Avoiding the friends and family trap when recruiting staff

Avoiding the friends and family trap when recruiting for a new member of staff

You are looking for a new member of staff. You mention it to your friends and family, and all of a sudden someone is suggesting that their son or daughter etc is perfect for the role. They might be. They might not.

What can follow is a difficult scenario to deal with, and hurt feelings can ensue.

If you are going to recruit a member of family or extended family, or even a friend you have known for a long time, make sure you treat that working relationship the same way you would any other: Define roles and responsibilities before you make any hiring decisions. Agree on the financial compensation and absolutely put it in writing.
State, up front, how you will exit this working relationship if things don’t work out. Handled right, strong people with personal ties to you can be the foundation of a fantastic team.

Usually, people who recruit through this method are looking for a cost effective (free) way to recruit staff, and so they turn to the people they know.

There is a way of avoiding this situation though, while still keeping that vital (free) element in place.
The Pathway Group are a work programme provider, delivering free recruitment services across Birmingham and Walsall. Our work programme brand is called Pathway2work.

We work with businesses of all sizes, but particularly SMEs, to help them find the right candidates for their growing business.
Not only do we provide a commission free recruitment service, but we advertise your job on the popular job websites free of charge, we match your job with our existing database of candidates and once we have received applications, we then review the CV’s and pre-interview a selection of candidates before sending them through to be interviewed by you.
Once you have chosen the right person for your team, we then work with you to help that staff member be successful, by supporting both you and the new employee in their new role.
Pathway2work is a free recruitment service that removes the hassle of recruitment, and avoids the pitfalls of other recruitment methods such as family and friends.

If you are seeking staff in Birmingham or in the Walsall areas then find out more about our service via http://pathway2work.co.uk/ otherwise contact another Work Programme provider in your region for assistance.

On a final note, word of mouth when recruiting is not to be dismissed – leaning on people you trust to recommend others can often be an excellent way of finding great people to grow your business, just don’t get caught out.