Bank of Industry (BOI) appoints Clement Ashley Consulting as approved Business Development Support Provider (BDSP) in the Zonal category

In a bid to address challenge of access to credit for SMEs, and to hasten the credit delivery process, the Bank of  Industry (BOI) has signed service agreements, engaging 122 Business Development Service Providers (BDSPs) to increase SMEs’ capacity to apply for and secure financing from the Bank.

Speaking at the event, the Managing Director/CEO, Bank of Industry, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa stated that this move had become imperative because even though SMEs  account for over 90% of the companies in Nigeria, account for half of the nation’s GDP, and provides employment for more than 30% of its populace, many SMEs have not been able to attract funding because of poorly packaged and non-bankable business plans and proposals submitted to secure funds.

He added that this strategic partnership with BDSPs was in furtherance of the Bank’s core mandate “of providing long-term financial and business support services to large, medium and small projects”. He also pointed out that this would also help the Bank fulfill its obligations towards the success of the National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP), of which the Bank is a key stakeholder.

Mr. Olaoluwa revealed that the selection process that brought about the 122 BDSP firms was rigorous and that the selected companies were placed in three categories, based on their capacity and preferred areas of coverage. BDSPs with a national coverage totalled 28, regional coverage BDSPs were 74 (of which Clement Ashley Consulting is one of the seventy four, and covering the South West, South South and South East zones), while state-focused BDSPs were 20 in number. "

If you are located in the South West, South South and South East Regions and wish to make any enquiries about access to funding please send mail to robu@clementashleyconsulting.org

Best Regards
The Business Development Team
Clement Ashley Consulting
017925490, 08080642478

Managing the Risks of Recruiting

Introduction

On the 15^th of March 2014, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) carried out a pre-recruitment aptitude test nationwide. Over 500,000 (five hundred thousand) job seekers were attending these tests to compete for less than 5,000 (five thousand) vacancies. This means that the ratio of applicants to jobs was more than 100 to 1. At this test there were stampedes at several centres and as at the last count eighteen young Nigerians had lost their lives with scores wounded. Several others lost their lives in traffic accidents on the way to and way from the test venues. I surmise that there is a better way for the Government to recruit while managing the risks of recruitment.

The unfortunate stampede which led to the deaths of several job candidates seeking to join the Nigerian Immigration Service, is a tragedy on many levels and an avoidable one at that.

Firstly it is a tragedy for the families of the young men and women who died. Families that were hoping for these young people to come home with good news of a successful interview not to be called to identify their loved ones in the morgue.

It is also a tragedy for the image of Nigeria. The most populous country in Africa with the now (re-based) largest economy in Africa. It should not be seen to be failing to provide sufficient opportunities for our young people to be gainfully employed. The sheer number of candidates in the stadia was astounding and clearly indicates that a lot more needs to be done to create jobs for our school leavers. More importantly for the subject of this paper is the fact that the exercise was conducted without any regard for risk management.

I was moved while watching the news of this sad event to hear a traumatised victim asking why in this modern times the recruitment was done in such a manner. This is a question that is no doubt being asked up and down the country and lessons need to be learned.

Problem Statement

In the past government agencies and the Nigerian military and paramilitary services have seemingly held the view that candidates need to be seen to be screened. Note that I use the word screened (not interviewed). Following from this logic; to screen 500,000 you need to see 500,000 physically. The problem is that seeing 500,000 persons at the same time is a big risk. Asking 500,000 person to physically appear which involves travel even if not on the same day also involves huge risks. These are risks that the recruiter should manage and mitigate and not pass on to the hapless job seeker. The attitude of the Nigerian Immigration Service and its “recruitment consultant” seems to be “please come at your own risk”.

Previous Options

At this last screening and recruitment exercise the Nigerian Immigration Service actually used an online platform to receive applications and collect the application fee. After this the candidates were required to report at various stadia for written aptitude tests. The question is; “why stop the use of technology at application collection?” Why not use the online platform to organize online testing.

