HOW A CONSULTING AGREEMENT FORM TO BE?

This Consultancy Agreement (the “Agreement”) is made and entered into this [insert date] (the “Effective Date”) by and between [insert name] with its principal place of business located at [insert address] (the “Company”) and [insert name] with its principal place of business located at [insert address] (the “Consultant”) (hereinafter referred to individually as a “Party” and collectively as “the Parties”).

          WHEREAS, the Company is in the business of [insert description of business];

          WHEREAS, the Consultant has expertise in the area of [insert description of area of expertise];

          WHEREAS, the Company desires to engage the Consultant to provide certain services in the area of Consultant’s expertise and the Consultant is willing to provide such services to the Company;

          NOW, THEREFORE, the Parties hereby agree as follows:

1.       Engagement and Services

(a)     Engagement. The Company hereby engages the Consultant to provide and perform the services set forth in Exhibit A attached hereto (the “Services”), and the Consultant hereby accepts the engagement.

(b)     Standard of Services. All Services to be provided by Consultant shall be performed with promptness and diligence in a workmanlike manner and at a level of proficiency to be expected of a consultant with the background and experience that Consultant has represented it has. The Company shall provide such access to its information, property and personnel as may be reasonably required in order to permit the Consultant to perform the Services.

(c)     Tools, Instruments and Equipment. Consultant shall provide Consultant’s own tools, instruments and equipment and place of performing the Services, unless otherwise agreed between the Parties.

(d)     Representation and Warranty. Consultant represents and warrants to the Company that it is under no contractual or other restrictions or obligations which are inconsistent with the execution of this Agreement or which will interfere with the performance of the Services.

2.       Consultancy Period

(a)     Commencement. This Agreement shall commence on the Effective Date and shall remain in effect until the completion of the Services or the earlier termination of this Agreement as provided in Article 2 (b) (the “Consultancy Period”).

(b)     Termination. This Agreement may be terminated by the Company, without cause and without liability, by giving [insert number in words] ([insert number]) calendar days written notice of such termination to the Consultant. This Agreement may be terminated by either Party by giving [insert number in words] ([insert number]) calendar days written notice of such termination to the other Party in the event of a material breach by the other Party. “Material breach” shall include: (i) any violation of the terms of Articles 1 (d), 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 11,

(ii) any other breach that a Party has failed to cure within [insert number in words] ([insert number]) calendar days after receipt of written notice by the other Party, (iii) the death or physical or mental incapacity of Consultant or any key person performing the Services on its behalf as a result of which the Consultant or such key person becomes unable to continue the proper performance of the Services, (iv) an act of gross negligence or wilful misconduct of a Party, and (v) the insolvency, liquidation or bankruptcy of a Party.

(c)     Effect of Termination. Upon the effective date of termination of this Agreement, all legal obligations, rights and duties arising out of this Agreement shall terminate except for such legal obligations, rights and duties as shall have accrued prior to the effective date of termination and except as otherwise expressly provided in this Agreement.

3.       Consultancy Fee and Expenses

(a)     Consultancy Fee. In consideration of the Services to be rendered hereunder, the Company shall pay Consultant a Consultancy fee [alternative 1: of [insert number in words] ([insert number]) [insert currency] for each hour of Services provided to the Company]

[alternative 2: at the rates and payable at the time and pursuant to the procedures set forth in Exhibit A] (the “Consultancy Fee").

(b)     Expenses. Consultant shall be entitled to reimbursement for all pre-approved expenses reasonably incurred in the performance of the Services, upon submission and approval of written statements and receipts in accordance with the then regular procedures of the Company.

(c)     Payment. The Consultant shall submit to the Company a monthly invoice detailing the Services performed during the preceding month and the amount due. All such invoices shall be due and payable within [insert number in words] ([insert number]) calendar days after receipt thereof by the Company.

