5 tips on choosing between your two best equally qualified candidates

By Rob Hayter, Director at TPP Not for Profit

Imagine you are in that lucky situation that many would like to be in; you don’t have one great candidate for a role, you have two! Sometimes though, having two great candidates can make the decision process even harder. There are many elements to think about, recruitment can be expensive and you don’t want to regret your decision in a few months’ time. This month we give you our top tips on how to ensure you are choosing the best candidate for the job.

Testing

You can test candidate’s skills and experience pretty well in a formal interview, however testing, such as psychometric assessing, can give you a better idea about their personality and cultural fit. This kind of testing typically consists of numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning or situation judgements. There aren’t always right or wrong answers in these tests, for example, situational judgement tests look at the way someone may handle a situation.

Before commencing these tests, ensure you have a good idea about the type of person that will fit in; do you want someone that thinks on their feet and takes action? Or are you looking for someone that seeks advice before making decisions? Are you looking for someone who can work well on their own (maybe home working is an important element to this role) or someone that works well in a team (based in a busy office)? Having these details before your candidates commence the test will make analysing them much easier.

Meeting in a relaxed setting

If the interview process has been very formal or included panel interviews, then invite each candidate for an informal relaxed meeting, maybe even a morning’s visit to the office. Incorporate the team into this; this will give you a good indication how the candidates will work with other members of your team and how they’ll fit in with your culture.

Seeing a candidate in a relaxed setting will also show you more of their personality, which isn’t always easy to determine in a formal interview. By meeting the team, you are getting them on board for whichever candidate you choose and they may even have a favourite too.

Take references

Obviously you would not want to contact the candidate’s current employer; however this does not stop you taking references from previous employers. Ask each candidate for details on their previous employer and contact these, ideally for a verbal reference. This will give you a better idea on the candidates’ cultural fit and personality, than a formal reference form around absence and employment dates.

Look at the future of your team

Hopefully this person will remain with your organisation for the foreseeable future, so it’s a good idea to look at your organisation’s future plans. For example, if your team is going to expand rapidly, someone who has worked in larger teams before may perform better in this environment. If you are going to expand internationally, someone with languages may be beneficial.

Equally, just because an applicant doesn’t have experience working in a particular environment, does not mean they won’t perform well. However if you know what’s likely to happen in the future, you can construct scenario-based questions which will help you assess the candidates’ abilities to cope.

Do you have any other skills gaps in your team that one of these candidates could help fill in? For example, one of them might be a whizz with social media, something you are lacking. Could they help support this until you are ready to recruit for this role?

Ask them directly why you should choose them

One candidate may be more motivated for the role than the other. By asking why you should hire them, you should get an indication about their motivations for their role and a good candidate should be able to ‘sell’ themselves and tell you what skills they feel they would bring.

Finally…

Ensure you have asked the candidate their thoughts on the role, salary package, notice periods etc. You may end up being in a position where one candidate is more likely to accept an offer than the other, or one wants a higher salary than you can realistically offer. These are better sorting out before offer stage.

Ensure you keep both candidates in the loop during this process, especially if it becomes lengthy, or you may end up losing two good candidates. And finally ensure you take the time to give the candidate that is not hired feedback. You can read more about the importance of providing feedback on our blog. 

If you aren’t in the fortunate position to have two candidates to choose from and would like to see a selection of candidates for roles you are recruiting to compare or benchmark against your current shortlist please contact us on 020 7198 6000 or info@tpp.co.uk

Are zero hour contracts right for your organisation?

By Penny Antoniou, Social Care Manager at TPP Not for Profit

Recent government announcements to sanction job seekers who refuse zero-hour contracts, have received a mixed response. With recent statistics from the Office for National Statistics revealing that 1.4 million people are on zero hour contracts, which according to the ONS has increased more than threefold since 2010, we take a look at the benefits, drawbacks and alternatives for charities and other not for profit organisations when considering these types of contracts.

The CIPD results showed that 34% of charities compared with 24% of public sector employers and 17% of the private sector employ staff on zero hours contracts.

Why would you use them?

Zero hour contracts are flexible for both employer and employee. For many charities,operating is becoming increasingly unpredictable, due to changes in funding and the way their services operate; such as service users being given their own budget to spend with providers of care. Therefore they don’t have a regular need for staff and these contracts allow them to meet their users’ needs without wasting funds. For employees who don’t need a set number of hours each week, such as students/carers, zero hour contracts give them the flexibility to work when it suits them.

The government have recently been pushing for more flexibility in terms of staff working hours, home working etc, and the charity sector has traditionally offered more flexibility than commercial organisations. Zero hour contracts offer a lot of flexibility for staff and, unless stipulated in the contract,allow employees to work for more than one organisation, enabling them to ensure they still have a regular income. 

What are the disadvantages?

On the flipside, many people need stability and regular income, so they can manage their everyday bills and commitments. Employees on zero hour contracts can also miss out on benefits, such as pensions, especially when employers offer a certain percentile of salary towards pension contributions. 

People on zero hour contracts may not be fully committed to your organisation if they are working for more than one charity and you may still not have staff available when you need them, as they may be working elsewhere. 

It can be difficult to work out holiday pay, holiday accrued, whether the contract still exists between assignments, especially if they work for more than one employer. It is important to therefore ensure their work is tracked by HR and a good relationship is managed between the employee and manager. 

Zero hour contracts can prevent continuity of care, especially in health care settings where care workers get to know the people they care for and their health needs. Zero hour contracts could result in a breakdown of communication or a lack of staff to cover. 

Not for profit organisations need to consider the negative publicity surrounding zero hour contracts. Only last year, organisations such as Turning Point became the target of news stories. Turning Point did respond to this negative press with a statement; however charities should consider the negative impact on donations and to potential donors compared with the savings they make on these contracts.

Points to consider

Before implementing contracts such as these, organisations should think about their aims and ethos and ensure any contract is consistent with this. Give these contracts to the smallest amount of your overall staffing numbers as possible and regularly review how these are working. Where possible, ensure zero hours staff are receiving the same employment rights as staff with part-time or full-time contracts. 

Ensure you both have a copy of the employment contract and if they are managed by a team/line manager, ensure they are aware of their contract and work in-line with their employment status. At all times the contract should be of benefit to you as an employer and to the employee. 

Consider other types of staffing contracts, such as annualised hours. This offers the employee a fixed salary where they work more hours when there is a need and less otherwise. If more hours are required in addition to the fixed hours, you could consider paying overtime.

Temporary or contract staff also offer flexibility without commitment. By working closely with an agency such as TPP, you could have a bank of candidates available at short notice who are actively looking for temporary work.For further information on our temporary services please contact us on 020 7198 6000 or email info@tpp.co.uk.

For further information or advice on zero hour contracts, you may find the following websites useful:

ACAS

CIPD

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