Getting the right staff for your business

Introduction

Eighty percent (80%) of business success is tied to people. Recruiting the right people, motivating the right people, training the right people, retaining the right people while releasing the wrong ones is the key to your success. Many businesses under perform because they do not know to do this or they can’t do it well.

Problem statement

Current statistics note that the unemployment rate in the educated and productive age group of the Nigerian population is now close to 45 percent. With this large pool of job seekers one would assume that filling vacancies would be easy for employers and prospective employers. This is however far from the case. Due to the falling standard of education many young graduates are barely employable or are out-rightly unemployable. Another factor making life difficult for employers is the erosion of values and work ethics in the present generation. The get-rich-quick mentality means that many young people are not willing to put in the effort required to grow and improve.

Previous options

Current practice in most business organisations is that when a vacancy arises, they turn to their HR manager or their HR consultant and ask for CVs. Many employers think that having a large pool of CVs to choose from directly improves their chances of finding the right candidate. This is not usually the case.

The high rate of joblessness in the market itself has spawned an industry helping job seekers window dress their CVs, to put their best foot forward. Many times a large pool of CVs only means a lot of man-hours going through the pile and interviewing the prospective candidates only to discover that no one makes the grade.

Recommended solution

I recommend a recruitment approach that takes account of the problems identified above. At our firm, we recognise that in reality there are never that many suitable candidates to choose from. Our approach begins with understanding in great detail who exactly the man or woman for the job is. We recommend that you elicit a very detailed job description for each position and then make a very detailed and thorough man specification for each job description. Armed with this, you are now in a position to write a compelling copy for an advert that is geared to attract only the people who are actually qualified and discourage speculative job seekers. Having attracted the right targets, you should now put them through a thorough testing process to validate their IQ, work skills, job knowledge, emotional stability and personality fit for the job.

Benefits

Using this approach you greatly reduce the number of unqualified CVs that you have to sieve through;

You will not get hood winked by a window dressed CV or a bogus qualification that was awarded but not earned or deserved;

You are able to identify and disqualify the people that seem qualified and even look good on paper, but who do not have the right attitude, personality type or motivations for the job content;

You are able to attract persons who are naturally motivated by your mission and vision and who naturally have goals that are congruent with that of your organisation. These kind of staff do not need external motivation to make them put in their best and your organisation is the better for it,

Implementation

Implementation involves designing recruitment policies and procedures that standardise these best practice methodologies. It involves recognising what personalities suit what jobs and identifying the right tests to administer.

Summary

Hiring the right staff is the best thing you can do for your organisation. Jack Welch says ‘Get the right people in the right jobs – it is more important than developing a strategy.’ The 80-20 rule recognises that 80 percent of business success is tied to people but only 20 percent of organisations get it right. You can be part of that top 20 percent.

Ijeoma Rita Obu is the managing consultant/CEO of Clement Ashley Consulting. She can be reached on +234-8037278958

IJEOMA RITA OBU