Hiring Process

CheryllH

This is only my second post but I am a frequent reader and have found many of the Q&A's on the forum to be helpful.

I work for a small defense contractor(39 FTE's)and in the near future we are expecting contracts that will make it necessary to hire a large number enmasse. Our entire HR department consists of - just me. Does anyone have an efficient process in place for hiring/in-processing numerous employees? When I say numerous I mean approximately 40-50 which for many of you would be small potatoes but up until now we've brought 1 or 2 folks on board at a time so I'm still in shock. We have never experienced rapid growth and I was hoping someone on the forum has found themselves in this situation and would be willing to help a desperate novice.

System

You may want to consider first scheduling a series of group interviews where you gather 15-20 candidates that have already completed an application with your firm into a room where you can explain the types of jobs that are avaialble, the physical demnands, the rate of pay and work schedules. Those that remain after that discussion can then complete a quetionnaire that asks them several questions regarding issues of integrity, attendance, what they expect from their employer, etc (you can pick whatever questions are applcable to your organization) You can then decide who makes the cut and schedule personl interviews to verify that they are still viable candidates before extending a formal offer. To get the applicants, utilize newspaper ads, contact the unemployment office, post signs in your community, talk to local busnesses that may refer applicants to you, area churches and also get your Chamber of Commerce involved, touting the fact your business is growing and adding jobs to the community - this in turn should get you some newspaper coverage as well. I'm sure others in the forum can add some insight as well. Good luck!

dixied

Does your contract allow you to put temporary employees, from a staffing agency, on board. The staffing agency does the screening (supposedly) according to your requirements. The temporary employee remains on the payroll of the staffing service. I have used this method in the past with manufacturing contracts that may go away after 6-12 months. The staffing agency will charge a mark-up to cover WC, etc.
After the temporary employee works with you for a set amount of time, you can hire them as your own.

System

It sounds like you need to hire a temp to help yourself, CheryllH! A temp could help you with low-level stuff like processing applications, data entry, scheduling interviews. Or you could outsource some higher-level duties to an HR staffing firm.

Good luck - it sounds like you'll need it.

James Sokolowski
HRhero.com