Top 5 Tips – Making Good Recruitment Decisions

So, another week, another headline that no-one is recruiting!  Whilst we haven’t seen evidence of this we have had discussions with clients recently who are really concerned about ensuring that they get their recruitment decisions right.  Here are our top tips:

• Don’t make recruitment decisions on your own; involve a trusted manager/colleague in the process and you will avoid the “halo/horns” effect
• Don’t just rely on an interview, test their skills using a work based assessment exercise like a presentation scenario,  IT test or In Tray exercise specifically designed to test the required skills
• Use pre-prepared competency based interview questions.  An “HRism” we know, but they work! It essentially means getting candidates to talk through real examples of where they have demonstrated the required skills for the role rather than asking “what if” questions
• Don’t just check their skills; check fit with company culture and motivation levels. Do they want your job or just any job?
• Make sure the candidate does most of the talking in the interview otherwise you will realise afterwards you know nothing about them!

Don’t forget, you are dealing with people so recruitment is not an exact science!  Most managers have had a bad recruit at some point in their career so if this happens don’t beat yourself up about it, review what went wrong and learn from it.

Ignore the Agency Worker Regulations at your peril!

On 1 October 2011 the Agency Workers Regulations came into force, entitling agency workers to “favourable treatment” from day one and the same basic employment conditions as permanent staff after twelve weeks in the same role.

If you use temporary staff it is highly likely that the agency supplying them has already requested information regarding your terms and conditions of employment…..our advice is ignore their requests at your peril!  If you fail to provide them with this information and to comply with the new regulations you could be on the receiving end of a lengthy tribunal claim and hefty fine.

What is an Agency Worker?

Agency workers include individuals who work through a “temporary work agency”, PAYE temps and also umbrella company workers.  It will also cover freelancers and other individuals if they work under your direct supervision.

What are Agency Worker’s rights from Day One?

Rights that apply from day one include the right to be treated no less favourably than comparable employees in relation to shared facilities and amenities.  This could include, for example:

• a canteen
• a workplace crèche
• transport to and from the workplace
• a staff room
• a prayer room
• car parking

Agency workers also have the right from day one to be given the same information about relevant vacancies as comparable permanent staff.

What are Agency Worker’s rights after 12 weeks?

After 12 weeks in the same role, agency workers are entitled to the same basic working and employment conditions as permanent staff. This means that they are entitled to equal treatment in relation to:

• pay (this includes basic salary, commission, overtime, allowances, bonuses & vouchers)
• working time duration
• night work
• rest periods
• contractual annual leave

How does this affect pregnant Agency Workers?

After 12 weeks in the same role pregnant agency workers are entitled to paid time off for antenatal care and, potentially, paid time off during an assignment if it is unsuitable for them. It is the agency’s responsibility to seek alternative work for them if a health and safety risk means that the assignment is unsuitable, and to pay her for the duration of the assignment if no suitable alternative work is available.

Who is responsible for ensuring Agency Workers receive the correct entitlements?

You must provide the agency with information about the relevant terms and conditions to which they would be entitled if he or she were a permanent member of staff.

The agency is responsible for ensuring that the agency worker receives these terms and conditions if he or she completes the 12-week qualifying period.

We hope you have found this useful. If you would like to discuss how we can help you manage your obligations in relation to these regulations, please get in touch here

Top Tips on Performance Management

This is probably the most common way we get introduced to new HR clients; it goes something like this……

Client	“I’ve got an employee who just isn’t doing their job and I’m at the end of my tether with them, they HAVE to go, what can I do?”
Me	“I’m sorry to hear that, what have they done or what are they not doing?”
Client	“Everything, they’re not meeting their objectives, they don’t tell me what’s going on, they just don’t seem to care”
Me	“Have you raised your concerns with them?”
Client	“Yep, I’ve read them the riot act and given them a verbal warning but nothing has changed”
Me	“Have you told them specifically what it is you want them to change and set some timelines?”
Client	“No”
Me	“Have you documented your discussion so you are both clear on what is expected?”
Client	“No”
Me	“How long have they been with you?
Client	“Probably 2 years”
Me	“Right, I’m afraid this could take some time”
Client	GROANS

Sound familiar?  Frustrating isn’t it?  Believe me, it’s frustrating for us too because we know that by sticking to a few key principles of performance management this member of staff probably wouldn’t be the problem child they have become or if they really were a bad egg you would be able to show them the door much more confidently quickly and painlessly.

Follow our top tips on performance management:

1. Set expectations.  When they join or their job changes go through their job description and ensure they know what is expected of them
2. Nip any issues in the bud immediately.  Meet to discuss what went wrong, what needs to improve & by when, then document it!
3. Regularly review performance, don’t wait until there is an issue.  Highlight the good, address the bad and document it!
4. Don’t give verbal warnings in the heat of the moment, they don’t mean anything.
5. Only take disciplinary action if you have documented evidence that they had a chance to improve, understood what was required & failed

By sticking to the above it means that should you take disciplinary action the employee shouldn’t be surprised and should you face a tribunal the evidence is there to prove it’s no knee jerk reaction, the employee was given a chance to improve but failed.

Example Job Description – Office Manager

Job Title	Office Manager
Reports To
Supervision Of
Location	Office
Job Purpose	To be responsible for all general admin and facilities ensuring the efficient and smooth day-to-day running of the Head Office

Key Duties & Responsibilities
1.	Office Adminstration To collect, log and distribute incoming post To prepare outgoing post in time for collection To order couriers as required To answer all main switchboard incoming calls and forward/take messages as appropriate To maintain supplies of stationary and other office equipment To consolidate all employee diaries and issue weekly movement sheets To consolidate and update company templates – e.g. Fax headers etc To routinely undertake filing and archiving – including support for accounts To establish and maintain contact database To monitor shared drive To propose and implement procedures to increase efficiency To be responsible for checking and processing all invoices  and updating company accounting system To enable information sharing – e.g. contact database, visibility to calendars etc To liaise with building management To ensure that general company legislations are complied to – e.g. Health & Safety To act as nominated First Aider To ensure continuance of annual subscriptions/cover e.g. insurance, web site registrations etc
2.	Travel Arrangements To support all employees in all aspects of business travel including booking of all internal travel arrangements – flights, hotels, cars etc.
3.	Senior Management Support To pro-actively anticipate the requirements of Senior Managers and provide appropriate PA support to ensure that they can maintain their focus on the core business
4.	Project Support To offer administration assistance to projects as required including printing and binding of documents for clients/meetings
5.	IT Support To liaise with external IT suppliers to ensure excellent standard of service To maintain smooth running of internet and email service To manage hardware and software requirements
6.	General Office Maintenance To ordering consumables for the kitchen as required To encourage employees to keep the kitchen clean and tidy – loading and emptying dishwasher etc To empty bins and dispose of large packaging materials in between cleaner visits To generally ensure that the office environment is kept clean and tidy at all times
7.	Any other ad hoc duties as specified by Senior Management

Qualifications & Experience

Previous managerial or office management experience

Experience of supporting a team of people

Knowledge & Skills

Excellent PC skills including Word, Excel & E-Mail.

Proactive and positive approach

Excellent interpersonal skills

Flexible approach

Good literacy, numeracy & IT skills

Job Description Template



Job Title
Reports To
Supervision Of
Location
Job Purpose

Key Duties & Responsibilities
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Qualifications & Experience

Knowledge & Skills

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