Hiring new employees – a case study

Case study

When a job becomes available in your business, how can you make sure you hire the right person?

The issue

Mark’s business had grown to the point where he needed to employ another plumber to help manage the workload. It was critical to the growth of his business that Mark hired the right candidate, however, he was unsure what the correct recruitment process was.

The solution

The first step for Mark was to write a detailed list of what the role would entail and then convert it into a job description. Mark summarised the job description to create a job specification which he then used to advertise the role online. This job spec included:

• Title
• Responsibilities
• Grade, qualifications and skills required
• Summary of the company culture and work environment
• Wage and benefits, e.g. pension contribution.

After receiving a number of promising applications, Mark created a shortlist of candidates and invited them for an interview. He also organised for David, one of the managers at his company, to sit in on the interviews with him to get another opinion.

Prior to the interview, Mark developed some questions to ask the applicants to help him make sure they were a good fit for the company and the role. These questions were a combination of technical plumbing questions related to their experience and skills, as well as some questions that helped him get an understanding of their personality.

At the interviews, Mark and David asked to see each candidate’s grading card and qualifications. During the interviews they both made notes and afterwards discussed which applicant would be best suited to the job. Mark and David then decided to offer the position to a candidate called James.

Mark contacted James and told him he was offering him the position on the condition that his references came back positive and that James was eligible to work in the UK. To do this, he checked James’s passport, making sure it was still valid, for his full name and photograph. He also checked a utility bill as proof of address.

When James’s references came back positive, Mark provided a starting date, a new employee starter form and terms and conditions of employment for his new member of staff to complete and sign.

The result

As Mark had followed a thorough recruitment process, and made clear what he expected from James, his new employee fitted into the role well.

Both Mark and David also explained the company procedures to James. In addition, in order to help him continue to perform well, Mark met James every month during his probationary period to talk about what he could improve on and what he was doing well.

James continues to work for Mark and is a competent and hard worker.