One of the perpetual cries of employers with workforce problems is how hard it is to find and recruit good quality staff, and how many bad workers they end up hiring and firing.

This article will give you some tips that should help you learn to find and select more of the right staff for your company and cut your recruitment costs as your staff turnover falls.

One of the first things to remember about unsatisfactory employees is that you hired them! If you are consistently hiring the wrong people, then you need to take a thorough look at your recruitment process. You also need to consider the possibility that the recruitment process is working correctly, but staff are driven away by the reality of working for you – whether it's an unmanageable workload, poor conditions or difficult colleagues.

Stage One: Finding Your Candidates

Before you can recruit anyone, you've got to find some candidates. Where do you look for your employees?  

Newspaper adverts are traditional and can be effective, but have very limited reach and are somewhat unsystematic – even if someone is looking for your job they might not buy a paper on the day the ad is shown.

Staffing agencies generally have a reasonably-sized pool of potentially suitable applicants, but they are costly to use, and tend to have a geographically-restricted reach. This may or may not be an issue for you. 

Online recruitment sites have by far the greatest reach, and normally offer automated alert services to notify both employers and potential employees when suitable matches might be made. Sites such as http://www.monster.com for professionals, and www.latinohire.com and www.hireworkers.com for non-professional workers are rapidly changing the recruitment landscape forever. If you haven't experimented with online recruitment already, start now.

Stage Two: Interviewing & Assessing Candidates

Make sure you make the most of your chance to interview and otherwise assess your candidate. A traditional discussion-based interview is not always the best way to do this. Show the candidate around. Offer them chances to interact with their potential work colleagues, to ask intelligent questions and to demonstrate their ability to understand new environments.

Psychological profiling tests are also popular with some employers, as are trial assignments – what is appropriate depends a little on the nature of your business, but most ideas can be adapted to your needs. Don't forget the value of pre-employment screening, as well.

Stage Three: Keep Them Happy

So you've found some good candidates, and chosen the best. You are as certain as possible you've found some good help, and they've started work. Now is not the time to rest on your laurels. You need to keep them happy, and to ensure they are able to do their new job in a productive and efficient way. Now is a good time to implement any initial training needed, or assign them a buddy/mentor for their first few weeks, for example.

As time goes by, remember to ensure that your pay and reward structure remains competitive, and do not neglect employee appraisals. As an opportunity to highlight problems and reward successes, appraisals can be invaluable.

The Final Word

Hiring the right people for your business is not always easy, but it is vital. Good hiring will always repay you over time, as you save on the cost, disruption and inefficiency of re-recruiting, and you gain a happier, more confident and able staff, who will be better-motivated to help improve your business.