Cost Effective Recruitment


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When you are trying to grow a business, you can often find yourself being pulled in many different directions.  You need to be a sales person, a marketing person, bookkeeper/accountant, administrator, trouble shooter, an IT expert as well as a business director, and it can sometimes feel as though you don't have enough hours in the day, or enough knowledge in any one particular area to do it properly.


So lets look at how you could recruit and delegate to people in a cost effective way...

Managing Administration

Dealing with administration of tasks can take up a sufficient amount of time for an entrepreneur, so why not take on a young person as your apprentice to do it for you?

A significant number of young people are currently unemployed and would welcome the opportunity to work alongside an inspirational entrepreneur to help build the business as their assistant.  *Funding is currently available to cover the first 6mths of a young person's salary for an employer (*conditions apply), to find out more email [email protected]  or call 0845 452 4085


Specialist Skills

It is best to focus your energy and time on the skills in which you are strongest, and look to delegate other tasks to individuals with the specialist skill set.  Investing in the right team will inevitably increase your efficiency and revenue, and flexible workers could be the cost effective solution for you.

Flexible working is a cost effective option to consider as it avoids the need to employ someone full-time. Flexible working encompasses part time workers, remote working, contract workers and even those who will work on a completely ad hoc basis. . A flexible worker often represents far more value for money than an average employee. They tend to be highly experienced and knowledgeable people who, for whatever reason, although usually due to caring for their family, cannot work in a ‘normal' 9-5 role.  Investing in the right team will inevitably increase your efficiency and revenue.

If you are interested in finding a flexible worker check out http://www.flexibleskillsbank.co.uk/ . If you register with Flexible Skills bank before the end of the year, you will receive 50% off your first purchase on their website, when you quote the code STRIDING OUT until March 2010.

What you need to consider when recruiting people.

Whether you decide to employ someone or have them working as a self employed contractor, you have certain obligations to that person that you should fulfil, to endeavour to create a trouble free relationship.

Donna Obstfeld, of DOHR Ltd (http://www.dohr.co.uk/) explains that as an employer, there are a number of things which must be taken into consideration:

Recruitment & Selection

You must use methods which are fair and do not discriminate against people based on age, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, race or beliefs. A clear, objective and detailed description of what the job consists of is essential to ensure the person can do the job. Including required qualifications and skills, will also enable you to make a decision about whether the person can do the job and will deliver as your business requires them to do. When carrying out interviews, plan your questions carefully and use the same questions with all interviewees, so a direct comparison can be made between answers. Don't forget, write to everyone telling them the outcome of their application and interview. They may ask for feedback - make it factual as this will help avoid any unwanted discrimination claims.

Contract of employment

Once you have offered someone a job, even verbally, it is considered to be a contract of employment. In addition, by law, all employees must receive a written statement of terms and conditions within 2 months of starting work. At a minimum the written statement must include:

  • Date when employment began
  • Date on which the employee's continuous employment began
  • Pay rate or calculation methodology
  • Pay frequency
  • Terms and conditions relating to hours of work, including normal working hours
  • Terms and conditions relating to entitlement to holidays, including public holidays and holiday pay
  • Job title or a brief description of the type of work the employee is employed to do
  • Place of work or an indication that an employee is required or permitted to work at various locations

In addition, employees must also receive information about the following:

  • Terms and conditions relating to incapacity for work due to sickness or injury, including any provision for sick pay
  • Terms and conditions relating to pensions and pension schemes
  • Length of notice the employee is required to give and receive to terminate the contract
  • Where the employment is not intended to be permanent, the length it is intended to last, or the end date if it is for a fixed term
  • Any collective agreements, which directly affect the terms and conditions of employment, including where the employer is not a party, the persons by whom they were made.

Policies and Procedures

Even small companies can have problems with employees and therefore it is useful to have documented policies and procedures. Depending on the nature of your business, the priority for these policies may vary, but the themes which should be considered include

  • Absence
  • Code of conduct
  • Intellectual property
  • Health & safety
  • Use of office technology
  • Disciplinary & grievance
  • Family friendly policies

These could be detailed in the employment contract, written as separate policies or combined into a handbook. Most small firms will not need a handbook, but once you have more than five employees, the health and safety policy must legally be documented and it is recommended that the others should be formalised as well.

Health & Safety

As soon as you employ one person, whether they are working remotely or in your offices you are obliged to ensure they are working in a physically and mentally safe environment. This includes doing health and safety risk assessments, providing appropriate direction and training if required and ensuring you are adequately insured as an employer.

Documentation

It is important that all recruitment candidate employee and ex employee information is obtained and retained in line with the provisions of the Data Protection Regulations.

When using the services of a contractor, the relationship is that of client and provider. The party which engages the contractor is not responsible for any employment issues and the relationship is managed through a provision of services contract rather than through an employment contract. The client continues to be responsible for ensuring a healthy and safe environment at their own premises, just as they would for customers or visitors to their site. In case of any incidents or accidents it is public liability insurance rather than employers liability insurance which would come into effect.

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