Recruitment
Great News for Graduates
Recruitment | HR | Business Development
According to the 2012 Australian Graduate Survey, three-quarters of Bachelor degree graduates find full time work within four months of completing their studies.
A further 15% find part-time or casual work according to new figures shown in the survey.
174,000 graduates for surveyed.
For medicine, pharmacy, mining engineering, surveying and nursing, 92% of graduates were in full-time employment four months after graduation.
More than 94% of bachelor degree graduates were satisfied with their university experiences overall.
This is great news for our education institutions and for the health of our graduate job market.
(Data reported: Sunday Mail 30 December 2012)
For all your recruitment needs – Balanix Solutions (Recruitment)
Who to Employ
Recruitment | HR | Business Development
I’m not saying anything new when I say that choosing staff is a major critical business decision. The cost of recruiting (both time and dollars), and, more particularly, the cost of the wrong decisions can make choosing staff a stressful, confusing and expensive exercise.
The evaluation of candidates’ information should focus on two factors:
- the “can do” factors (ie, knowledge, skills, competency and aptitude or potential for acquiring new knowledge and skills), as well as,
- the “will do” factors (motivation, interests and other personality characteristics).
In other words, interest is focussed on what a person can and will do.
Both of these factors are essential to successful job performance. A person who has the ability (ie, “can do”) but not the motivation to use it or to grow (ie, “will not do”) is little better than someone who is willing however unable to do the job.
So, how does the employer make a decision? Like everything in business, there is no magic answer. The strategy to making selection decisions for one job may be different from that used for another. Having said this, here is some things to think about:
- what is the job all about – will it stay the same over time or will it evolve and grow with the business.
- what is the future growth of the business – is it better to employ someone with very high skills who can hit the ground running in the job quickly, or is future potential and growth capabilities better, taking a long term approach.
- should someone be hired according to their potential or according to the immediate needs of the business.
- what’s in it for the employee – what are they looking for in an employer and employment and does this match what can be offered.
- on what basis is salary (and other remuneration) determined for the immediate and the future.
- how will people be employed – full-time, part-time, casual, contract etc.
- what induction and training would be needed.
- how long would it be expected the person would stay in the employment (does it matter).
- will there be opportunities for advancement within the business as an incentive to stay.
- what probation period would be used.
- what performance needs to be met to confirm employment.
Getting the right person for the right job at the right time has enormous benefits for a business. However the decision cannot be taken lightly.
balanixsolutions.com.au/recruitment
Recruitment Consultants -v- Recruitment Agencies
Recruitment | HR | Business Development
Recruitment consultancy is a viable alternative to recruitment agencies. The key things about recruitment consultants are:
- Consultants don’t manage candidates.
- Consultants work closely with the business owner/manager to understand the job and organisational cultural requirements in great depth.
- Recruitment and selection is targeted to attract to a specific role and requirements.
- Fee structure follows a consultancy model and generally is lower than the agency model.
Recruitment agencies:
- Manage candidates.
- Fees are generally a percentage of the salary offered for the position.
- Attract a broad range of candidates within a work discipline.
- May have a number of masters who they are serving (eg, Government in relation to Job Network, Labor hire clients, as well as specific recruitment assignments).
If you are experiencing high turnover/low retention of staff, recruitment consultants can provide a more strategic and targeted alternative to recruitment.
balanixsolutions.com.au/recruitment-services
Where to find Staff
Recruitment | HR | Business Development
In my travels as a recruitment consultant I came across a wonderful description of the Perfect Employee –
- Would not shy away from hard work and could find things that need to be done without the direction of others.
- Would get to work on time every time and not put at risk the lives of others in an attempt to be the first to leave each day.
- Would listen carefully when spoken to and ask only enough questions to ensure the accurate undertaking of the work.
- Would be honest and ethical, telling the truth every time.
- Would not sulk or complain when emergencies arise requiring extra effort and time.
- Would be cheerful, courteous and helpful to everyone and determined to make good.
- Would be enthusiastic and motivated to achieve.
- Would have the requisite education, skills and experience.
- Friends / Relatives
- Existing staff / Previous Staff
- Network Colleagues / Suppliers
- Newspaper advertising
- Internet Advertising (seek.com.au / careerone.com.au)
- Twitter / Facebook / Linkedin
- Recruitment Agencies – Job Network/Specialists/Not for Profit
- Recruitment Consultants – Balanix Solutions
- University / TAFE / Schools – intranet postings
- Door signage
- Industry Organisations – Publications/website
Adina – This is Not an Ab Fab Job Description
Recruitment | HR | Business Development
Unfortunately, Adina is not alone in the way she considers job descriptions (refer YouTube video above).
When I ask Business Owners/Managers (and not just Small Business Owners/Managers) if they have documented Job Descriptions for all roles in their businesses, too larger number reply “Oh I don’t have time to do that – besides I know in my head what I need them to do”.
Interesting, I think, and then raise the logical question “so in relation to your XYZ position, what do you need them to do?”
“Well” is the reply, “I need them to do this, this and this” which is more often than not the technical aspect of the job (eg, bookkeeping for a Bookkeeper position or computer configuration for an IT position).
“Terrific” I say, “and how do you want them to treat your customers? What sort of relationship with the other staff and you do you wish them to build? What sort of employee do you want them to be? What sorts of things do you want your people to be saying about you and your business to others who maybe looking for work?”
Statistics indicate that recruitment of employees costs approximately 2 ½ times the salary of the position (actual costs of advertising etc, time to consider applicants and interview, training of new employee, potential overtime for others to do the work whilst recruiting, loss of productivity whilst new employee reaches full performance etc). Further, benchmarks also support that it can take close to 12 months for an employee to be working at full productivity and that, employers can expect to hold onto an employee, on average, for 2-3 years. In other words, we invest for 12 months to bring a new employee to peek performance to hold onto them for another 1-2 years.
Job Descriptions (particularly when documented) are sound tools for businesses to:
- group work that needs to be done in the best possible way;
- identify both the technical skills and knowledge required as well as the customer focus and personal attributes sought;
- strengthen the chance of employing the right person for the right job and thereby reducing the chance of turnover;
- market a business as an Employer of Choice as a way to attract better candidates than the competition; and
- be the foundation for performance processes.
Can I suggest that investment in well thought out documented Job Descriptions is not a significant cost to a business.
www.balanixsolutions.con/recruitment
