1. Lesson 15
Recruitment, Selection & Retention
Introduction
It is no accident that one of the Hebrew words for work, avodah, is the same as the word for divine
service/worship. God redeems work. Our work is spiritual as we are called to do all we do “as unto
the Lord”. When we break the sacred/secular divide we begin understand that God’s principles
pertain to all aspects of life. With this understanding it is only natural to conduct the process of
recruitment and selection with serious consideration. When Jesus recruited the apostles he first
prayed all night carefully selected them individually. Paul the apostle emphasized the importance of
testing people and had clearly defined qualifications for leadership. Often in times of recruiting we
are employing people to take on certain levels of responsibility which require them to have passed
certain tests. We need to take recruitment seriously and give it the time required otherwise wrong
decisions can cost us dearly. The bible shows us that if we are faithful with the small we will be
entrusted with much. We cannot divorce recruitment and promotion from biblical principles
stewardship, faithfulness and responsibility. The key is to get the right people into the right
positions at the right time. Recruitment and selection often involve reshuffling people, hence having
to deal with a lot of change issues. We have to see this topic in the context of leading lasting
change. New people bring change. Every business needs more than buildings and inventory to run,
it depends on people. The better the quality of people in your organization, the better the quality of
the organization, and the better the quality of products and services. To have the best products and
services requires having the best employees available to produce them.
To hire the right people is often a lot of work, but the rewards include:
• Increased productivity
• Improved morale
• Better customer satisfaction
• Increased revenues
• Increased profit
I. What are the different stages in the process of recruitment and selection?
We have outlined below 7 distinct stages in this process. It’s important to see it as a process and
many mistakes are made when we isolate the different stages or steps from each other. These steps
are generally quite sequential.
A. Defining the corporate vision and mission.
Before hiring people we have to know where we are going.
B. Developing a clear human resource strategy.
You have to answer the question: “Who will you need to accomplish the mission and by when will
you need them?”
In this stage you also define the job requirements – “what will they do?”
C. Recruiting.
In this stage there are many things to consider. Evaluate the best approach
1. Will it be an internal promotion or transfer from another department?
2. Who is responsible for the recruitment? Is it the CEO, HR or department head? Often there
is lack of clarity here.
3. Will you use a recruitment agency? If so, which one?
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2. 4. Will you have different recruitment methods for different levels? E.g. head-hunting at a
certain level?
5. Will you make use of direct advertising? (email, internet sites, newspapers etc)
6. What type of contract are you recruiting for – permanent, temporary etc?
7. Are you hiring for the job or for the organization (multi-skilling)?
Unfortunately many business leaders are not clear with regards to these issues.
D. Conducting interviews.
The purpose of interviews is
1. To get further in-depth information about a candidate’s work skills and experience-
straight from the job seeker’s mouth.
2. To assess the candidate’s personality and to determine how that personality will fit into
your existing work team.
3. To test on a real-time basis a candidate’s enthusiasm, intelligence, poise, and ability to
think quickly.
Hence, it is important to make sure the right people are present at the interview.
E. Evaluating the candidates.
This stage involves short-listing the candidates, conducting assessments, reference checks etc
F. Making a decision and offer.
Remember to view the entire process from a systemic perspective. In other words, think of the
various factors you might need to consider before making an offer. If you treat this as an isolated
case you might not set the candidate up to win. For example, have you treated their predecessor
well? If not there might be grievances and resentment from the current employees. This might not
make it easy for their new boss.
G. Retaining those who add value.
II. What job related information does the interviewer need to be prepared with?
The interviewers need relevant information to assist them in answering the following important
questions:
1. What is the Job Description, Key Result Areas or Key Performance Indicators?
2. Do you know precisely what you are hiring them for and are you able to articulate it?
If not you might end up hiring a good person who is not good for that specific job.
3. What is the job title, and what business unit will they belong to?
4. What will the candidate be responsible for and what tasks will characterize the job?
5. Who will they report to and will report to them?
This can be complex in matrix organizations where you play different roles in multiple
teams.
6. What is the background leading up to this job opening?
7. How will the individual be compensated (reward management system) including working
hours, location etc?
8. Are there any unwritten aspects of the company culture of which the individual needs to be
made aware?
9. Who are the people they will interface with on a regular basis?
10. What are the career development and growth opportunities for them?
11. When is the job starting?
12. Are we ready to support them?
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3. III. What do you look for when hiring someone?
A. Competence
B. Education
C. Demonstrated success and experience
D. Referrals
E. Potential
F. Passion and enthusiasm
G. Character, integrity, and values fit.
We also see in scripture that people were appointed into positions and promoted largely due to their
integrity:
“I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah……because he was a man of
integrity and feared God more than most men do.” (Neh. 7:2).
“If you walk before me in integrity of heart like and uprightness as David your father did, and do
all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel
forever…”(1 Kings 9:4-5).
