Code of Recruitment and Selection for SMEs

Successful Human Resources departments know the importance of hiring process. Hiring the best talent is very important to the company’s long-term success. Companies that have a more thorough structured recruitment process tend to have a lower turnover rate because they focus on finding the candidate who suits both the position and the company’s work environment. Recruitment involves actively seeking out and advertising to potential candidates and obtaining their interest in the position. Selection refers to the process of determining the best candidate from the pool of applicants.

Policy

The recruitment and selection process is guided by the Constitution of the Country, Collective Bargaining Agreements for the Industry and the International Labour Organisation [ILO] as well as company agreed principles. Small and Medium Enterprises [SMEs] must always be guided by these statutes when formulating a company recruitment policy. The most basic of these policies are:

1. No person shall be required to perform forced labour.
2. No employer shall discriminate against any employee or prospective employee on grounds of race, tribe, place of origin, political opinion, colour, creed, gender, pregnancy, HIV/AIDS status.
3. Employer must always exercise equity, fairness when selecting candidate for a job.
4. The core values Human Resources on Recruitment and Selection shall be that of Equity, Accessibility, Transparency, Accountability, Participation and Professionalism.
5. Employer shall utilize the opportunities of cultural diversity on recruitment and selection.

Employee Selection

One of the problems SMEs companies’ encounters is that they recruit employees without doing proper Job Analysis. The reason behind in most cases is that, these companies are family run and the employer cannot let his relative go unemployed. Such unthoughtful decision might be a burden to the company financial performance. Every employee placement or recruitment and selection should be related to productivity, vacancy availability, and job description and the job specification. A simple reference to see whether hiring new employee is necessary or not is through job analysis and the organisational organogram. SMEs should have a structured organogram and a job analysis procedure.

Interviewing Candidates

Hiring the best candidate isn’t always simple and will require planning and a logical process. Whether the hiring is done in a strong or weak economic environment or where unemployment is high or low there are some basic principles that should not be compromised such as job specification and the job description. The prospective employee must fit the job description and job specification hence the organisation must hire basing on competence and highest professionalism.

There are several basic types of interviews a company can use depending on the nature of the vacancy and these include: situational, nondirective, structured, and appraisal interviews. All interviews should be classified according to content, structure, purpose, and method of administration. Each of these interviews types have their pros and cons which must be understood before selecting one for the company. To obtain the best candidate it is vital to use at least two or more interview approaches.

The five steps in the interview

1. Plan-This involves interview planning process [making sure all is set]
2. Establish rapport-Ensuring a connection with the prospective employees
3. Question the candidate-Asking questions from the structured questionnaire
4. Close the interview and Review the data-Providing a score/rating for the candidate

Recruitment Process Checklist

To ensure a successful recruitment and selection here is the checklist the recruitment officer should follow:

1. Job evaluation
2. Request to fill a job vacancy
3. Create Pool of CV’s (Ad/CV Bank/ Internal/ Recruitment Agencies/ etc.)
4. Conduct Interviews
5. Screening and Selection
6. Send Successful Candidate for CEO Approval
7. Employment Process Human Resources
8. Medical Check-up
9. Creating Personal File
10. Induction
11. ID/Attendance

Required Documents before Contract Signing Checklist

The new employee must bring original and certified photocopies of the following documents to the Human Resources dept. on contract signing. The recruitment officer must ensure compliance and conduct a validity check for all documents.

1. Birth certificate
2. National identity card
3. Passport size photos
4. Criminal record/Police clearance
5. Medical record
6. Academic certificates
7. Professional certificates

Failure to provide any of the above documents in full and accurate information as requested by Human Resources Dept. during the application process should stop the employment process. In that case the organisation will be saving itself from bogus and incompetent people who cheat their way up. Upon the completion of employee’s hiring papers, the HR department sets the start date of the employee, and informs the head of the department and announce the hiring of the new employee through notice board or company website if required to do so.