4.       Work Product and License

(a)     Defined. In this Agreement the term "Work Product" shall mean all work product generated by Consultant solely or jointly with others in the performance of the Services, including, but not limited to, any and all information, notes, material, drawings, records, diagrams, formulae, processes, technology, firmware, software, know-how, designs, ideas, discoveries, inventions, improvements, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets.

(b)     Ownership. Consultant agrees to assign and does hereby assign to Company all right, title and interest in and to the Work Product. All Work Product shall be the sole and exclusive property of the Company and Consultant will not have any rights of any kind whatsoever in such Work Product.

Consultant agrees, at the request and cost of Company, to promptly sign, execute, make and do all such deeds, documents, acts and things as Company may reasonably require or desire to perfect Company's entire right, title, and interest in and to any Work Product.

Consultant will not make any use of any of the Work Product in any manner whatsoever without the Company’s prior written consent. All Work Product shall be promptly communicated to Company.

(c)     License. In the event that Consultant integrates any work that was previously created by the Consultant into any Work Product, the Consultant shall grant to, and Company is hereby granted, a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable license to exploit the incorporated items, including, but not limited to, any and all copyrights, patents, designs, trade secrets, trademarks or other intellectual property rights, in connection with the Work Product in any manner that Company deems appropriate. Consultant warrants that it shall not knowingly incorporate into any Work Product any material that would infringe any intellectual property rights of any third party.

5.       Confidential Information

(a)     Defined. In this Agreement the term “Confidential Information” shall mean the Work Product and any and all information relating to the Company’s business, including, but not limited to, research, developments, product plans, products, services, diagrams, formulae, processes, techniques, technology, firmware, software, know-how, designs, ideas, discoveries, inventions, improvements, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, customers, suppliers, markets, marketing, finances disclosed by Company either directly or indirectly in writing, orally or visually, to Consultant. Confidential Information does not include information which:

(i) is in or comes into the public domain without breach of this Agreement by the Consultant,

(ii) was in the possession of the Consultant prior to receipt from the Company and was not acquired by the Consultant from the Company under an obligation of confidentiality or non-use,

(iii) is acquired by the Consultant from a third party not under an obligation of confidentiality or non-use to the Company, or

(iv) is independently developed by the Consultant without use of any Confidential Information of the Company.

(b) Obligations of Non-Disclosure and Non-Use. Unless otherwise agreed to in advance and in writing by the Company, Consultant will not, except as required by law or court order, use the Confidential Information for any purpose whatsoever other than the performance of the Services or disclose the Confidential Information to any third party.

Consultant may disclose the Confidential Information only to those of its employees who need to know such information. In addition, prior to any disclosure of such Confidential Information to any such employee, such employee shall be made aware of the confidential nature of the Confidential Information and shall execute, or shall already be bound by, a non-disclosure agreement containing terms and conditions consistent with the terms and conditions of this Agreement. In any event, Consultant shall be responsible for any breach of the terms and conditions of this Agreement by any of its employees. Consultant shall use the same degree of care to avoid disclosure of the Confidential Information as it employs with respect to its own Confidential Information of like importance, but not less than a reasonable degree of care.

(c) Return of Confidential Information. Upon the termination or expiration of this Agreement for any reason, or upon Company’s earlier request, Consultant will deliver to Company all of Company’s property or Confidential Information in tangible form that Consultant may have in its possession or control. The Consultant may retain one copy of the Confidential Information in its legal files.

6.       Interference with Business

(a)     Non-Competition. During the term of this Agreement, Consultant will engage in no business or other activities which are, directly or indirectly, competitive with the business activities of the Company without obtaining the prior written consent of the Company.

(b)     Non-Solicitation. Consultant agrees that for a period of one (1) year after termination of this Agreement, Consultant shall not:

(i) divert or attempt to divert from the Company any business of any kind in which it is engaged, including, without limitation, the solicitation of or interference with any of its suppliers or customers, or

(ii) employ, solicit for employment, or recommend for employment any person employed by the Company, during the Consultancy Period and for a period of one (1) year thereafter.