Clement Ashley Consulting's Solution

1. Use an online platform to collect applications- this saves time, manages the risks of travel as well as missing or misplaced applications as well as the risk of wrong recording of names and other candidate details. Also aids data mining and shortlisting.
2. Abolish the practice of collecting application processing fees from candidates responding to your job advert. This is not only unethical but abolishment also removes the risk of exploitation as well as profit induced risky practices and a risk prone mindset such as “the more the merrier”
3. Use online aptitude and job knowledge tests to screen and shortlist for further screening, this addresses the risk of looking further at persons who lack the basic knowledge and intelligence for the job. It also addresses the risk of travel, queuing and crowd control. Any concerns about the sanctity of online test can be addressed by Information Security methodologies.
4. Use online psychometric and personality tests to screen and shortlist for further screening and/or interview. This addresses the risk of looking further at persons with the wrong personality or mindset. It also addresses the risk of travel, queuing and crowd control and saves the time of the interviewers.
5. Use a recruitment software application to move candidates application down the recruitment funnel from one stage to another this saves time and money (the cost of personnel) and the need for physical file carrying with the attendant risk of manipulation.
6. Only invite candidates for final interview when the ratio is down to less than or equal to: five candidates per vacancy,, anything more than that is unreasonable.
7. Only carry out medical or other physical tests during or after the interview, if a pre-condition for employment then combine with final interview to minimize travel, cost of examination and queuing.

Clement Ashley Consulting recommends that job seekers be treated with respect. As part of quality control this proposed recruitment methodology should be audited regularly for compliance.

Benefit 1

Using this approach recruitment is faster. Marking of scripts that could take weeks will be accomplished instantaneously.

Benefit 2

Using this approach recruitment is cheaper. Only a few hands will be necessary to manage an automated recruitment process.

Benefit 3

Using this approach recruitment will be less risky for the applicants as travel, queuing and the need for crowd management will be reduced or eliminated.

Benefit 4

Using this approach the recruitment process will be transparent leading to more credibility for government agencies or other large scale recruiting organisations.

Summary

Technology based recruitment in the 21^st Century is a minimum standard requirement for large scale recruitments. Anyone reading this, will be forgiven for wondering why this paper is necessary.

Managing the Risk Within: Employee Fraud Prevention and Detection

Introduction

Fraud costs American businesses, large and small, a ton of money each year. In fact, according to the McGladrey report The Threat Within: Employee Fraud Detection and Prevention, fraud took a huge toll on American businesses, to the tune of nearly $1 trillion dollars, last year. The problem only seems to be worsening with the volatility of the economy. That’s why it’s so important to focus on prevention rather than trying to recover losses after the fact.

In Nigeria where data and statistics are scarce one can safely assume that Nigerian business are losing much more than that. In the last couple of years we have seen departments, units and entire businesses close down due to employee fraud and unethical behaviour. A few cases can illustrate this. A hospital had to close its laboratory because the laboratory technicians were no longer doing the hospitals work but were taking in 'unrecorded' work from other hospitals for a fee that the staff privately pocketed. Patients of the hospital who were used to a 3 day return appointment were now having to wait 3 weeks, meanwhile the lab was always stocked out of required materials previously purchased, and still unused, as far as the records showed.

The hospital could not cope and decided to close the laboratory. It laid off all the workers and now send their work to laboratories abroad.

You may have heard of workers diverting their employers goods in containers, diverting tankers of petroleum products or selling the employers goods worth hundreds of thousands of Naira without issuing official receipts. We have even heard of a case where all the fish in a fish farm mysteriously disappeared just before harvest. The list of such worker related fraudulent behaviour is endless. The Great American Insurance group who provide business crime Insurance coverage in the US, say that “Employee fraud costs companies a surprisingly large percentage of their gross revenues. With some employee fraud schemes spanning years, the results can be devastating to a company's operations and its financial results.”

Small businesses are even more vulnerable to employee theft because they lack the level of internal control and security that larger businesses often have in place. For these reasons, you need to work now to come up with an effective method for deterring employee fraud and theft.

Problem Statement

In the past we could rely on young people to learn ethics at home, re-enforced by schools and canonized by churches, mosques and religious institutions. This is no longer the case. Little Johnny the son of a reverend pastor and a teacher mother, 'hears' his father preach that stealing is a sin. He then 'sees' the same father dip his hands into the offering bucket. He listens to his mother teach that stealing is wrong but then he sees her bring home exercise books and pencils form the school for his private use at home. Johnny gets to university and his lecturers are not in class because they are busy running their private businesses during school hours. In fact some of his lecturers engage him to run errands for their business when his class should be holding. He obliges so that he can get a pass mark when exams for which they are not being prepared, come up, as they must.

Having passed through these experiences the grown up John graduates and because of his high IQ he passes your recruitment test and is offered a job. John who is about to resume at your company is the same person that switches on his TV set at home to see that some leader; political, corporate, religious or social has just been indicted for committing economic crimes. While the case is still on, he sees this same person receive national awards and traditional titles in recognition of his 'contributions' to his community and nation.

