will come out and there is no point hiring or being hired if the job doesn’t match the applicant.
- Be realistic – asking for someone to be a superstar from the first day and without the proper training is delusional.
- Be specific – the whole point of hiring someone is to do a specific role with specific tasks and not be an octopus who can cover a long list of roles.
- Be open – it pays to be more open-minded rather than fixed on hiring someone like yourself or the previous employee.
Another idea is to utilise as many avenues of feedback as possible.
Looking at the situation from different angles
Sometimes, people overlook a much needed and vital aspect of hiring the right person and that is references.
There are a number of reasons to pay close attention to referees and what they say.
- You can check if those references are legitimate
- You get instant feedback on what the person is like and what they are like to work with
- You can ask if there are any specific failings or positives
It is surprising how many job candidates have the wrong references – even ones that will openly say why that person was let go – and yet think that any reference is better than none.
Others will be so over the top that you can tell that they are a close friend or relative whose words need to be taken with a grain of salt.
Another way to get a different perspective of an applicant is to take them for a tour of the workplace and see how they interact with others.
You can often get an invaluable insight into how a person treats others and will work with them from those interactions.
Getting more out of your workforce
There are countless stories of companies that have a strong workforce where people are reluctant to leave. This creates a powerful bond between each of the employees and how they work together on different projects.
Once you have gone through the rigours of finding and hiring the right people, then there is the task of getting the most out of your staff.
With your team motivated and focussed on what they need to do, you have a powerful tool for getting real ‘buy in’ from everyone concerned.
This is when a high-performance culture can bring out the best in each employee and the way they work with each other.
There is no simple way to have your staff become a high-performance team because of the intricacies of having all the individual talents working together in a cohesive way.
When you have a team which is united in its purpose and clear about each team member’s role, you can enjoy excellent results on a sustained level.
What to do when things go wrong
One of the most critical things that you need to do as an employer is to deal with any workplace issues as soon as possible.
Letting problems fester and spread will only make matters worse and the effects on work output can be devastating.
Getting the best possible performance from your team requires attention to detail and having the right workplace practices in place.
If ever there is an issue such as misconduct in the workplace or harassment, then your way of dealing with the matter from the outset can make all the difference.
In the case of a serious misconduct, this is defined as a staff member who deliberately behaves in a way that is ‘inconsistent with continuing their employment’ such as being the cause of serious health and safety risks, committing assault, fraud or theft.
The three key things to remember when you are confronted with a misconduct case at your workplace is to:
- Arrange a meeting with the employee as soon as possible and explain that they are allowed to have a person of support at the meeting along with a witness of your own.
- Present the facts and evidence of the misconduct to the employee including eyewitness accounts.
- The employee should be allowed the right of response to the misconduct allegations in the meeting or in the form of a written explanation at a later stage.
As the employer, you should then make an informed decision based on all the evidence and the different accounts of the situation.
Asking for professional guidance on matters of this nature is heavily advised.
The best person for the role
Finding the right person for the right job is all a matter of doing your due diligence and remembering that you can avoid problems down the track by being patient.
Thinking of how the right employee can add value to your business is a great start to enjoying a workplace that is cooperative and cohesive.
That’s all you could ask for and it’s your role to lay the groundwork to a productive workplace that performs to its best.