The right person for the job

There is no magic formula for recruiting and selecting staff for your business. But by following a few simple rules you can make the best appointments.

The right person for the job
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Since my previous column on how to write a job advertisement, I have been scouring the press for high quality job ads in the agricultural sector. I have been sadly disappointed. Firstly, because there are so few (which tells you something about what’s happening with employment in farming). Secondly, because the ones I did find, even those placed by recruitment agencies, were badly written.

READ:The right way to interview

It beggars belief. We all know that the quality of employees can make the difference between the success and failure of an organisation. Yet, when the search is on for staff, so many advertisements are prepared shoddily. This slapdash approach frequently applies to the entire recruitment process at all levels. Granted, it’s far more important for a business to secure top-rate people for senior jobs, and the risk of a bad appointment at unskilled labour level is much lower.

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But sometimes a real gem of a person emerges from these lower staffing ranks. So it’s always important to find and employ the best people available, whatever the level. I have first-hand experience of this, which I admit was more by chance than design, but it taught me a lesson.

Take Judy Nkambule, my long-serving secretary in Swaziland, who started life on the farm as a citrus picker. She is as dependable as the sun rising in the east. She remembers phone numbers and is able to read my handwriting and then generate immaculate documents at warp speed.

Jabulani Matimba, my field manager responsible for 3 800ha of sugarcane, was originally employed as an unskilled worker in the fencing squad. Neither would have climbed the ladder of success if it had not been for perceptive managers who recognised their talents. But that’s another story – let’s return to recruitment and selection.

The advertisement
Last time, I discussed the essential principles of drafting a job ad, and the often overlooked but vital task of preparing a job description and candidate specification, before finalising the advertisement. When compiling the candidate specification, make up your mind about the characteristics you consider ‘essential’ for the job, such as qualifications, experience and languages, and those you consider only ‘desirable’. These might include interest in wildlife, hobbies and so forth.

Set these out briefly in the ad so that there can be no misunderstanding when you turn down an applicant who does not have the ‘essential’ requirements. I prefer applicants to supply their own CVs as well as complete a standard application form. Although there will be some duplication, the two formats complement each other.

The application form ensures that you get all the information needed to assess the applicant, and what he or she includes or excludes in the CV will help you gain insight into the make-up of the person.

References and certificates
An important part of the application form is the provision of references – three or four people who know the candidate well. Previous employers must be included, whether or not the parting of ways was amicable. Certified copies of education certificates must also be provided. It is good practice to specify the date by which applications must be received, otherwise the process drags on. If an applicant cannot even get an application to you by a certain date, you might question whether he or she is suitable for the job in the first place.

Selection
As applications start arriving, the difficult task of checking them begins. Divide them into three files:

  • NO – applicants who do not have the essential characteristics or have provided incomplete or sloppily compiled documents.
  • YES – those who seem to be right for the job. Rank them from strongest to weakest. 
  • MAYBE – applicants you are not sure about.

Once the ‘apply by’ date has passed, make your final selection of the ‘Yes’ and ‘Maybe’ applicants and send a courteous letter to everyone in the ‘No’ group, thanking them for their application. A sentence often seen in job ads these days goes something like: “If you haven’t heard from us by such-and-such a date, assume you have not been successful.” To me, this is the ultimate form of discourtesy and no credit to the company concerned. Never do it!

Next, is the vitally important task of talking to referees and verifying education claims. It’s no easy task and requires patience and some special communication techniques, but more about this next time…

This article was orginally published in the 21 November 2014 issue of Farmers Weekly.