This is the practical lesson in 'ethics' that John has learned.

Previous Options

In many organizations, 'on-boarding' or 'induction' is all about getting the new employee to learn the ropes as fast as possible. The company trusts that their list of do's and don'ts as contained in the staff handbook is sufficient to guide the new employee as far as what is acceptable behaviour to the organisation is concerned. To make assurance doubly sure the new employee is asked to sign a copy of the staff handbook to acknowledge that he has read and understood the contents of the handbook. The company is satisfied that this aspect of his induction has been taken care of and they now concentrate on the 'business' of doing business itself.

Clement Ashley Consulting's Solution

1. Require Employees to Take Vacation
2. Train Managers and Employees to Spot Fraud
3. Implement Internal Control Systems
4. Create a System of Internal Audits
5. Conduct Background Checks on New Employees
6. Invest in Business Crime Insurance e.g. Fidelity bonds
7. Encourage anonymous whistle-blowing
8. Train Employees on Employee Work Ethics and Responsibility

Clement Ashley Consulting recommends that as part of induction, new personnel be taken through a course on 'employee work ethics and employee responsibility' in the context of the organizations operations. Having facilitated this kind of training before, we are sometimes shocked during pre-case quizzes at what employees ignorantly defend as acceptable behaviour, when practical case studies are being handled in workshops and training classes. These practical case studies give the employer the opportunity to work through myths and wrong beliefs and replace wrong values with the right ones.

We believe that this should not be a one-off exercise. At least once every two years all staff should have a refresher on workplace ethics with an emphasis on the discussion of industry specific case studies to reveal any new mendacious thoughts and beliefs, and nip them in the bud.

When training on work ethics for staff is combined with adequate internal controls, segregation of duties, independent audit and examination as well as a well designed reward and compensation scheme that is tied to performance management and appraisals, the company stands to attain competitive advantage over its peers who do not properly address the issue of employee work ethics.

Benefit 1

Using this approach training is focused is on corporate goals and objectives, providing the best possible environment for achieving them.

Benefit 2

Using this approach you will be able to identify any wrong interpretations of what is ethical and hence prevent unethical behaviour

Benefit 3

Using this approach you are able to build a core of ethical staff who can resist a 'renegade thinker'. It is well known fact that collusion can override the best of controls. Wide spread training on ethics for all staff, reduces the risk of collusion.

Benefit 4

Using this approach you are able to reduce operational losses due to employee related unethical activities. Training on employee work ethics pays for itself many times over in reduced operational losses.

Summary

Training your staff on employee work ethics and employee responsibility is something that can give your organisation competitive advantage. As everyone knows when something becomes scarce it becomes a source of value. With widespread corruption and unethical behaviour as the order of the day. Your organisation will reap enormous benefits form having an ethical workforce.

Managing the Risk of Headhunting

Introduction

Eighty percent (80%) of business success is tied to people. Recruiting the right people, motivating the right people, training the right people, retaining the right people while releasing the wrong ones is the key to your success. Many business under-perform because they do not know to do this or they can’t do it well. Anything that can prevent us from achieving our objectives, is a risk that must be managed. Therefore if we want to hire the right people we must manage the risk of getting it wrong.

Problem Statement

Identifying the right talent is always a concern. Some employers figure- 'why try to reinvent the wheel'. If some other company is getting it right, then why don't we just identify the person responsible for success and get him or her to join our team

Previous Options

Current practice in most business organizations is that when they think this way, they turn to their HR manager or their HR consultant and ask them to head hunt a certain person occupying a target position in a target company. Many employers think that getting the person responsible for success at company 'X' will translate into success at company 'Y'.

This is not always the case. Let's look at a sample scenario to explain why. Company 'Y' identifies company 'X' as having the kind of market share and sales performance that they would like for themselves. They identify the Head of Sales and Marketing in company 'X' and decide that if they can just get to recruit him/her. He/she would in no distant time work his/her magic on their numbers. What they failed to realize is that the CEO of company 'X' is an excellent networker who is always passing qualified leads to his sales team. Eighty percent of qualified leads come from the CEO, in addition the head of sales and marketing has a couple of fantastic 'closers' on his team this duo have a conversion rate of close to 90%. Company 'Y' does not have this same ideal situation.

The new Head of Sales and Marketing resumes at company 'Y' his strength is in managing a sales process. He duplicates the exact same sales process he used at company 'X' but with dramatically different results.