7.       Insurance

Consultant shall maintain at its sole expense liability insurance covering the performance of the Services by Consultant. Such insurance coverage shall have limits and terms reasonably satisfactory to Company, and Company may require Consultant to provide to Company a certificate of insurance evidencing such coverage.

8.       Independent Contractor

The Consultant agrees that all Services will be rendered by it as an independent contractor and that this Agreement does not create an employer-employee relationship between the Consultant and the Company. The Consultant shall have no right to receive any employee benefits provided by the Company to its employees. Consultant agrees to pay all taxes due in respect of the Consultancy Fee and to indemnify the Company in respect of any obligation that may be imposed on the Company to pay any such taxes or resulting from Consultant’s being determined not to be an independent contractor. This Agreement does not authorize the Consultant to act for the Company as its agent or to make commitments on behalf of the Company.

9.       Force Majeure

Either Party shall be excused from any delay or failure in performance required hereunder if caused by reason of any occurrence or contingency beyond its reasonable control, including, but not limited to, acts of God, acts of war, fire, insurrection, strikes, lock-outs or other serious labor disputes, riots, earthquakes, floods, explosions or other acts of nature. 

The obligations and rights of the Party so excused shall be extended on a day-to-day basis for the time period equal to the period of such excusable interruption. When such events have abated, the Parties’ respective obligations hereunder shall resume.

In the event the interruption of the excused Party’s obligations continues for a period in excess of [insert number in words] ([insert number]) calendar days, either Party shall have the right to terminate this Agreement upon [insert number in words] ([insert number]) calendar days’ prior written notice to the other Party.

10.     Non-Publicity

Each of Company and Consultant agree not to disclose the existence or contents of this Agreement to any third party without the prior written consent of the other Party except: (i) to its advisors, attorneys or auditors who have a need to know such information, (ii) as required by law or court order, (iii) as required in connection with the reorganization of a Party, or its merger into any other corporation, or the sale by a Party of all or substantially all of its properties or assets, or  (iv) as may be required in connection with the enforcement of this Agreement.

11.     Assignment

The Services to be performed by Consultant hereunder are personal in nature, and Company has engaged Consultant as a result of Consultant’s expertise relating to such Services. Consultant, therefore, agrees that it will not assign, sell, transfer, delegate or otherwise dispose of this Agreement or any right, duty or obligation under this Agreement without the Company’s prior written consent. Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent the assignment by the Company of this Agreement or any right, duty or obligation hereunder to any third party.

12.     Injunctive Relief

Consultant acknowledges that a violation of Article 5 or 6 would cause immediate and irreparable harm to the Company for which money damages would be inadequate. Therefore, the Company will be entitled to injunctive relief for Consultant’s breach of any of its obligations under the said Articles without proof of actual damages and without the posting of bond or other security. Such remedy shall not be deemed to be the exclusive remedy for such violation, but shall be in addition to all other remedies available at law or in equity.

13.     Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of [insert name of country], without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law provisions. The Parties consent to the [insert “exclusive” or “non-exclusive”] jurisdiction and venue in the courts of [insert name of courts] in the city of [insert name of city].

14.     General

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement of the Parties on the subject hereof and supersedes all prior understandings and instruments on such subject. This Agreement may not be modified other than by a written instrument executed by duly authorized representatives of the Parties.

No waiver of any provision of this Agreement shall constitute a waiver of any other provision(s) or of the same provision on another occasion. Failure of either Party to enforce any provision of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such provision or any other provision(s) of this Agreement.

Should any provision of this Agreement be held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable, such provision may be modified by such court in compliance with the law giving effect to the intent of the Parties and enforced as modified. All other terms and conditions of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect and shall be construed in accordance with the modified provision.

