How to recruit the best employees

We all make mistakes but some are more costly than others. Recruitment is one area in which mistakes are not only expensive but have wider ranging consequences, from negatively impacting team morale and productivity to your organisation’s reputation and employment brand.

The most common, and costly, recruitment mistake we see from not-for-profit (NFP) organisations is failing to recruit for cultural fit. Yet cultural fit is strategically important; it can’t be taught, but technical skills can. While many NFPs do place importance on this when recruiting, there are others who have yet to consider the link between cultural fit and organisational continuity and productivity.

By ensuring a good fit you’ll identify a new recruit who will integrate into your existing team and who has an intrinsic understanding of the way your organisation operates. A candidate with the right cultural fit also has a greater chance of being retained long-term.

Interestingly, candidates too are looking for an organisation that provides the right fit for them, and often rank this above the salary on offer.

Another common mistake is failing to maintain momentum throughout the recruitment process. It should be succinct, convenient and informative so that your prospective employee is kept up-to-date and reassured at every stage. With highly-skilled professionals in increasing demand, your process should communicate a positive message that sells your organisation not drives a strong candidate elsewhere.

A failure to value commercial experience is a third mistake we see. While traditionally NFP employers would rarely consider candidates who lacked relevant experience, today many recognise that commercial acumen can be highly beneficial to their organisation. In fact, in a 2014 survey of ours on the typical career path of 500 CFOs, almost half (48 per cent) of our public and not-for-profit sector respondents said their previous role was in the private sector.

This increase in the commercial acumen within NFPs is especially useful when funding is scaled back or grants are insecure and the need to develop strategy, assess risk and add value rises.

Apart from commercial acumen, private sector candidates possess strategic thinking, people management and stakeholder management skills, which further add to the commercial sensitivity of your NFP.

Our final tip moves into the realm of retention more so than recruitment. It is failing to give employees a sense of purpose. In a 2016 survey of 1,196 employees, 92 per cent said a clear understanding of how their role contributes to an organisation’s success is a ‘very important’ or ‘important’ engagement factor for them.

This points to the importance of keeping lines of communication open and ensuring employees are aware of the organisation’s progress in reaching set objectives as well as their part in that process.

For NFPs, this is especially important when employees consider the opportunity to give back to communities or particular causes one of the main benefits of working in the sector. With the beliefs of the organisation closely aligned to the personal beliefs of staff – provided you recruited for the right cultural fit – showing how an employee’s role adds value and contributes to the NFP’s successful outcomes is even more important.

Kathy Kostyrko, Director of Hays.

Third Sector

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