Recruitment Guide For The Festive Season

Before you launch into placing an advert or calling a recruitment consultant, pause to think about exactly what it is your organisation actually needs. For instance:

Is a permanent or a fixed-term employee required or is engaging an agency worker more appropriate? The latter generally gives you more flexibility and less exposure to liability Do you need a full-timer or would part-time working be acceptable? Consider this at the outset in case a candidate makes an enquiry about flexible working. Plan ahead

1. Job description

   Draw up a job description and a person specification to focus your mind on the key requirements of the role and the essential skills, knowledge and experience of the individual.

2. Selection process

   Think about how to select and assess applicants. What type of selection process is suitable? This could be anything from a practical test to a traditional interview.

3. Question carefully

   Finally, remind yourself of the areas where you should not probe. For example, it is generally not permissible to ask health-related questions before an employment offer is made to the individual - unless you are seeking such information with the purpose of making reasonable adjustments to your recruitment process to accommodate a disabled applicant).

   Advertising

   Care needs to be taken to avoid discriminatory adverts and so you should not, for example, state that the role is open to “men only” (except in very rare circumstances). However, be careful not to inadvertently discriminate against potential applicants either. Using terminology like “mature” and “excellent knowledge of English” can exclude younger and non-UK nationals, which can lead to age and race discrimination challenges.

   Consider also where you will advertise the vacancy. This could be internally (e.g. on a staff noticeboard or intranet) or externally (such as via trade publications or your websites). Reach out to as wide a pool of candidates as possible. This not only helps you source the best applicants but avoids you perpetuating the make-up of your current workforce, which may not be balanced.

   Do keep in mind when advertising internally that any employees who are off work (for instance on maternity leave or long-term sick) should be made aware of the opportunity too to avoid suggestions of sex or disability discrimination or similar. Additionally, don't forget that any agency workers you engage have a legal right to be notified of relevant vacancies as well.

   Applications

   A...