15.     Survival of Provisions

The following provision of this Agreement shall survive the termination of this Agreement: Articles 2 (c), 3, 4, 5, 6 (b), 7, 8, 10 and 15 and all other provisions of this Agreement that by their nature extend beyond the termination of this Agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, and intending to be legally bound, the Parties have duly executed this Agreement by their authorized representatives as of the date first written above.

Signed for and on behalf of                             Signed for and on behalf of

[insert name of Company]                               [insert name of Consultant]

By:                                           By:

Name:                                      Name:

Title:                                        Title:

How to handle the pains of holiday management

Holiday management can be a constant thorn in HR’s side. But if you nail your holiday process, you’ll be rewarded with happier employees, fewer disruptions, and a more focused and effective management team.

According to Mitrefinch, the three biggest holiday management pains for HR are as follows:

1. Annual leave entitlement
2. Employees fighting over holiday dates
3. Holiday approval disputes

So in today’s article, we’re going to look at the common issues which exist in each of these three areas, and explore ways we can improve them.

Calculating and communicating annual leave entitlement

A common problem with annual leave entitlement, is working out exactly what that entitlement is in the first place. Luckily, this is easy enough to do. In the UK, if your employees are on an annual salary, or work predictable full-time hours, then you need to give them a minimum of 5.6 weeks’ paid leave. Or, if you employ casual workers without set hours, you can simply use the 12.07% rule (learn more).

Of course, calculating holiday entitlement isn’t the biggest issue at play here. You see, in many cases, employees feel like their annual leave entitlement is unfair. Now, if you calculate their holiday entitlement wrong in the first place, and accidentally give them less than the statutory minimum… then there’s no wonder they feel mistreated. But other reasons can include:

• Employees don’t understand their own entitlements
• Employees feel their role deserves more than the statutory minimum
• Employees have noticed colleagues with different entitlements

To help employees feel happier with their holiday entitlements, there are a few things you can do.

Tips to make entitlements more fair

1. Offer an attractive holiday package

It starts with making sure your basic, company-wide entitlements are attractive, and compliant. At a minimum, they need to comply with your local laws – but you should consider offering extras, too. For example, while you might not want to go as far as offering unlimited holiday leave, you could offer public holidays as extras, instead of throwing them in with employees’ statutory entitlements.

2. Treat employees fairly

Another tip, is to make sure leave entitlement is awarded fairly. You shouldn’t offer one employee more holiday just because you like them better, or because they were harder to recruit, for example. Of course, you can consider raising entitlements in increments along with length of service – it encourages loyalty and retention.

3. Make sure your holiday policy is clear and accessible

You should also make sure your leave policy is clearly worded, so people understand the calculations, and easy to access, so people don’t feel like you’re hiding something.

Tackling multiple holiday requests for the same date

Let’s take a quick look at what is possibly the biggest challenge when it comes to holiday management – at least, according to several HR professionals like Martine Robins, who runs the HR Dept Woking branch.

“The biggest challenge is people wanting the same period of time off” Martine says. “You need a consistent approach to ensure fairness, e.g. a policy and a process that is communicated and known.”

Martine’s suggestion is backed up by Personnel Today, which emphasises the need for a clear holiday request policy. And a popular option is to operate on a “first come first served” basis. But Personnel Today is quick to add that a clear policy alone is not enough – and line managers should be brave enough to turn down holiday requests, when the timing of leave would cause the business difficulties.

Negotiating peace during holiday wars

Even when you have the clearest possible holiday policy, and the confidence to refuse requests (within reason), you’re still not out of the forest. And you may even find that many employees end up in personal disputes over who gets which holiday – particularly around busy periods, such as Christmas.

Sometimes, employees clash over holiday dates for no other reason than simply disliking each other! A 2013 study by officebroker.com reports that 5% of people have admitted to booking a particular holiday date just to annoy a colleague.

