GROWING YOUR BUSINESS AND MAKING SURE YOU’RE STAFF-READY
All business owners hope that they will grow, increase profits, and make a success of their new venture. In order to do that, you’ll need to at some point start recruiting some help. Employing staff can seem daunting, there’s the legal obligations, procedures, admin, and management of staff to consider. To succeed you need to ensure you are recruiting the right team members and getting the best out of them. That doesn’t mean working them hard, that means making them feel valued and part of your business, so they are motivated to do their best.
HR Now is Jersey’s leading provider of interim and outsourced HR services, and we also have a specialist HR recruitment agency. We know what’s needed to ensure that your business is set up ready for growth by harnessing a team who can help you achieve success.
In this six-part series, we aim to give you a brief step-by-step overview of what’s required to get your business ready to employ staff:
1/ RECRUITMENT
2/ ONBOARDING
3/ THE PAPERWORK AND LEGALS
4/ SIMPLIFY YOUR HR RESPONSIBILITIES WITH TECH
5/ RETENTION
6/ IF IT GOES WRONG
PART 1
How to Recruit the Right Team
- Do you have the right licence? Before you start recruiting, ensure that you have the right Business licence to be able to employ those you might need. You will be able to employ an unlimited number of people who are ‘entitled’ or ‘entitled to work’, but your licence will specify if you can, and how many, of those who are ‘registered’, or ‘licenced’, that you can take on. Don’t ignore this, it’s a legal requirement and can come with fines and the revoking of your business licence. Don’t forget that with Brexit, the law has changed for EU nationals, so ensure you check the status of potential employees first.
- Who do you need? It’s not always easy to determine exactly who you need so it’s important to carefully plan the skills, aptitudes, and how someone will fit into your business. You must also include what you can offer that employee. This is a two-way contract, and we have a highly competitive employment market. When constructing the job description, include essential requirements, and also ‘like to haves’. It’s not always easy to find the exact qualifications and experiences in one package, so if what you require is quite specialised, will you offer training?
- How to attract the right employee? By now you will have constructed a well-thought out job description, and also included the reasons why somebody would want to work in your business. You might also consider advertising the salary, especially if it’s attractive for that role. Transparency is appreciated and it avoids wasting time and can be a selling point. Advertise the role through a variety of channels. Digital can be highly effective, but think about where your prospective employees are likely to be, ie Facebook, online digital media, the gov.je jobs site, the JEP etc. For those who already have a team, however small or large employee referrals are particularly effective as they send a strong positive message about engagement with your business.
- Assessing Candidates. Plan the interview. Prepare questions based around not only the job role, but also their CV. Use competency-based interview questions and ensure that you are avoiding bias and encouraging diversity. Remember that a diverse team is a stronger team, and don’t forget that they are interviewing you too.
- Keep in touch. Ensure you keep communicating with candidates and keep them interested in the role. If your first choice doesn’t accept, then you might need to make an offer to another candidate. Move quickly, it’s very competitive out there. A positive candidate experience is crucial in converting a candidate to a colleague.
Our next blog post covers what to do once your ideal candidate has accepted your job offer.
If you are unsure about what to do, or don’t have the time and resources, you can get in touch with HR Now’s experienced team and we can advise and support you through all these steps.
Contact us hello@hrnow.je
Or call: 01534 747559