an increase of 63 per cent over the start of the year； ahead of Myspace。
； with just 10。1 million unique visitors。 Selling up to AOL in March 2008
left the Birches some ￡295 million for their 70 per cent stake and some
pointers as to how their next venture will be run。 Being able to attract
veterans of the internet from panies such as Google； Yahoo！ and
MSN and fostering their loyalty； Birch claims； is the main ‘non…marketing’
key to their success。
134 The Thirty…Day MBA
and gives you a valid reason for declining unwele job requests from
colleagues and friends。 In any event you have to give employees a contract
of employment when you take them on and the job description makes this
task much easier。
Include the following in a job description：
。 the title； such as area sales manager； management accountant or product
manager；
。 the knowledge； skills and experience you expect them to have or
acquire；
。 the main duties； responsibilities and measurable outputs expected；
。 the work location and general conditions； such as hours to be worked；
lunch breaks and paid holiday arrangements；
。 the pay structure and rewards；
。 who the employee will report to。
Business Link （businesslink。gov。uk 》 Employing people 》 Recruitment
and ge。。ing started 》 Recruiting and interviewing） has detailed guidance
on writing a job description。
Where you find great employees
There are many ways to find employees； for finding great employees the
choices are more limited。 Research at Cranfield revealed some alarming
statistics。 First； nearly two…thirds of all first appointments failed and the
employee le。。 within a year； having been unsatisfactory。 Second； there were
marked differences in the success rate that appear to be dependent on the
way in which employees are looked for。
Employing an agency or consultant
This is the least popular； most expensive and most successful recruitment
method。 Only one in fi。。een private firms do so for their early appointments；
but when they do they are three times more likely to get the right person。
The larger the business the more likely they are to take external advice in
recruitment。 The reasons for success are； in part； the value added by the
agency or consultant in helping get the job description and pay package
right； and the fact that they have already pre…interviewed prospective
employees before they put them forward。 These organizations can help
here：
。 Job Centre Plus （jobcentreplus。gov。uk 》 Need to fill a job？） is a
free government…funded service to help UK firms fill full… or part…time
vacancies at home or overseas。 They can offer advice on recruitment
and selection methods； local and trade pay rates； training； contracts
of employment and； importantly； can offer interview facilities in some
Organizational Behaviour 135
of their national network of offices； which can be useful if you are
recruiting away from your home base。
。 The Recruitment & Employment Confederation （rec。uk/
employer 》 Choosing an Agency） is the professional association that
supports and represents over 8；000 recruitment agencies and 6；000
recruitment professionals。 As well as advice on choosing an agent；
there is a mass of information on employment law and a directory of
members listed by business sector and geographic area。
Advertising in the press
You have a large number of options when it es to press advertising。
Local papers are good for generally available skills and where the pay is
such that people expect to live close to where they work。 National papers
are much more expensive but a。。ract a wider pool of people with a crosssection
of skills； including those not necessarily available locally。 Trade
and specialist papers and magazines are useful if it is essential that your
applicant has a specific qualification； say in accountancy or puting。
The goal of a job advertisement is not just to generate responses from
suitably qualified applicants； but also to screen out applicants who are
clearly unqualified。 If you make the job sound more a。。ractive than it really
is and are too vague about the sort of person you are looking for； you could
end up with hundreds of applicants。
You need to consider the following elements when writing the job
advertisement：
。 Headline： This is usually the job title； perhaps with some pertinent embellishment。
For example； Dynamic sales person required。
。 Job information： This is a line or two about the general duties and
responsibilities of the job。
。 Organization information： Always include something explaining what
you do and where you do it。
。 Qualifications： Specify any qualifications and experience that are required。
You can qualify some aspects of this by saying that a particular
skill would be useful but is not essential。
。 Response method： Tell applicants how to reply and what information
to provide。
Try to include something about your business culture in the advertisement。
One firm puts its advertisements sideways on； so applicants have to turn
the paper round to read them。 They claim that this lets people see that they
want people who look at things in unconventional ways to apply and that
they are not a run…of…the…mill firm that works like any other firm。 Using an
active rather than a passive voice will give your advertisement a sense of
buzz and enthusiasm。
136 The Thirty…Day MBA
You can find all the local and national newspapers listed at Newspapers。
（newspapers）。 From the individual newspaper web link
homepage you will find a signpost to ‘Advertising’ and from there you can
find the readership demographics and advertising rate。 For example； for
the Metro （metro。uk 》 Advertising。metro。uk 》 Who reads us？）。
Using the internet
Nearly a quarter of all jobs are filled using job boards； a website where employees
and employers can get together much along the lines of a dating
agency。 The internet’s advantages are speed； cost and reach。 You can get
your job offer in front of thousands of candidates in seconds。 The fees are
usually modest； o。。en less than regional paper job adverts； and in some
cases； such as with webrecruit。uk （webrecruit。uk）； though the
fee is a relatively high ￡595； they will reimburse you if they can’t fill your
job。 Services through job boards range from passive； where employers and
employees just find each other； to the proactive； where online candidate
databases are searched and suitable candidates are made aware of your
vacancy。 Recruiter Solutions （recruitersolutions。uk 》 Job Boards） is
a directory of job board websites and whatjobsite （whatjobsite。
》 Jobsite Directory） has a search facility that lets you look for the job
boards by country and region and that are most suited to the job on offer
and the industry you are in。
Using your network
Organizations of every size and shape use contacts and networks when
they are recruiting。 This route is favoured because it is cheap； informal
and can be pursued without the bother of writing a job description； which
can in effect be infinitely varied to suit the candidates that may surface。
Public sector bodies and many public panies are obliged either by law
or convention to advertise vacancies； but that in no way inhibits drawing a
potential candidate’s a。。ention to the opportunity。
Unfortunately； the statistics indicate that two out of five appointments
made in this way fail within six months and the business is back in the
recruiting game again。 The reasons for this being an unsatisfactory route
lie somewhere in the absence of rigour that the approach encourages； only
if you can take a thorough approach and be sure of a genuine reason why
someone would want to remend someone to you should you recruit in
this way。
Hiring people
Once you have candidates for your vacancy； the next task is to interview；
select and appoint。 If you have done your homework the chances are that
you will have a dozen or more applicants； too many to interview； so this
Organizational Behaviour 137
process is somewhat like a funnel； narrowing down until you have your
ideal candidate appointed。
Selecting a c