If this kind of thing is happening within your organisation, then it might help to spend some time working on employee relations and company culture. There’s a lot you can try:

• Invest in teambuilding initiatives. In a recent video interview I conducted with business psychologist Simon Kilpatrick, I learned that teambuilding can be a great way to help employees understand each other better. It can be really useful to do some personality profiling in advance, so that you can set up very diverse teams. This helps people understand others who are very different to themselves.
• Trust your employees more. This is an important step towards building a strong culture. When employees have more autonomy over their own responsibilities, they are more likely to work harder to help the business succeed. But when you treat them like they need babysitting, they’ll begin to act like babies. There are more expert tips on building a strong culture here.
• Take steps to reduce conflict. If you’d like further help on this, why not try Nick’s 10-step guide on resolving disputes in the workplace?

Doing these things won’t fix everything, but people are more likely to turn to diplomacy when they like and respect each other – so it can certainly help.

Avoid disputes by keeping everybody in the loop

Finally, let’s look at the issue of holiday approval disputes. Now, disputes over holiday approvals can take many forms, and can come from many people, for many reasons. For example:

1. Employees might dispute declined holiday requests that they feel were unfairly decided
2. Managers might dispute holiday requests that were approved by other managers

Point two is actually the trickiest of the points. Because often, more than one manager will actually be affected by a holiday approval decision.

Some companies get around this by having one person assigned as the holiday approver, but stipulating that this person must first get the permission of other managers, and department heads, before giving that request final approval.

This method can help you to avoid disputes, but if you’re still using paper forms, emails, spreadsheets and phone calls, it can also be a huge hassle. And it can lead to holiday requests that take forever to approve, or get missed entirely, making employees even more miserable – and in turn, more likely to dispute future approval decisions.

Create a notification system for managers

Liz Walker, Commercial Director for digital marketing agency Distinctly, says that setting up a system of notifications for multiple team managers is the best solution to this issue.

“We use an online system which helps us to manage the authorisation process” she explains. “This system can be set up to send notifications to multiple team managers, which allows for multiple managers to discuss the request before authorisation is granted.”

As well as giving multiple managers a platform for discussion, Liz also says it helps mitigate the problem of managers being on holiday themselves. With a multiple person notification system, other managers are then able to inform senior management, who can make a judgement in the direct manager’s absence.

Setting up a holiday approval workflow with People HR

We built the holiday approval workflow feature into our HR system People®, to solve this precise problem. In our experience, we found HR were facing three major issues:

1. Inability to cover a holiday approver’s leave without manually re-routing holiday requests
2. Disagreements between managers when one approves a holiday another isn’t happy with
3. Department heads being left out of the loop, and not given the final say

The holiday approval workflow feature lets our customers assign multiple approvers to a holiday rule, meaning that when an employee requests a holiday, a number of things can happen:

1. Anyone can approve – great for covering an approver’s leave without re-routing holiday requests
2. All must approve – great for making sure everybody with a vested interest in this employee’s schedule get to see what’s happening, and confirm it’s OK with them
3. Approve in a specific order – great for when you need final sign off by a department head.

Key Functions of an Human Resource Department

The human resources department handles many necessary functions of your business. It is instrumental in providing labor law compliance, record keeping, hiring and training, compensation, relational assistance and help with handling specific performance issues. These functions are critical because without those functions being completed, your company would not be able to meet the essential needs of management and staff.

Ensure Compliance with Labor Laws

One of the chief duties of the human resources office of your company is to ensure the business operates in compliance with all labor laws. The department has to know and comply with that state’s particular set of rules employment regulations. This includes such issues as the number of breaks given per number of hours worked and the number of hours and the age in which an individual can become employed.

Recruitment and Training

Recruiting and training new employees are primary responsibilities of the human resources team. This part of the job often entails advertising open positions, interviewing and hiring candidates and setting aside hours devoted to training the new recruits. The human resources department often publishes training materials including handbooks detailing all aspects of the job.

