4.6 Employing people

“I have always believed that the way you treat your employees is the way they will treat your customers.”Sir Richard Branson

The people you bring in to your business can be your greatest asset or your biggest headache. According to Noam Wasserman of Harvard Business School nearly two-thirds of new businesses fail because of people problems. So getting the ‘people’ parts right can make or break a business.

This worksheet gives you come basic essentials to getting the right people and getting the best out of them. At the end you’ll find some suggestions on where to go for more information and help.

Getting the right people

If you’ve ever had a customer who doesn’t really know what they want you’ll know how frustrating that can be. It’s a sure recipe for everyone finishing up feeling dissatisfied. It’s the same when you’re recruiting people. So the first essential is: Be clear on what you want.

One way to do that is to put together a couple of documents usually called a job description and a person specification.

Job description This tells an applicant what they will be doing in the job, what responsibilities they’ll have and the like.

Person specification This sets out the kind of person you are looking for: their skills, experience and so forth.

Getting these right will help attract the right people and make it easier for you to judge who best fits the bill.

Use the table on the next page when you come to recruit. Give the job a title and then list all the things the person needs to do: what we’ve called tasks and responsibilities.

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Job title

Tasks and responsibilities

To help you along the way we’ve created our own examples for an admin assistant. The one on the left covers the ground but it isn’t very precise. The more accurate you can make it the better, as on the right.

Job title Admin Assistant Job title Admin AssistantTasks and responsibilities Tasks and responsibilities

Filing Use the existing systems to file paper and electronic documents

Answering the ‘phoneAnswer telephone calls and take messages for colleagues where necessary

Post – in and out Maintain a log of in-coming and out-going post

Organising meetingsOrganise meetings, including booking rooms and checking participants are available

Covering reception Greet and look after visitors in reception

Checking stationery Check levels of stock of stationery each week

Ordering stationery and equipment

Order stationery and equipment

Photocopying Photocopy and bind documents

You might also want to include some general requirements, like “Undertake any other work reasonably required by their manager”.

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Now, what kind of person do you need if they are to do these things well? Look at the job description and for each part of it think about the

Skills – what the person needs to be able to do Knowledge – what the person needs to know Attitudes and behaviours – includes how people present themselves, treat others, etc.

they will need to do the job well.

Fill in the following table, starting with the first three rows. Once you’re happy with what you’ve got you can think about the final two rows: what evidence would persuade you they had all these attributes?

What the person needs

skills

knowledge

attitudes & behaviours

Evidence

qualifications

experience

To give you an idea of the kind of thing you’re aiming for, here’s what we created for our admin assistant example.

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What the person needs – admin assistant

skills

Well organised.

Good attention to detail.

Good listener.

Good oral and written English.

Good numeracy skills.

knowledgeOffice computer software, such as Microsoft Office or OpenOffice.

Office systems and procedures.

attitudes & behaviours

Able to work well in a small team.

Able to relate to colleagues and customers.

Self-motivated.

Calm under pressure.

Willing to work flexibly to meet the needs of the business.

Commitment to customer service.

Commitment to personal development.

Evidence

qualifications English and IT user qualifications may be useful but are not essential.

experience Experience of similar admin work in a small team may be useful but is not essential.

Again, try to give as much detail as possible to make clear what qualifications and experience are needed. But be careful! You want to

exclude people who you are certain would not be able to do the job

but you don’t want to

put up unnecessary barriers and rule out perfectly good applicants.

This last point could also lead you in to problems with equalities legislation if there are unnecessary barriers that affect groups of people differently. Only insist people have qualifications or experience if they really are essential for doing the job.

One way of doing this (and this can help when you’re trying to pick the best applicant) is to make clear that some parts of what you’re asking for are desirable, rather than essential.

Other information

You’ll also need to provide potential recruits with other information about the job, such as:

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o whether it is a permanent, temporary or occasional positiono hours of worko pay (check you’re paying above the National Minimum Wage – see

https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage) o holidayso work locationo other entitlements (e.g. pension, health scheme, training)o whether there is a probationary period

Check out what you’ve done

ask what other people think, e.g. people in the business, other people in business, a trade or

industry association

• search the Internet for guidance and examples from other businesses.

Getting applicants

Many small businesses rely on family, friends and word-of-mouth when recruiting people. There are pros and cons to using these informal approaches.

pros cons

cheap likely to miss out on other, better talentquick, if you manage to find someone narrows the type of person you’re likely to getreduces risk, uses those you know and trust easier to run foul of equalities legislation

Take the approach you think best fits your business, the job and the type of person you are looking for. Go for the best option, not just the easiest one.

This doesn’t need to cost anything beyond your time.

You can advertise a job for free through a Government website: https://www.gov.uk/advertise-job

There are also plenty of commercial sites but most of these charge a fee. Similarly, there are lots of recruitment agencies around. They will usually charge quite a lot more but typically offer a more comprehensive service, such as pre-screening potential applicants to make sure they fit your requirements.

Tackle this like a sales process. Instead of trying to find customers you’re trying to track down good job applicants. As with most things, cheapest is not always best. Judge what offers you the best value for money.

The application process

Again, you can choose how formal or informal to make the process of applying for a job. Here’s one suggestion and a few comments.

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Ask for a written application or CV in the first instance.

