Staff Recruitment

One of the basic function of the personnel department is its ability to search for, and employ the services of qualified staff. Therefore, staff recruitment is the process of locating an applicant with a view to interviewing and consequently employing such staff. Not only must workers be hired, but also every effort must be made to retain, encourage and promote them as at when due.

Obtaining and keeping well-qualified employees for office positions involve a knowledge of the sources of supply, interviewing, and testing, maintaining the personnel records required by business and government, and keeping abreast of government regulations that affect employment processes. In large companies these responsibilities are often assigned to a personnel department but in a small and medium-sized firms, the office manager may perform these functions. Basically each stage in the recruiting process should be conducted with the utmost care
There is no guarantee of one hundred percent success in recruiting exactly the right person for each job, but the unfortunate selections can be minimised by treating recruitment as an important aspect of managing the office.

PREPARATION FOR RECRUITMENT

Shaw (1978) pointed out that having analysed the duties of the office it is a simple task to prepare a job description for each post. At this stage, it is now necessary to decide what kind of person you want to do job. Answers to the
following questions may be useful when preparing the personnel specification.
1. What kind of education should the person have had- primary, secondary technical, sixth form, university?
2. What training should the person have had?
3. What qualifications are needed to do the job?
4. What experience would enable the person to do the job well?
5. What age range is most suitable?
6. Can the job be done by either a man or a woman?

SOURCE OF RECRUITMENT

These vary according to the type of labor required and will include the following:
a. Advertising in local newspapers.
b. Applying to schools, colleges and universities- some institutions keep a list of employers who are willing to employ students when they finish their courses
c. Display cards in the office, shop windows, etc
d. Employment exchanges and their associated youth employment bureaux for junior staff, and special registers (only in certain cites) for professional and managerial posts.

e Friends, relatives and job-seekers!

f. Ex-employee

g. office appliance companies

h. Hospitals and Ex-service organisations

i. Introductions by present staff members

j . Professional bodies for staff with professional qualifications

k. Staff agencies, mainly for clerical workers.
l. Personnel consultants
m. Private agencies and employment bureaux
n. Circulars, posters, etc

Inviting applications:

The advertisement or whatever other method is used, should give sufficient information to indicate the nature of the job. If loosely worded, it can result in few applying because of its vagueness; or (more probably) a lot of people
applying who are obviously unsuitable. The later would waste the time of both applicants and
employers.

The application:
This may be by:
1. Letter. This method has the advantage that the applicant can express himself in his own words and be thus more indicative than the answering of questions.
2. Application form- This has the advantages of:
a. Compelling the applicant to answer questions
b. Clarity and uniformity
c. Some latitude for self-expression

Application form layout: Information required usually includes:

Personal details: names, address, age, sex, marital status etc.
History of education and position held
Qualifications and experience, etc

Short-listing: There are various ways of tacking the short-listing of applicants, depending on the numbers of applications you receive. It is usually useful to get rid of the “deed wood” first. You can then assess the remaining
applications as “probable” and “possible”. Enter the “probable” on your assessment chart. Then stick to the priorities you have laid down. Someone with high qualifications than those asked for may have applied. Do not be tempted because such a person will quickly become frustrated in a job that does not call for his level of
ability and/or experience

Interviewing and testing: interviewing and testing are the two most vital aspects of recruiting statt. If the interview and the test have been really well prepared you stand good chance of being able to assess the applicants as comprehensively as him or her with your personal specification. Few functions of the personal officer
work, Employment Interviewing, provides an alternative to the seven-point Interviewing and testing: Interviewing and testing are the two most vital is lumanly possible to assess a person at one interview Generally the aim
of is are as important as interviewing candidates for employment as clerks. A good clerk brings to his job much more than literacy and numeracy. An employer offering not less than the market rate of salary and prospects, is entitled to
require also integrity, loyalty and llingness to co-operate with colleagues. The basic purposes of the interview are, therefore:
a. to assess character and personality
b. to fill in gaps in application forms.
c. to assess the candidates to perform the relevant duties.
d. to inform the candidate’s ability to perform the relevant duties.
e. to inform the candidate further about the job.
f. to make a contract of employment (Denyer and Mugridge, 1978).