Record Keeping

The HR office is in charge of record keeping for the business. According to the IRS, your company should keep records regarding income, expenses, purchases and a summary of business transactions. The human resources department should also, of course, maintain employees’ records including their individual tax forms. The company’s business license, inventory statistics, insurance records and all other pertinent business information should also be on file.

Payroll and Benefits

The dispensation of payroll comes under the responsibilities of the human resource office. While payroll often exists as a separate division in large companies, in small businesses, it is generally handled by a small human resources staff. Health care benefits are also handled by the human resource department.

Employee Relations

Another key function of the HR department is the managing of employee relations. When there is a dispute or misunderstanding between employees or between employees and a manager, it is the human resource officers who mediate the situation. Employees are encouraged to bring relational problems to the attention of the human resources staff for resolution.

Employee Performance Improvement Plans

The human resources department is often instrumental in setting up performance improvement plans commonly called PIPs. In general, these are written proposals designed to help struggling employees improve their work to raise it to a certain expectation level of the company. According to a University of Texas at Dallas publication, the PIP includes a description of the behavior or performance that needs attention, objectives to be met within a certain time period, a plan for accomplishing the improvement along with support resources and detailed consequences if the improvement does not occur.

What steps are involved in the recruitment process?

So, you want to hire a new employee, but you’re not 100% sure what the ideal recruitment process looks like.

The recruitment process will vary depending on things like the size of your organisation and the number of roles you’re trying to fill. But at the most basic level, your recruitment process should include the following 8 steps.

You can apply these steps to one or multiple vacancies.

1. Form a selection committee

First, you’ll need to decide who will be making the hiring decisions. This group of people will be your “selection committee”.

If you run a small business, your selection committee might only include you! But in most organisations, you’ll want at least two people on your committee. For larger organisations, consider up to four.

Members of your selection committee should be objective, and should represent your company’s best interests. You’ll also want to make sure the members understand the vacancy you’re trying to fill, and have a good understanding of equal opportunities.

2. Write a job description

You’ll attract better candidates if you write a good job description.

According to leading UK recruitment company Michael Page, there are 11 key areas to cover when writing an effective job description:

1. Job title
2. Department
3. Who the role reports to
4. Responsibilities and expectations
5. Goals and objectives
6. Opportunity for progression and promotion
7. Required qualifications, education and training
8. Soft skills and desirable traits
9. Location and travel requirements
10. Salary and benefits
11. Company culture and identity

Remember that a good job description should work two ways. It should make great candidates feel good about applying for a job with your company, and it should be clear about the kind of person you’re looking for.

3. Post your job advert

If you restrict yourself to posting your brand new job advert in just one place, then you’re limiting your reach. The more places you post your job advert, the more chance you have of finding the perfect person. Of course, this can make it hard to track your incoming applications, and it can get a little bit messy.

To keep things in order, try to make sure all applications arrive in one central location. To maximise your chances of finding the best person for the role, here are a few key places to post your job advert:

• Your company website. If you don’t have a careers page, you might want to contemplate making one. If you already have one, here are three ideas to help you make it better.
• Social media. Post your vacancy details to social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn. LinkedIn is particularly good for this, as it is often used by people who are thinking about their next career move. If you’re well-connected, and if you write an appealing job description, then digital “word of mouth” via social media could dramatically increase your reach.
• Dedicated job websites. Job websites are designed especially to connect job seekers with employers. There are plenty of them out there. The main players in the UK market are probably Indeed, Monster and Reed.
• Classified ad boards. Although not dedicated to careers, many classified ad boards – both online and in print – include “job” categories where you can advertise your vacancy. Consider posting to places like Gumtree, Craigslist and FreeAds
• Government Jobcentre. You can advertise both online and in local Jobcentres by signing up to the Government’s Jobmatch service. This will help you to connect with people who are currently receiving government help to find a job.