Clement Ashley Consulting's Solution

Clement Ashley Consulting recommends a recruitment approach that takes account of the problems identified above. We recognize that in reality the success you see may be as a result of a myriad of factors, some inimitable; the structure, the processes, the people, the life cycle of the organisation, the synergy of a team etc etc.

This means that we cannot assume that because the Head of Sales and Marketing recorded success at company 'X' he will automatically record success at company 'Y'. We still need to investigate his performance and validate his results. A head hunting approach does not give us the opportunity to do this. The target always feels like the 'beautiful bride' ask him to take a test or survey and responds 'do I have to do that, you know I am a performer that is why you approached me'. The target gives you the run around, always playing hard to get. The meeting is less of an interview and more of a salary negotiation from his point of view. What you hear is “ I am very happy where I am, and if you want to get me to leave, you need to make me an offer I cannot resist” As a result you end up paying a salary three or more times what you would have paid if you allowed him to compete for the position.

Please read Bernard Marr's Linkedin article “Who's Been Paid $109 Million For NOT Performing At Their Job?” to learn how Yahoo Inc paid a whopping sum of $109 million for 15 months of non performance when they headhunted De Castro of Google. Please follow this link to read.Headhunting at Yahoo

Our approach begins with understanding in great detail who exactly the man or woman for the job is. We recommend that you elicit a very detailed job description for each position and then make a very detailed and thorough man specification for each job description Armed with this you are now in a position to write a compelling copy for an advert that is geared to attract only the people who are actually qualified and discourage speculative job seekers. Having attracted the right targets, you should now put them through a thorough testing process to validate their IQ, work skills, job knowledge, emotional stability and personality fit for the job. If you have any headhunting target in mind encourage them to apply in response to the advert. If your advert copy is well written, chances are they would already have applied if they saw the advert. Let him compete with other applicants. This gives you an opportunity to independently validate his claimed successes. It also gives you an opportunity to hold him accountable for results in order to earn whatever salary is finally agreed. As you know competition always brings prices down. The same goes for salaries.

Benefit 1

Using this approach you greatly reduce the run around you get from headhunt targets.

Benefit 2

Using this approach you will not get hood winked by successes for which the candidate is not solely responsible and therefore cannot replicate

Benefit 3

Using this approach you are able to negotiate a competitive salary and hold the candidate accountable for results and not pay three times what the candidate is worth for success claimed elsewhere.

Benefit 4

Using this approach you do not limit yourself to what you think is available but create an open playing field that enables you discover other potential talent at a reasonable price.

Implementation

Implementation involves designing recruitment policies and procedures that standardize these best practice methodologies .It involves recognizing what personalities suit what jobs and identifying the right tests to administer. It involves understanding performance measures for each job position. It involves advertising for all positions; headhunting just becomes one approach of sourcing applicants to apply.

Summary

Hiring the right staff is the best thing you can do for your organisation. Jack Welch says 'Get the right people in the right jobs – it is more important than developing a strategy' The eighty-twenty rule recognizes that eighty percent of business success is tied to people but only twenty percent of organizations get it right. You can be part of that top twenty percent.

Technorati S9969AXG6QNZ 

Risk Based Internal Auditing - The New Approach

Introduction

The Institute of Internal Auditors defines Internal auditing as an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization's operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes. (2013).

Problem Statement

If you entered the Internal Audit profession twenty or thirty years ago you would not recognize the above definition of internal auditing. The fact is that Internal Auditing has changed significantly over the last decade. Much of those changes have been driven by new regulation and regulatory demands, new technology, new professional standards, globalization  new ways of working especially the need for collaboration as well as a more proactive, dynamic and risk based approach to auditing. The fact is that many career auditors need to re-tool, re-think and re-train to carry out their new expanded responsibilities effectively.

Previous Options

In the old traditional, conventional approach to auditing. Internal auditing was a compliance based activity. The traditional internal auditor armed with his checklists, standard audit tests and annual audit plan felt capable of providing assurance to management that internal controls were working effectively and that all assets had been safe-guarded. With the role of the internal auditor being redefined in line with the introductory definition above, more is needed for the Internal auditor to be able to help his organisation accomplish its operational objectives while improving the effectiveness of of risk management, control, and governance processes, by his objective independent consulting activity.

