Recruiting staff within the financial sector in South Africa can be a minefield unless careful attention is paid to specifying all the requirements that candidates need to do the job properly.

According to Bev Campling of Bion Search and Selection, a recruitment company that is active in the financial sector, a common mistake made by companies is to recruit by job title rather than using a comprehensive job specification for guidance.

A good example of how disparate jobs may be under the same title is that of the creditors clerk who on one side of town may speak to clients on a telephone and manually input data into Excel, while on the other side of town they may have an automated CRM system linked to email and a fully function ERP system such as SAP. Even where jobs are related - it is one thing to be aware of a technology and to have dabbled in it - but it is quite another to actually be able to work with it effectively.

Take the Time to Get the Job

“The only way to find the right person to do your job is to take the time to compile a comprehensive job specification. It should include all the essential skills required to do the job, as well as the amount of experience required,” Bev says.

She attributes a large percentage of failed employment contracts to mismatched requirements where both parties enter into the contract with the best of intentions, only to find out later that either the candidate cannot do the job or the candidate finds the job is not quite what they signed up for.

For this reason Bion will not even begin recruiting on behalf of a client until such time as a comprehensive job specification is received and all the secondary requirements have been discussed. “The more information we have the better - and the more likely we are to find the right person for the job. In fact, we prefer to take it a step further and if possible delve into other requirements like company fit and personality requirements,” explains Bev.

Carefully Consider Job Specification

Time is often sited as the enemy in cases where misplacements have been made. The employer feels pressured into filling a vacant post as soon as possible and as a result of work pressure feels they do not have the time to draw up a carefully considered job specification.

Bev offers the following advice on compiling a useful job specification:

• Where possible the specification should be drawn up by the line manager in consultation with HR
• It should outline the primary objective of the job
• Main duties should be meticulously listed and broken down
• Minimum education and training requirements should be specified
• Experience and professional registration requirements should be stipulated
• Technical skills and experience should be outlined
• An outline of the daily routine should be given
• Extraordinary requirements such as travel or personality traits should be highlighted
• A salary range and starting date must be given

Finding the Right Person for the Job

“In addition to this many clients nowadays require that professional psychometric assessments be done as an indication of the persons suitability to the environment that they will enter. They may also require that leadership ability, mental toughness, spatial skills and motivation assessments be done in order to avoid misplacements.

“Even beyond finding the right person for the job other companies are employing benchmarking techniques that measure and benchmark work ethics, personality requirements and psychometric markers of their most successful employees to find the best person for the job.

“Professional recruiters should be able to assist with the compilation of job specifications and they should have the best tools available to provide any requirement that the client may have to ensure successful placements. All this goes to show that information really is the key to finding the right person for the job,” concludes Bev.