If possible, aim to contact all applicants immediately after they apply, to acknowledge their application and to say thanks. You can normally automate this. In your response, you might want to tell them what to expect next – such as when they might hear from you. It will increase their confidence in you as an employer (as long as you follow through with whatever you promise).

4. Create a shortlist & arrange interviews

By now, you should have plenty of CVs waiting on your desk. Now it’s time for you and your selection committee to review applications, create a shortlist, and invite candidates for an interview.

To create your shortlist, you should give each applicant a score. This score should be based on how well they meet the criteria you set out in your job description. Candidates who do not meet criteria crucial to the role should obviously be removed from the equation.

It is important you do not discriminate during the recruitment process, and this includes the shortlisting. You should not remove candidates on the basis of any of the nine protected characteristics. This doesn’t mean you cannot eliminate candidates

The nine protected characteristics of discrimination are:

• Age
• Being, or becoming, a transsexual person
• Being married or in a civil partnership
• Being pregnant or having a child
• Disability
• Race, including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin
• Religion, belief of lack of religion/belief
• Gender
• Sexual orientation

Candidates with the highest scores should be invited to an interview. How you perform interviews is largely down to you, but as a minimum, you’ll want to meet the candidates face-to-face where possible. Telephone screening can also be helpful.

5. Conduct interviews & review scores

You should think about the questions you’re going to ask in advance. Last minute scrambling could lead to a poor interview that doesn’t give you the information you need, and it could make you look like a bad employer.

For help on what kind of questions to include in an interview, read our article “10 important interview questions (and why you should ask them)”.

The initial interview should last between 30 and 40 minutes. Anything less might feel rushed, while anything more might be too time consuming – especially if you have a lot of interviews to perform.

If you need to go into greater detail with your ideal candidates, then don’t be afraid of planning two rounds of interviews. You can use the second to interview the top few people from the first round, and go into greater detail about the job role and responsibilities.

6. Make your preferred selection

Once you have your final shortlist, you and your selection committee should compare scores, and decide who best fits the role. This person will be your “preferred selection” – but be careful not to reject other candidates too soon, as you may need to go back to them at a later date.

It is important to make your preferred selection based on merit – i.e. how good you think the person will be at performing the role. It is easy to be biased towards a certain candidate, based on things like existing friendships within new team, or length of service with the company.

Naturally, how well a person gets along with their new team is an important consideration. But this doesn’t mean you need to put two friends together at the expense of hiring somebody who is not up to the role.

7. Check references

You should check your preferred selection’s references and qualifications before you contact them. This could save you from some very awkward situations! For example, imagine offering a person a key position… only to find that none of their previous employers feel comfortable providing a reference.

Of course, references don’t necessarily make or break a person’s abilities. But it still pays to check them out. If you’re noticing a common theme from all previous employers – such as refusal to comment on punctuality – then you might need to prepare yourself for an employee who is perpetually late for work.

When calling previous employers to get a reference, you should try not to keep them on the phone for more than five minutes. If the role is a very senior or business-critical role, you might want to make an exception. Otherwise, use the five-minute rule – it is a common courtesy, considering the previous employer is likely getting nothing out of the exchange.

8. Send a formal job offer

You’re nearly done now. But even though the candidate has expressed an interest in a role, it doesn’t make it a sealed deal yet. You still need to send out a formal job offer and await their acceptance.

Once your new employee accepts their position, remember to inform unsuccessful candidates as a matter of courtesy. It also helps to add them to your talent pool for future.

What if the candidate says no?

If your preferred candidate doesn’t accept your offer of employment, you can simply select the next best person on your list. If for whatever reason you do not find the right person, you might need to repeat this process. Make sure your job advert is being published in the right places to give you maximum reach.

Once a suitable person accepts your offer, make sure you notify everybody else who made it to the interview stage as a minimum. This isn’t a formal requirement, but it is good business etiquette. Candidates will appreciate your courtesy, and you will develop a better reputation as an employer.