An application form can be more work for you because you have to design and send out the form! The big plus is that you can ask people the questions that really matter for the job you’re offering rather than relying on a CV they may have help writing.

Assess the applications

Make sure you’re consistent. A simple scoring system based on the job description and person requirements can help.

Let the applicants know the result

Chances are you will want to interview the best applicants; this is covered in the next paragraph.

Write, by letter or email, to people who are unsuccessful. Let them know the result and thank them for their application. Remember – today’s unsuccessful applicant may be a future customer or the brother or sister of someone you want to take on in the future.

Interviews

Interviews can help you to get a feel for someone’s personality, their fit to your business and some of the important, ‘softer’ skills.

Here are a few tips for conducting interviews:

If possible, have a couple of people conducting each interview, taking it in turns to ask questions and make notes

Find somewhere private and comfortable for the interview where you won’t be interrupted Sit around a table rather than across a desk to encourage a relaxed atmosphere Prepare a short introduction and welcome Don’t talk too much! Listen carefully to the answers you’re given. Follow up with one or two questions for more detail Ask the interviewee to give you practical examples of their abilities. Ask open, rather than closed, questions (that is, ones you can’t give a simple yes/no answer to) Think how you would like to be treated at an interview, the image you want to project of your

business and act accordingly.

The aim is to gather as much, relevant information as you can so you can make the best decision. You’re not trying to trip applicants up.

You could also think of

including a simple, practical test that’s relevant to the job. For example, a short typing test for a typist

ask for and take up references.

To save time, you may want to do this as the last step in the process to confirm the person you’ve selected will fit the bill. Many employers are reluctant to provide detailed written references. If you have time, you may get more and better information from a ‘phone call.The Doing Good Business Programmeis funded by Big Lottery and theEuropean Social Fund 6

More help

For more help with recruitment check out

the help available from Job Centre Plus at https://www.gov.uk/jobcentre-plus-help-for-recruiters/recruitment-advice-and-support information from sites such as http://startups.co.uk/taking-on-staff/ the guides, templates, etc. available at http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1392

What kind of business do you want?

In business books you’ll often see these kind of issues referred to as the culture and values of a business. Don’t kid yourself: these things matter, even for the smallest businesses. Your business will have a culture and values, even if you don’t think or do anything about them. They can be an asset in winning and keeping customers but only if you’ve got the right people working in the right way.

Earlier work sheets have lots of lessons about how you treat one group of people – your customers and potential customers. They included being willing and able to

listen pass the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) test communicate build relationships gain and respond to feedback work out what does and doesn’t work

Imagine you’re in from of a customer. Write down what makes your product/service great for your customers. What makes you that much better than other people in your trade or industry?

Our values and ways of working - customers

Now for each of those items use the left-hand column in the table below to put down a mirror value or way of working that relates to how you treat staff.

Finally, use the right-hand column to identify at least one way in which you can put that value or way of working in to practice in your business. For example:

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Value or way of working Business practice

Communicate with all staff. Hold monthly staff meetings

Our values and ways of working - staff Business practice

Perhaps the most important tip of all for everyone running a business: make sure you ‘walk the walk’, don’t just ‘talk the talk’.

Getting people started and managing performance

Once you’ve taken someone on you’ll need to

make sure you have employer's liability insurance

notifying the tax man they’ve started work for you (https://www.gov.uk/new-employee/overview)

set up a Pay As You Earn system (if you don’t already have one) to handle their pay and taxes (https://www.gov.uk/paye-for-employers/paye-and-payroll or there’s a video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enWiKTVWNsg )

make sure you meet the workplace pension requirements (https://www.gov.uk/workplace-pensions-employers)

give them something in writing that sets out their terms and conditions of employment (http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3970)

make sure they understand how to work in a safe and healthy way

introduce them to the business, other people working in it and how you want them to work.

This is a very quick summary. There’s a lot of detail and nearly all of the points we’ve mentioned are legal requirements, so you need to get them right. There is a general checklist at https://www.gov.uk/employing-staff. If you have a bookkeeper or accountant, they should be able to help you with the tax issues. Use the link at the bottom of the sheet to find out more and ask for help if you’re unsure about any of this.

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Quick quiz

Rate yourself and your business on each of the following ten questions. Score 5 if you think you’re brilliant and 1 if you’re at the other extreme!If you don’t currently employ anyone else in your business then score on the basis of how prepared and comfortable you feel about each issue: completely relaxed (5) to potentially panic stricken (1)!

1 2 3 4 5Everyone here understands how their work contributes to achieving our business objectivesWe delegate tasks to people, we don’t just dump work on them

Everyone is encouraged to say what is and isn’t working well in their job and the businessIndividual contributions are recognised and appreciated

We regularly assess everyone’s performance in the business

We use performance assessments to drive continuous improvement in the businessThese regular assessments are used to identify personal development needsWe have a culture of encouragement rather than blame

Coaching, mentoring and training are used as appropriate for personal development and improved performanceBusiness and individual successes are celebrated

Are there any areas you think you could and should improve on?

Getting help

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) have lots of information and can help in all these areas. To begin with, have a look at their ‘Help for small firms’ at http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4231 . They also publish a handbook for small firms that you can print off; you’ll find it at http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/d/m/Employing-people-a-handbook-for-small-firms-accessible-version.pdf

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