Your people, your profits: Recruitment planning

by Andrew Corcoran, andrew@corcoran-management.biz​

The first step in creating a great team for your business is hiring the best staff. In the competitive hospitality industry, with its high staff turnover, managers and owners are often too busy "fire-fighting". This means that recruitment plans are left until the last minute and the selection process is rushed.

In the IT industry GIGO is an acronym used to describe the results generated by a computer. It stands for garbage in garbage out and this can be applied to the service industry too. The quality of the people you hire determines the service standards that you can deliver. Hire great staff and you get great service - that's what we all want.

Hiring great staff needs preparation and planning. Many businesses in the hospitality industry are seasonal and this creates extra pressure. But putting in extra effort at the recruitment stage can break the vicious circle caused by fire-fighting.

Here are some tips and suggestions to help you break out of the vicious circle:

• Plan ahead​ - it takes at least eight weeks to recruit an employee from advertising to starting work. If you are hiring managers you may need four months.

Take an overview of the year​ - look at your summer or Christmas needs early on and don't get caught out by leaving it until the last minute.

Develop a recruitment plan​ - think about the coming and going of your employees. When do the students leave? When do the students return? Be prepared for a certain amount of staff turnover and include it in your plans. Write out a plan that shows when you need staff and then factor in a period of time to complete the recruitment - at least six weeks. You can always decide not to recruit if you keep your employees longer.

Analyse your best ways of advertising for staff​ - know the best places to advertise, ask your staff where they looked for their job. Consider the local radio job slots, post office cards, local Internet sites, community centres and so on.

Don't get bogged down in paper​ - today's recruitment market has changed. Don't expect people to send formal letters and CVs. Advertise a recruitment hotline that could be your manager's or your own mobile telephone. That way you won't miss any calls. Similarly, use the applicant's mobile telephone numbers or email address to contact them. It's much quicker. You can always complete the paperwork and fill out application forms at a later stage.

First impressions count​ - make sure the job advert is interesting and suits your business. If you want your business to be a fun place to work then make the advert fun and don't put too much emphasis on the technical skills required.
Last impressions count too​ - if you use seasonal staff make sure they leave on good terms. They may bring new staff back with them when they return and this will help you through the busy periods. Show an interest in them. Call them and ask them for suggestions about their work, even when they are not working for you. Send them staff emails and newsletters, keep them on-side and part of the team.

Using these tips will help plan your recruitment and get potential staff interested in working for you. In the next article I will look at the techniques you can use when interviewing and making your selection.

Andrew Corcoran was formerly a country manager and department head for McDonald's. He now runs his own consultancy and is a senior lecturer at the Business School of the University of Lincoln and an associate lecturer at Oxford Brookes University.​