Critical Contract Information Employers’ Obligation

Most SMEs employers sometimes fail to provide the necessary information during the engagement period. Legally every employer is required to provide a contract of employment with all the information listed below, hence the contract template/form should include all such details. In the event the information is not provided clearly it can cause confusion, ambiguity and might be considered as a failure to act in good faith.

An employer shall, upon engagement of an employee, inform the employee in writing [through contract document] of the following particulars;

1. The name and address of the employer
2. The period of time, if limited, for which the employee is engaged
3. The terms of probation, if any
4. The terms of any employment code
5. Wages, its calculation and the intervals at which it will be paid
6. Benefits receivable in the event of sickness or pregnancy
7. Hours of work
8. Particulars of any bonus or incentive production scheme
9. Particulars of vacation leave and vacation pay
10. Particulars of any other benefits provided under the contract
11. Applicable deductions such as Tax

Employee Orientation/Induction

The main goal of induction is to help new employee adjust to the work environment and engage with the company's culture. Induction focuses on introducing the new employee to the organisation knowing the company structure, culture, key people, what is expected on the new role and place of work. The period of induction varies depending on the nature of the organisation and employee position and it can go from days, weeks up to a full month.

Policy

Depending on the size of the SME here are some of the induction policies an organisation can adopt;

1. The Human Resources shall start induction process of new employees and ensures the employee has gone through all the induction stages.
2. HR department will give the new employee the HRP handbook and explain about the organization, its departments and the flow of work.
3. The new employee shall be handed to the SHE Dept. for SHE Standards induction and the systems available
4. The department’s manager will introduce the employee to his/ her colleagues in the organization; familiarize the new employee with the workplace and explaining details about the organization and the job description.

Induction Checklist Process

Here is the induction structure from the HR dept. to the place of work an employee must go through.

1. HR Dept.
2. HRD Dept.
3. SHE Dept.
4. Operations Dpt.
5. Supervisor

Probation Policy

The human resources department together with department head monitors employee attendance records during the first three months of probation period, in addition to the overall observation of employee attitude and performance.

Before completion of three months, the department head should do a performance appraisal for the employee with recommendations.

The department head should then forward employee appraisal to the HR department for review with regard to the following:

1. Compensation review/ adjustments
2. Training needs
3. Any uncommon situation, behavior, or performance during three-month probation period

Depending on the nature of the contract, generally if an employee successfully completed the probation period he/she will become a permanent employee.

If an employee failed to pass probation period s/he will be terminated or given second probation period. Depending with the company policy normally two probation periods are enough to make a decision on whether to continue with the employee or not.

Policy of Attendance

Attendance registers play a crucial role on employee management ranging from performance management, compensation, time management and discipline. Employee daily attendance should be recorded accurately indicating whether the employee is present, absent or is on leave.

In most cases attendance registers should be captured by the supervisor or clerk of works, approved by the Head of department and submitted to the Payroll Dept. /HR dept. Employees are entitled to take on leave days but this is something that should be planned and applied in advance so that work is not disturbed. Leave should not be treated as emergency and employers must always encourage employees to take their leave days and keep them at minimum.

NB: Leave Days are Guided by Labour Act CAP 28:01 Part IV Sect 14

Policy

1. All department heads must submit the monthly leaves plan to HR Dept. a week before the beginning of each month.
2. All employees have to register their daily attendance (time-in/time-out) in the attendance system used such as work cards, log books, attendance machines.
3. The attendance penalty rules are monthly and are reset at the beginning of each month.
4. Attendance penalties are handled according to Organization regulations and labor law disciplinary procedures as mentioned in Disciplinary Procedure.
5. The HR dept. will combine attendance registers and provide a comprehensive monthly attendance labour report.
6. The employer may determine the dates of the annual leave according to work exigencies and conditions. Employer should not interrupt the leave except for strong reason(s) necessitated by work interests.
7. The worker has the right to determine the date of his /her annual leave, providing s/he notifies the employer at least fourteen days before s/he goes on leave.
8. The worker whose sickness is established has the right to a sick leave as such determined by the medical care provider assigned by the organization or the state medical personnel. For leave conditions refer to the Labour Act Cap 28:01, Sec 14.

To be continued......................!