Acquiring competent personnel

entrepreneur and his business team

It may sound like an obvious component of recruitment 101, but one of the most crucial employment techniques you can implement is to acquire competent personnel. Some people will interview extremely well – they can articulate a convincing description of themselves fulfilling the role being sought. However, it sometimes transpires that they are not as competent as you would have liked. 

One way to ensure you only employ truly competent staff is to ensure the interview process is rigorous and secures evidence of key competencies and skills. For instance you may want to ask them to provide more than one example of a specific siutation that demonstrates a key attribute. Or you could include some form of test. Some companies issue a test before the first interview, but it is also a good idea to conduct the test during the interview to ensure it is actually them who completes it!

Having said that, if a person has a truly lovely personality and their very presence would lift the spirits of their co-workers then it probably doesn’t matter if they are not as competent as you would like – these rare to find gems can always be polished and developed into competent personnel!