When you take on a new recruit, whilst on-the-job training is useful and is undoubtedly the best way to learn, it is also helpful to have some mutually agreed objectives that focus on strong performance.

Many studies show that if you pay more of the right kind of attention to employees, they work harder and smarter. Retention rates go up, your team is happier and more effective.

So, how do you set objectives for your new recruit? Following these nine rules will give you an edge.

1. Tell your new employee what your expectations are. For junior-level recruits, make sure you tell them your expectations in terms of dress code, working hours, lunchtime and breaks, use of the internet, when and if they can use social networking sites, take and make personal calls and so on. And with regard to their role make clear your expectations for delivery during the probation period. For instance how they should split their time between the different activities e.g. origination, screening, execution. Set some KPIs for example with origination, how many companies should they approach, number of meetings fixed and so on.

2. Learn from the best. Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach for American football team the Green Bay Packers, believed in giving every player a clean slate at the start of every game. This meant that “star” players did not rest on their laurels and felt compelled to continuously prove themselves in each game. You should have the same attitude towards new employees - they may have been a star performer in their last job at Goldman, for example, but you should expect them to continuously prove themselves in their new role.

3. Keep it simple. Keep the objectives simple and refer to them regularly. Objectives should be reviewed at least quarterly and performance levels checked at least monthly. Avoid overly complicated matrices as they are likely to bore employees and make them averse to the objective-setting process. Print out the objectives and put them up in a place where the new recruit will see them on a daily basis. Make sure all objectives are measurable and timed.

4. Push the boundaries. Learn from Henry Ford. The objectives, to an extent, should be mutually agreed between the new recruit and their manager, but should also push the new recruit significantly out of their comfort zone. Henry Ford used this approach of setting challenging objectives and achieved massive improvements in productivity on his factory shop floors. More...

There are signs in our business that recruitment is picking up – September will be a telling month as it is usually our busiest month for new assignments. We are seeing three signs:

·          Client meetings are going in the diary for September to talk about autumn hiring
·          New assignments include team growth and not just replacement
·          Star candidates are already receiving multiple offers. 

So does that mean it is back to business as usual? I don’t think so. And I’m not sure it will ever be the same.

I think there has been one major change in recruitment compared to the last couple of years and that is a significant shift to quality. Not just the quality of candidates, but also the quality of the recruitment process. And that starts with defining the role. We’re having much clearer conversations with our clients about the objective for the recruitment: what difference will this hire make; where will value be added; what are the deliverables and how will success be measured. Specifying the deliverables for the role is extremely valuable in defining the skills and experience required from the candidate.  We are now working with clients to clearly specify the type and focus of experience that candidates need to be successful in the role, where they will have worked and the amount and type of exposure they will have had. In addition, personal attributes are being more clearly articulated.

This improvement in clarity of thinking makes our job both easier and harder: easier because we know what to focus on and what to discard and harder because we need to work harder to prepare shortlists of specific skills and experience rather than generic ones. Our shortlists need to demonstrate that we have listened to and understood your requirements. Every candidate on a shortlist has to meet the closely defined spec; every candidate in interview has to meet the cultural fit with the firm.

There is no excuse for the recruiter to show inappropriate candidates. And there is tremendous pressure on the recruiter to produce high quality shortlists out of thin air. It takes time and effort to build a high quality list and deliver a high quality recruitment process. The process needs to be driven by a motivated consultant who will keep the flow of good candidates high, maintain momentum and manage an orderly shortlist and interview timetable.  But with a well defined job spec and a high quality recruitment process you should end up with a great hire that will deliver the value you want in the way you envisaged when you first started to think you would recruit.