Finding the perfect person

Time and time again I speak to clients who have issues with a member of staff that can ultimately be traced back to recruitment. They have recruited the wrong person for the job in the first place and are suffering the effects. Many get plenty of applicants for each job and do not realise that their recruitment process is flawed and contributing to staff issues later on.

What is in my view the most important part of recruitment is often overlooked by busy managers − and that is defining the person needed to perform the role in question. Many assume they know what they want and launch into recruitment having knocked together a quick job description and had a brief think about how much experience or qualifications they want the person to have.

But taking some time to create a well-written, well-thought-out person specification is vital to an effective recruitment process. A person specification is different to a job description, which contains information about the role itself. A person specification defines the person you need.

A good person specification will help you choose most effectively where and how to source candidates

A good person specification will help you choose most effectively where and how to source candidates, rather than defaulting to what you have always done because you get enough applications that way. It will ensure that the very best candidates see the job and apply, and will help those who would not be suited to the job self-select themselves out, reducing the number of wasted applications you get. It will ensure that you shortlist the best applicants instead of overlooking strong candidates at the shortlisting process, either because you are prioritising the wrong things, or because candidates have not been guided into highlighting the right things. It will help you create a list of interview questions that are as effective as they could possibly be at getting the information you need to make the best decision, and will ensure the job is offered to the very best and most suited candidate. That is rather than offering it to someone who is not suited to the role or the organisation, causing problems down the line.

When drafting your person specification, think about the knowledge, skills, experience, qualifications and attributes you want the person to have. Be open-minded about where candidates might have obtained those skills or attributes, and give strong priority to the criteria which cannot be trained or developed. For example, asking for lots of experience within the sector, or doing the same job before feels safe, but may well be eliminating really good candidates who could adapt from another sector or learn the job within a short time. Remember, having done the job for years does not mean they are any good at it – lots of people sit in a job for ages performing in a mediocre fashion.

Have a good think about what qualities are needed to be successful at the job. Think about past or current employees who were really good at the job, or those who have been a real asset to your organisation. What made them successful and why were (or are) they valued? Prioritise those things, when deciding which of your criteria are essential and which are desirable.

If presented with a field of candidates, none of whom are exactly perfect, be wary of settling for not quite good enough. If you do choose to employ someone who does not tick all the boxes, make sure the things you are compromising on are the things that are less important or can be learned. Getting the right people in the first place goes a long way towards avoiding performance problems later and can save you money and time.

Eleanor Deem is Managing Director of face2face HR.
www.face2facehr.com