H. Aptitude
There are certain aptitudes necessary for certain roles. For example entrepreneurial roles need
people who are high on achievement orientation, calculated risk taking, determination, and
creativity. If one does not look at individual aptitude one risks spending a lot of time trying to
enhance the performance of someone who does not have the necessary aptitude for the role.
I. Versatility, creativity and initiative.
J. Existing skills shortage and gaps.
In choosing a candidate it is important to hire according to the existing gaps. One should be able to
answer the question: “If we were to increase the size of our team what areas of competence would
we staff our team with?”
K. Work-style
The flexible workplace and output based work schedules are becoming more commonplace today.
Ask yourself, do the requirements of the job match the lifestyle of the candidate?
L. Prayer and leading of the Holy Spirit
IV. What are some “red flags” to look out for in a CV?
Upon evaluating a CV it’s important to be aware of certain things which might require further
investigation.
1. Lengthy education but no experience
2. Employment gaps (what were they doing)
3. Patterns of short-term employment
4. Too much personal information and not enough on their skill set.
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4. 5. Description of jobs and positions as opposed to actual results achieved.
In all of this it’s important to still be aware of discrimination laws.
V. What are some common mistakes made in evaluating the suitability of a
candidate?
1. Being overly impressed with maturity over youthfulness or the other way round.
2. Confusing quiet, reserved and calm with lack of motivation.
3. Being deceived by the candidate’s ability to play the interview game.
4. Projecting your personal preference onto whoever is going to be working with them.
Remember that they need to “click” with their team and not necessarily with you.
5. Personal biases e.g. they remind you of a friend or they have a name of someone you don’t
like.
6. Lack of objectivity
a. Making decision purely on first impressions.
b. Making decisions based on subjective politics.
c. Conducting he interview alone, hence, basing your decision on one person only.
d. Chemistry alone/gut feel judgment
7. Assuming graduates from specific institutions are automatically the best.
8. Being unaware of the course content of specific degrees.
9. Embracing the “halo effect” – one good quality over-rides all their negative qualities.
10. Hiring out of desperation.
11. Hiring without full investigation.
12. Hiring based too much on potential and not demonstrated success.
13. Not asking the question, “Even though I like this person will others follow them?”
VI. What are some guiding principles to consider when giving people work?
What differentiates a Christian organization from one of the world? What should we look at when
hiring a member of staff? We can no longer afford to just see organizations as places where people
work. The reality is that people spend a very large portion of their waking state at work. If your
workplace is not the right place for you then you are spending the majority of your time outside the
will of God and are probably living an unhealthy lifestyle. We cannot be outside the optimal climate
for us and still live healthily – the result is often burnout, which in turn leads to various moral
failings. Like never before, we need to clearly articulate some differences between God’s mindset
on staff selection and the world’s.
A. Maintain their dignity.
The Bible requires that employers even treat slaves humanely. The Bible (Leviticus 25:43) states
regarding a freeman sold into slavery: "You shall not rule over him through rigorous labor."
Furthermore, his family has to be provided for (Leviticus 25:41), and his master is not permitted to
make him perform debasing tasks (Leviticus 25:39). Leviticus 25:39) provides examples of
demeaning work which is not permitted.
B. Give them meaningful work.
Leviticus 25:43 shows that a master should not assign his slave work that is not purposeful. For
example, the master is not permitted to tell his servant to heat up a cup when he does not need it or
ask the servant to hoe the vineyard until he returns. Work has to be finite and the master is only
permitted to assign work until a specific time or hoe until a particular place. Providing meaningless
work or vague and unspecific job requirements takes away a job’s meaning and is therefore not
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5. allowed. At a particular concentration camp an experiment was done to see how people would react
to being given meaningless work. The result was that someone committed suicide.
C. Know that God will reward you for how you have treated your employees.
The Bible motivates individuals and employers by making it clear that those who mistreat the
helpless are answerable to God (Exodus 22: 20-23; Isaiah 1:23-25; Proverbs 22: 22-23) and those
who help them will be blessed by God (Deuteronomy 15: 7-11; Isaiah 1:17-19; Proverbs 19:17).
D. Do not exploit your employees.
Be committed to not exploit them (often this happens in the contract – rather think win-win).
The Bible states (Leviticus 19:13): "You shall not oppress your fellow and you shall not rob; the
wages of a worker shall not remain with you overnight until morning." We must be careful of
worldly hard bargaining techniques. The bible says we must not withhold good from those in need
yet there are often coercive political strategies used by companies when dealing with their
employees. The Bible warns in James 2 - exploitation is sin. Why do you hire the people you do? Is
it merely to achieve your dream or are you interested in being a vehicle to assist them in their
dreams? What are your views on profit sharing?
