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Recruitment is both an art and a science: ‘Art’ because it is about relationships, and ‘science’ because you will use metrics to assess interested candidates’ suitability and fit when making hiring decisions.  Making the best hiring decision begins with the job description (JD) for the vacant role. All candidates will be assessed based on their match to the requirements listed on the JD. 

Note:  If challenged, you must be able to defend your recruitment choice with information that supports your decision.

Before any recruitment and selection process is initiated, employers need to manage potential risks by being familiar with the Federal Human Rights legislation and Provincial Human Rights Legislation governing these activities.  Find the links to each below:

Resource:  The following (July 8, 2020) excerpt provides sound guidance for employers:   

Human Rights Issues for Employers

As an employer you inevitably will encounter human rights issues that will arise in your workplace. However, you can reduce and potentially eliminate complaints by employees in regard to an infringement of their human rights. Mindfulness of human rights is step one. Respecting all employees’ human rights is step two. Step three is to take all reasonable steps to ensure your workplace does not offend one’s human rights. Employers have an obligation to create and maintain a workplace free from discrimination and harassment, and one that is a safe environment for their employees to work.

You should familiarize yourself with “the grounds” for human rights complaints. They are: family status (pregnancy & maternity), age, race, place of origin, marital status, disability, colour, citizenship, sexual orientation, ancestry, religion, sex, ethnic origin, gender expression, gender identity and record of offences. Training should be provided for all employees. Your management staff needs to know how to recognize issues such as harassment and discrimination. They also need to be trained on how to handle a complaint. You need to ensure that you have an updated Policy and Procedures Manual that informs your employees of how a human rights complaint should be handled in your workplace.

End of excerpt. Source: KCYAT Law

The following is the abbreviated list of the key activities in the recruitment and selection processes, find the full information below.

1.       Preparation

  • Prepare the Job Posting to Advertise the Position

  • Create the Interview Tools from the Job Posting

2.       Evaluation of Candidates

  • Review applications

  • Screen candidates

  • Interview candidates

  • Rank candidates

3.       Selection

  • Choose ‘Best Fit’ Candidate

  • Conduct Reference & Security Checks

  • Make Verbal Offer

4.       Hiring

  • Create Written Offer

  • Create Employment Agreement

  • Announce the Successful Candidate

The following demonstrates the process flow from Preparation through to Hiring to recruit an Administrative Assistant/Receptionist for a 2-year old business.   Let’s get started! 

Preparation:

1.       Create the job posting to advertise the position

  • The job posting is a sub-set of specific information from the Job Description.  You want to give enough information about your business and the position to attract candidates to apply to your opportunity, but not distract them with too much information.

  • Ensure you are not accidentally discriminating on any of the Human Rights protected grounds refer to the Alberta and Saskatchewan codes.

  • The Job Posting includes information on the following topics:

    • Job title

    • Location of the role

    • Type of Employment:  Full-Time/Part-Time/Temporary/Casual

    • Role classification:  In-scope or exempt (if the position is within a unionized environment)

    • Summary of the role

    • Main responsibilities & duties

    • Required qualifications & skills

    • Days of the week (i.e. Monday-Friday; weekends (Sat-Sun)

    • Hours of work (i.e. days 07:30 AM-4:00 PM, nights)

    • Length of time the posting is open

    • Where the Respondent should send their application and/or who to contact

    • Salary/Compensation (i.e. hourly wage/monthly salary; to be negotiated. Benefits if applicable)

    • If applicable:  Include reference to a specific business policy (i.e. Employer provides a workplace free of harassment, discrimination as per Human Rights legislation, Psychological Safety in the Workplace)

  • Resources and support:

    • Template can be used to draft your Posting.

    • HR Support (s.leonard @ ….. )

  • Online Examples:

    • Indeed.com, Glassdoor, Monster.com and other online recruitment support organizations provide templates for a wide variety of jobs which can save you time as they have already done the ‘heavy lifting’ of drafting the generic posting.  Check it out at here.

    • Completed Example –Administrative Assistant/Receptionist Opportunity

2.       Create interview tools 

While you are waiting for the posting to be advertised and for applications to come to you, it’s the perfect time to create the tools you’ll need during the candidate interviews (You wouldn’t make a cake, attempt to BBQ or paint a wall without the right tools!).  Doing this work up-front is proactive in that you are not scrambling to create them at the last minute AND you can think through what is most important for you to learn about your candidates’ suitability for your advertised position.

Three (3) basic tools to guide your selection process are:

  • Candidate Skills/Qualifications Evaluation Criteria

    • You’ve already indicated the desirable skills and qualifications in the job posting.  Those are the backbone of your evaluation and decision-making from this point forward. 

  • Interview Questions

    • Design open-ended questions to acquire information about the skills/qualifications from the candidates. 

      • Open-ended questions are preferable as you will gain a broader picture of the candidates’ relevant experience.  Ultimately you are looking for the ‘best fit’ candidate for your business. 

      • Asking a close-ended question can provide you with only two possible answers:  Yes or No, and both of those will halt the conversation (useful if you need to halt the conversation, though!).

    • Choose a blend of technical (skills-based), behavioural (what would you do), and experience (training, work experience) questions to match the skills/qualification evaluation criteria. This template reflects this blend of questions for the Administrative Assistant/Receptionist job posting.    

  •  Ranking Guide Tool

    • Using a ranking tool is the numeric approach to determining which candidate is best-suited for the role rather than defaulting to the more traditional ‘conversational – impression’ approach.