Clement Ashley Consulting's Solution

Clement Ashley Consulting recommends a Risk Based Internal audit approach that has a business focus rather than an audit focus. The Risk based approach should have a process forcus rather than a transaction focus, it should focus on improvement of risk identification rather than compliance for compliance sake. The risk based approach to internal auditing should use open questioning techniques rather than the traditional closed questioning. The mindest of the risk based internal auditor should be one of change facilitation to improve performance rather than policy adherence.The risk based internal auditor should see himself as a consultant rather than a policeman, if he holds himself accountable for performance improvement results, he will be seen as adding value and not as a cost center  this in turn will enhance his ability to move into other management positions. The risk based internal auditor should be more interested in the future than the past and therefore be more proactive and less reactive. The risk based internal auditor should focus on solutions rather than problems and hence major on performance rather than conformance.

Benefit 1

A risk based audit approach maximizes the use of scarce internal audit resources.

Benefit 2

Using the risk based approach you will have the ability to identify new and emerging risks that can affect achievement of your organisations goals and objectives.

Benefit 3

A risk based approach will force a prior implementation of enterprise risk management, which will directly improve organisational performance.

Benefit 4

The risk based approach to internal audit has the benefit of not only highlighting risks that are not properly controlled but also those that are over-controlled and thereby consuming scare organisational resources.

Summary

As Mike Thomas CIA says 'the risk-based auditing approach encompasses the attributes of business knowledge, macro-risk assessment, strategic audit planning, and detailed risk assessment necessary to effectively and efficiently deploy audit resources. If performed correctly, this approach will allow the internal auditor to focus on the areas of risk proportionate to the potential exposure to the company. The cycle of continually assessing risk, efficiently planning audit activities, and effectively performing, delivering, and reporting audit activities can result in overall lower risk to the organization at reduced cost'.

Author

Ijeoma Rita Obu is the managing Consultant of Clement Ashley Consulting and can be reached at  robu@clementashleyconsulting.org

Managing Risks Growing Businesses Face

Introduction

Growth (top-line) and profitability (bottom-line) are two major indices that define how well organizations are doing in pursuit of their strategic objectives and short term goals.

Business organizations achieve growth through organic or inorganic channels. Growth occurs largely via the development of a new product, creation of a new business line, mergers and acquisitions, increase in market share and direct expansion into a new market. In pursuing any, a combination or all of the aforementioned growth strategies business organizations face several risks. Typically organizations are faced with Macro-economic risk, Credit risk, Market risk, Reputation risk, problems associated with access to credit, social acceptance/corporate social responsibility risk, technology risk, political risk, geopolitical risk, Economic shock, etc. Effective risk management enables business organizations to successfully exploit business opportunities and contain threats. It does this by providing insights and assurances required to take advantage of profitable ventures.

Problem Statement

The risk management framework and practices that exist in most business organizations are not adequate to enable them to navigate to safety in times of trouble. The risk management culture, the governance and organizational structure, the design of the risk management framework, processes, policies and procedures, risk management tools, sophistication of risk identification and measurement techniques and skills available are not fit for today’s purpose and tomorrows expectations. This is evidenced by the impact of the recent global financial crisis. Systemically exposed business organizations are even more exposed. Business organizations need to embrace best practices to better prepare them for the rainy day.

Previous Options

Current practice in most business organizations is that risks are managed in 'silos'. Risks are also not managed in the context of strategy and objectives. Risk Management is often times seen as totally alienated from performance management. This means that each business line, group or division in an organization manages its strategic, business and operational risks independently, if at all.. A case of ‘’to your tents O Israel’’. Risks are therefore not managed centrally or in alignment with strategic objectives and so, many of the strengths an organization can build and the benefits of a centralized risk management do not accrue to such organizations.

Our firm, Clement Ashley Consulting provides a risk management framework that takes an enterprise-wide view of risk as against silo management. This approach is called Enterprise-wide Risk Management (ERM). Enterprise Risk Management implies that risk management is done at the enterprise level instead of at the business line, business group or business division level and so is centrally coordinated. Strategic, Business and Operational risks are therefore managed not independently but holistically at the enterprise level. For financial institutions that are regulated Economic capital is a must as against a purely regulatory capital limit. Risk assessment is done from time to time so as to reflect market realities. There is also frequent review of the application and suitability of the established process in order to identify gaps for improvement.

Our approach begins with a review of existing risk management process and framework in the organization with a view to modify existing framework and practice based on regulatory requirements, market realities, business needs and best practices.

Benefit 1

Clement Ashley Consulting's Solution is in concert with what regulatory and supervisory authorities and rating agencies demand and so enables business organizations to comply with regulatory and supervisory requirements. The framework which Clement Ashley provides is also in line with best practices world over.