Scientific methods of selection and placement of staff.
The following are the principal methods of staff selection which have become established practice: The seven-point plan of the National Institution of Industrial Psychology provides a means of assessing candidates during interview. The seven points against which candidates are assessed are as follows:
i. ( Physical make-up: Has he any defects of health or physique uirich might prevent good job performance?
ii. Attainments: Are his education, training and previous experience satisfactory for the job in question? How well has he done in classes or previous jobs?
iii. General intelligence: How much general intelligence does he display?
(iv). Special aptitudes: Has he any outstanding aptitude, such as aptitude manual dexterity, facility in the use of words or figures?
(v). Interests: To what extent are his interest social, intellectual, practical constructional physically active, artistic?
(vi). Disposition: How well does he get on with other people? Ders influence others? Is he self-reliant? Is he a dependable person
(vii) Circumstances: What are his domestic circumstance? Are they
compatible with success and satisfaction in the job in question

b. The five-fold Grading plan, devised by Mr. John Munr Faser in his standard plan in this caso, each candidate is subjected to a five- fold grading and assessed against a requirement chart or specification. The assessment is
made on the basis of the following factors:
i- First impression and physical make-up.
ii. Brains and abilities
iii. Qualifications and expectations.
iv. Motivation
(V)Adjustment

c. Group selection procedure follow the lines of those used by the Services when choosing their regular officers. They are now being used increasingly by the commercial banks in the choice of their managers and by some large firms
when selecting top executives or “management material”.

d Intelligence and aptitude test: A number of scientific intelligence and aptitude tests are prevalently used, and these can undoubtedly serve a useful purpose. While it is not suggested that any of them ought to be used as an
alternative to the traditional selection procedures, they may usefully supplement them, or be used when the interviewing panel is unable to come to a decision.

INTERVIEWING ARRANGEMENT
It is important to remember that an interview is a two-way process: the applicant interviews the prospective employer as well as being interviewed by him. The basic arrangements are:

a. ensure that the letter calling the applicants to interview states clearly the three unities of time, place, and action.
b. Arrange the furniture to give a friendly, informal and private impression.
c. Match the job specification with the application;
d. Arrange interview at intervals (not all at the same time).
e. Ensure that the interview is conducted in a private room, and not be interrupted by telephone calls or by the intrusion of personal secretaries,
f. When the interview is being conducted by more than one person, all the members of it should be provided with a short statement concerning each candidate.

Referees and testimonies
a. Testimonials are usually general in character, addressed “To whom it may
concern”
b. Referees are normally addressed by one employer to another.

Letter of appointment/Service Agreement/Engagement Agreements

When you have chosen the most suitable applicant for the pose you may wish to make the offer verbally in the first instance. If the offer is accepted, a letter of confirment should follow immediately. A letter of appointment should
give full details of the post starting date, probationery period, salary scale, creme Protection Act 1975, lays down that every employee who works for more than Sixteen hours a week and whose employment is expected to last for more than twelve wecks should receive, within a period of thirteen weeks from the commencement of his appointment, a written statement of the main terms ofother is filed date, notice of termination required, working hours, leave entitlement and specific points which were mentioned during the interview such as training to undertaken, special allowance, cg housing of mileage. Usually, confirmation et acceptance of the appointment in accordance with the terms stated should be received in writing. A printed copy of the conditions of service can of course, be enclosed with the letter of appointment and covers many of the details. Ever when there are few employees it is useful to prepare a set of conditions and have them duplicated or reproduced on an office copier.
The contents of the service agreement will include the following:
1. Name of the employer
2. Name of the employee
3.Date of the letter of appointment
4. Date of employment starts
5. Job title
6.Duties and responsibilities attaching to the post
7. Wage or salary, including overtime pory (if any)
8. Frequency of wage or salary payments
9. Continuity of service with any other employer.
10. Period of notice to be given by the employer and the employee
11. Normal hours of work and any other terms and conditions relating to hours of work
12. Holiday entitlement – annual and statutory and holiday pay
13. Condition relation to sick leave and sick pay.
14. Pension scheme arrangeraents
15. Disciplinary rules
16. Grievance procedures
17. The person to approach with a grievance
18. The right to belong to a registered trade union,
19. The right not to belong to such a union
20. Medical examination
21. Fidelity bond
22. Superannuation scheme
23. Special concessions

UNSUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS
It can do nothing but good for the image of your establishment to inform at successful applicants, whether they been interviewed or not, that the post has been filled. A duplicated postcard or circular letter is quite adequate if
the number of applicants is large. It is not necessary to send letters in envelopes, they can be fold addressed on the back.

PERSONNEL STAFF RECORDS
It is often useful and rewarding to keep all applications for some time,say a year or two years. Applicants who are unsuitable for the jobs advertised may prove to be suitable for job which arises later. This could save
advertising another post. Short-listed applications should be kept in a separate folder clearly marked
with the post and date of the job. A separate personal file should be started for cach individual employed. The application form, if one has been completed, a copy of the letter of appointment and the letter confirming acceptance are the first documents on the file. Therefore, any letter or document relating to the employment of that person should be filed on the personal file, which should be kept strictly confidential. Similarly, an individual record card for each member of staff on which all important details of the person are recorded is easy for
reference purposes. This is particularly useful if staff returns have to be made to a head
office or a government ministry.

OTHER BUSINESS PLAN IN NIGERIA WITH RECENT UPDATE

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