      • Initially it may feel awkward to assign scores to the candidates’ interview answers, but the Interviewers’ comparison and debriefing conversation afterwards is more neutral and evaluative of the requirements rather than descriptive about the candidate’s personality.

      • Using a ranking tool when there are multiple candidates and only one person conducting the interview(s) is especially helpful. 

    • Do keep the Candidates Ranking Guides for the position being recruited in the recruitment file for seven (7) years in the event your selection is challenged by an unsuccessful candidate.  Being able to produce an objective Ranking Guide is valid and preferable evidence over memory in such circumstances. 

Evaluation of Candidates:

1.       Review applications/resumes

  • Invite another person (if possible) to assist you to review resumes and work with you throughout the selection process.

  • Review candidates’ qualifications for the role as compared to the Job Posting.

  • Choose candidates for telephone screening (if applicable).  Sometimes if a large number of applications are received for the position, it is worthwhile to have a brief (20-minute) telephone call with Candidates you are interested in inviting for an in-person interview. These conversations will help you make the decision to invite (or not) for an interview.

  • If you do conduct telephone screening calls, limit your questions to 2-4 to determine if the individual is a potential ‘fit’ for the role based on the role requirements as advertised in the Job Posting. 

2.       Select candidates for in-person interviews

3.       Conduct interviews

4.       Use ranking tool to evaluate candidates. Again, your pre-work is paying off!

Selection:

1.       Select ‘best fit’ candidate

  • Congratulations!  You have selected the ‘best’ candidate as per an objective recruitment process.  ‘Best fit’ is the result of the answers provided through the interview conversation and the Ranking Guide combined with your assessment of how this individual will ‘fit’ with your business, the team, and clients (if a front-facing role). 

  • Follow up with the Candidate to let them know he/she has been selected and ask his/her permission to contact the references, as provided during the interview. 

2.       Conduct Reference Checks/Security Clearance Check

  • Types of References

    • Depending on the role being recruited and the amount of experience the candidate possesses, you might accept a character reference if the individual does not have sufficient work experience and therefore an employment reference is not an option.  Sometimes, a reference letter is offered by an individual having an experience with the candidate (i.e. church affiliation, volunteer agency).

    • Regardless of the type of reference provided to you, a telephone call is the best option with each reference to confirm what the candidate has told you about their work history, work ethic/attitude, and how they work with other people.  

  • Reference Check Questions

    • If you have short-listed the candidates (i.e. need to choose between two or three individuals) conducting reference checks for each candidate may be the determining factor in your selection decision.

    • Choose questions that align with the Interview questions. Often employers will ask the same questions of the references as was asked in the Candidate’s interview.  Be very careful to NOT ASK questions about any of the Human Rights protected grounds as detailed here.

  • Each reference should be asked the same set of questions (see this template). Use the template to record the Reference’s answers.  Keep the reference(s) documents in the Position Recruitment file should you ever need to produce evidence for your selection decision. 

  • Security Clearance Check

    • Roles that will be working with vulnerable populations (children, youth, elderly, disadvantaged, disabled populations) require a current Criminal Records Check as a condition of employment.  The Employer requests the Candidate to obtain the security clearance from either the local Police Services or the RCMP.  The cost for the procedure is usually borne by the Candidate.

    • If the Employer is using an external qualified firm to conduct the background check on the Candidate, again as a condition of employment, the Candidate must sign the Employer’s document attesting their agreement to have the background check conducted. 

    • These documents and the results are retained in the confidential Employee file.

    • This site offers general information about the benefits of conducting background checks on the preferred candidate prior to employment. Disclaimer: No preference is given to this organization; it is for information purposes only. 

3. Make verbal offer

  • Typically, the Manager/Supervisor telephones the preferred Candidate and makes the verbal offer of employment.  The offer confirms that the Candidate is still interested and available for the role, discusses and agrees on the hours of work (i.e. full time, part time, hours/week) and compensation (i.e. hourly rate, monthly salary, benefits including sick time, flex time, vacation), employment start date, and requests Candidate to secure the background check clearance (if applicable for the role). 

  • If acceptable to the Candidate, the Employer indicates that a written offer (Employment Agreement) will be provided within a certain period for the Candidate to review, discuss, sign, and return to the hiring manager. 

Hiring:

1. Create Employment Agreement or Contractor Agreement

  • Depending on the size of your business, this Agreement includes standard items specific to your business, its operations, and expectations of the new employee (or Contractor) relative to the employment start date, probationary period (if applicable) through to termination/resignation, and beyond. 

  • This is the most important document you will use during the term of this employee’s employment with your business.  The Agreement will clearly specify the terms of employment, reasonable restrictive covenants (i.e. confidentiality of information, and more), and that the termination procedures are legally enforceable. 

  • Your company’s legal representative can create a standard Employment Agreement or Contractor Agreement (template) that can be modified to your specific needs depending on the types of roles you hire. 

2. Create announcement of new person joining your business:  You are finally at the stage of officially welcoming your new employee into your business and ‘introducing’ them to others!  The announcement is drafted by yourself and reviewed by the employee (for agreement) prior to (typically) being emailed to the employees.  It describes;

  • Who is joining the business,

  • In which capacity,

  • The start date, and

  • Invites others to welcome this new person! 

Congratulations – you’ve successfully recruited and hired an important person to join your business!Source: KCYAT Lawhere