E. Be generous to your employees when they leave.
The Bible requires the master to give his or her slave a severance gift known as hanakah. The Bible
states (Deuteronomy 15:13-14): "Do not send him away empty-handed. You shall give him a
severance gift from your flocks, from your threshing floor, and from your wine cellar ..." An ethical
employer should realize that if the Bible demands that a slave be given a severance bonus after six
years of labor, it is certainly appropriate for employers to reward loyal workers who have been with
a firm for numerous years.
F. Encourage stewardship.
This is necessary if we are to create a culture of accountability, ownership and responsibility.
G. Do not be partial.
James 2 warns against favouritism. This is why we engage in interviews (objectivity) and
performance management.
H. Have clear job descriptions which you respect.
1. Job Title. This is significant as it shapes perception. Come up with creative job titles. E.g.
Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager, is the Chief Spiritual Officer of his
organization. Brian Yeoman of the University of Texas, Houston, Health Science Center, is
his organizations Raging Inexorable Thunder- Lizard Evangelist for Change.
2. Department/ Division.
3. Responsibilities. Should include every task of the position.
4. Required Skill/ Expertise. This should include skills, expertise and year of experience
required.
5. Required licenses/ Certifications. Don’t put requirements in this section unless it is
essential. Otherwise you could be opening yourself and your company up to a lawsuit.
Job descriptions that are too exact may prompt lawsuits. Be sure that your job descriptions
contain wording or clauses that allow you to expand tasks as necessary. The most famous of
these clauses, “and other duties as assigned,” works for many companies, but be sure to get
advice from your legal counsel before including this terminology.
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6. I. Have a God-honouring reward management system.
Your employees always deserve to be paid a fair wage. You can determine this worth by
looking at the salaries of employees in similar positions in your geographic area and by
determining the relative value of their contributions to your organization.
• Are you going to make your basic salaries simply competitive with the going rate for
employers in your area – or higher?
• Are you going to establish a structured pay scale for specific jobs in your company, or are
you going to set salaries on an individual basis, based on the qualities and potential of the
person filling the job?
• To what extent are the monetary rewards that you offer your employees going to take the
form of salary, performance bonuses, or benefits?
• Are you going to base the salaries on how well people perform or on other factors such as
how long they stay with you or what credentials they bring to the job?
• Are you going to award bonuses on the basis of individual performance, tie bonuses to
company results, or use a combination thereof?
J. Conduct effective interviews.
This can be done by:
1. Welcoming the applicant and put him or her at ease.
2. Summarizing the position.
3. Asking a variety of questions.
o Why are you here?
o What can you do for us?
o What kind of person are you?
o Can we afford you?
4. Probing the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.
5. Concluding the interview on an “up” note.
K. Give new employees an effective induction and orientation.
1. Make your new hire feel welcome. (The biblical practice of hospitality)
2. Provide a sense of place and belonging.
3. Introduce your new employee to the team.
4. Don’t drown your new employee in forms and paperwork.
5. Make the first day a fun day.
6. Give them the support they need.
7. Give them a comprehensive introduction and set them up to win.
VII. Why is retention important?
A. Intellectual capital is important.
B. There is a link between employee tenure and customer satisfaction
C. There is a cost to turnover of staff (direct expenses, indirect, opportunity cost etc)
D. Employee loyalty drives employee productivity.
Having said this in entrepreneurial organizations we grow people and help them see possibilities.
These are often fulfilled elsewhere. So turnover is not always a negative thing.
VIII. How do you keep the best?
It’s important to understand why people stay in your organization. People stay for the following
reasons:
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7. A. Pride in organization
B. Respected supervisor
C. Fair compensation
D. Affiliation
E. Meaningful work
F. Growth experienced and growth opportunities.
Companies should develop strategies to retain people that add value. People will always leave. The
problem is when its only good people that leave. A lot of times good people leave an organization
simply because it no longer suits their life stage. Unfortunately this can also happen when an
organisaion has inflexible work schedules. I know an organization struggling to retain people from
a particular profession yet if it had more flexible work schedules this might not be the case.
Outlined below are examples of this:
1. Reduced time schedules.
2. Seasonal schedules.
3. Compressed schedules.
G. Understand why people leave.
1. Company leadership shifts
2. Conflict with immediate supervisor
3. Close friends leave
4. Unfavourable change of responsibilities
5. Problems with work-life balance
6. Conflict between personal values andcoroprate values
7. Discouragement from underperformance (not meeting goals)
8. Lack of appreciation
People will always gravitate towards where they are celebrated and not where they are
tolerated. Unfortunately this often manifests when the wrong people take credit for
something.
9. Unfair treatment or perceived inequity
H. Knowing when they are starting to get dissatisfied.
The following are signs of job dissatisfaction and disaffection:
1. Change of behaviour (coming late or leaving earlier).
2. Decreased performance.
3. Sudden complaints from a non-complainer.
4. Constant references or comparisons with other companies.
5. Withdrawal behaviour (no longer volunteering for projects or going to social functions with
colleagues).
6. Signs of burnout.
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