An effective recruitment process is a must for any high-performing organisation, says John Tate.

I wrote the first column on my experiences of running businesses at the end of last year. I touched on the obvious importance of people in ensuring an organisation is well run. I’d now like to go into more detail about the key recruitment lessons I have learned.

It really is worth making an exceptional effort when employing new staff. They are your most valuable resource, and getting recruitment right pays huge dividends.

Heart or head

One of my own key challenges has been managing the battle between my heart and my head when making a hiring decision. The accountant in me scours the CV, examines the history of the candidate and looks for hard evidence of the right attributes for the job.

However, the emotional side of me tends to make a very quick decision on whether the candidate is right or not. Too often I have recruited people where the ‘facts’ stacked up but my gut reaction was that the candidate was not right.

This is often particularly the case with more senior staff, many of whom can present a very polished front and tell you what you want to hear. Getting under the skin of what the candidate is really like can be very challenging, if not impossible.

So, for me at least, the ‘15-minute test’ needs greater prominence in the recruitment process – after a quarter hour of meeting the candidate, do I feel the person is right for the job?

If you have had the same problem, I advise that you think hard about what your instinct is telling you. The process can be helped by getting potential candidates to meet a cross-section of your team. Take this opportunity to listen very carefully to what your colleagues tell you and what their own gut reaction is.

Despite the current high levels of UK unemployment, finding good staff is still a real challenge. Talented individuals often stay in their current organisation as they are well rewarded and motivated. If they do decide to change they usually have little difficulty in finding other positions, often through personal contacts – so they never come onto the open job market.

If you need to fill a role quickly it is tempting to take on someone who doesn’t quite fit the bill. Again, bitter experience tells me it is better to hang on in there and wait until you find the right person. If the role is key, consider some temporary or interim help while you find someone permanent.

Better still is to plan ahead for likely staff requirements. If your organisation is growing you are probably going to need to recruit more people. Work out what staff you are likely to need and when.

If you are not growing, staff turnover is inevitable. Spend time making sure you are really close to your employees. Understand their personal and career objectives and put in place development plans to support their requirements.

If your organisation cannot offer a career path to meet an individual’s needs, encourage them to have an open and honest dialogue with you. If you can create an environment of trust, a surprisingly high percentage of people will tell you if they are thinking of leaving – whether for personal or career reasons. This gives you time to plan the recruitment of their successor.

Network

One example I had of this was an ex-employee who decided with his wife to take a year off work and go travelling. He told his line manager about six months before his departure date, to give the company as much time as possible to find a replacement. By contrast his wife only told her employer a month before she was due to depart as she was worried she would be badly treated if she told them earlier.

So once you have an idea of future staff requirements, put your feelers out. For staff reporting directly to you, ask around about people who might be available, respecting the potentially confidential nature of the situation. Take some time to go to events where there are networking opportunities for you to meet potential candidates. When a vacancy becomes public ask your staff if they know anyone who might fit the role.

If you treat staff really well, people outside your organisation get to hear about it. Needless to say this can really help the recruitment process and, in turn, will boost your charity’s long-term performance.

John Tate is a business consultant, IT adviser to CFG and a visiting lecturer at Cass Business School