Benefit 2

Risk aggregation at the centre provides the required knowledge about how risks interact, about risk concentration and the actual overall risk faced by the organization giving that some risks offset others while some reinforce others such that risk responses and controls provided are better targeted and therefore more effective compared to what can be achieved under silo management.

Benefit 3

Risk management is centralized in Enterprise Risk Management and so duplication is avoided and therefore cost is minimized. Central coordination also ensures that there is consistency in the risk management approach.

Benefit 4

Any thing that can prevent an organisation from achieving its objectives and targets (be they financial targets or otherwise) is a risk that must be managed. Enterprise-wide risk management therefore assists organizations meet and exceed their performance objectives and stakeholders expectations.

Implementation

Implementation involves assessing the effectiveness of the designed risk management process and framework. It includes checking how well risk responses and controls, early warning indicators, etc are working. If responses and controls are not effective then a further risk identification is required to identify any risks left that made the responses and controls ineffective. Implementation may be iterative. It is a real time and real life activity. It does not include any form of simulation. Implementation stage provides the opportunity to adapt the designed framework to market realities and at the same time maintain the desired robustness that allows it provide adequate safeguard. Implementation is usually done in phases in line with the priorities of the client.

Summary

Till date many organizations manage risks in silos. Today’s realities and tomorrows expectations make silo management utterly inadequate. Risk aggregation at the enterprise level allows for better responses and more effective controls in the risk management process. Beyond meeting regulatory and rating agencies requirements and other stakeholders’ expectations, enterprise-wide risk management reduces to the barest minimum chances of unexpected losses. Removal of duplication and the cost reduction that go with it make enterprise risk management a more cost effective way of managing risks.  

Getting the Right Staff for your Business

Introduction

Eighty percent (80%) of business success is tied to people. Recruiting the right people, motivating the right people, training the right people, retaining the right people while releasing the wrong ones is the key to your success. Many business under-perform because they do not know to do this or they can’t do it well.

Problem Statement

Current statistics say that the unemployment rate in the educated and productive age group of the Nigerian population is now close to 45%. With this large pool of job seekers one would assume that filling vacancies would be easy for employers and prospective employers. This is however far from the case. Due to the falling standard of education many young graduates are barely employable or are out-rightly unemployable. Another factor making life difficult for employers is the erosion of values and work ethics in the present generation. The get-rich-quick mentality means that many young people are not willing to put in the effort required to grow and improve.

Previous Options

Current practice in most business organizations is that when a vacancy arises, they turn to their HR manager or their HR consultant and ask for CV's. Many employers think that having a large pool of CV's to choose from directly improves their chances of finding the right candidate. This is not usually the case.

The high rate of joblessness in the market itself has spawned an industry helping job seekers window dress their CV's, to put their best foot forward. Many times a large pool of CV's only means a lot of man hours going through the pile and interviewing the prospective candidates only to discover that no one makes the grade.

Recommended Solution

I  recommend a recruitment approach that takes account of the problems identified above. At our firm we recognize that in reality there are never that many suitable candidates to choose from Our approach begins with understanding in great detail who exactly the man or woman for the job is. We recommend that you elicit a very detailed job description for each position and then make a very detailed and thorough man specification for each job description Armed with this you are now in a position to write a compelling copy for an advert that is geared to attract only the people who are actually qualified and discourage speculative job seekers. Having attracted the right targets, you should now put them through a thorough testing process to validate their IQ, work skills, job knowledge, emotional stability and personality fit for the job.

Benefit 1

Using this approach you greatly reduce the number of unqualified Cv's that you have to sieve through.

Benefit 2

Using this approach you will not get hood winked by a window dressed CV or a bogus qualification that was awarded but not earned or deserved.

Benefit 3

Using this approach you are able to identify and disqualify the people that seem qualified and even look good on paper, but who do not have the right attitude, personality type or motivations for the job content.

Benefit 4

Using this approach you are able to attract persons who are naturally motivated by your mission and vision and who naturally have goals that are congruent with that of your organisation. These kind of staff do not need external motivation to make them put in their best and your organisation is the better for it,

Implementation

Implementation involves designing recruitment policies and procedures that standardize these best practice methodologies .It involves recognizing what personalities suit what jobs and identifying the right tests to administer.

Summary

Hiring the right staff is the best thing you can do for your organisation. Jack Welch says 'Get the right people in the right jobs – it is more important than developing a strategy' The eighty-twenty rule recognizes that eighty percent of business success is tied to people but only twenty percent of organizations get it right. You can be part of that top twenty percent.

Do post a comment or a question and it will be answered in our next posts.