Employers who are recruiting may find that their vacancies are in high demand. It’s been reported that a Manchester restaurant received nearly 1,000 applications for a receptionist post within 24 hours. Whilst being able to select from a wide pool of qualified candidates can be a good position for employers to be in it can also pose challenges.
If your organisation is looking to recruit, we have put together some top tips below:
- Consider how your recruitment process is going to be structured and whether in light of Coronavirus you need to make any adjustments to your usual processes. For example, if you are going to carry out job interviews how will these be done – will they be undertaken in person with appropriate measures in place or will an alternative be used such as a telephone interview or an interview using a videoconferencing platform?
- Describe your vacancy with care. It’s important that the description and requirements of the role are clear and accurate so that applicants have a good picture about the role they are applying for. This will increase the likelihood of attracting the right candidates and can save you time during the initial stages of the recruitment process.
- Be clear with applicants about what they can expect in terms of communication. Whilst you may usually wish to acknowledge receipt of a job application or contact those who have been unsuccessful in securing an initial interview to advise them of this, such steps can take time. If you think you may have a large volume of applicants for your vacancy and such steps may not possible you may wish to manage applicants’ expectations by making them aware of this in the recruitment material.
- Ensure your recruitment process is fair and be alert to discrimination issues at all stages of the process. This is important not only to ensure you get the best person for the job but because job applicants can complain to an employment tribunal if they feel they have been discriminated against. Some common areas where employers can fall down are by asking inappropriate questions during job interviews, such as asking a woman if she has any plans to start a family, and by being unaware of the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled applicants where required.
- Take time to prepare. Before conducting job interviews you will need to prepare the questions you wish to ask and ensure there is a fair marking system so you can assess who to offer the role to. This should usually be based on your job description and person specification. The questions you ask will need to be related to the specific role you wish to fill.
- Document the recruitment process. It will be important to be able to evidence that your recruitment process and recruitment decisions were fair and non-discriminatory if you are challenged.
- Remember that changes have come into force for new employees that affect when an employer needs to provide a written statement of particulars – usually an employment contract – and what information this is required to contain. It will now need to be provided on or before employment commences (it’s now a ‘day one’ right) and more information needs to be included than was previously required. For further information regarding this, please contact Kingfisher Professional Services Ltd.
If you have an employment law matter you would like assistance with, please do not hesitate to contact Kingfisher Professional Services Ltd as we are happy to help.