Recruiting the right person

How do you make sure that you appoint the right person?

As the white paper ‘Funding Success: lessons from fast growing charities’ demonstrates, having the right staff in place can really help your organisation achieve its objectives and attract the funding you need. The question is how do you make sure that you appoint the right person?

Three essential traits emerge from the white paper that the right person needs to have:

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Passion for your cause

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Key skills for the position

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The right ‘fit’ for your organisation

Discovering if the candidate has these qualities isn’t always easy but the following methods can help in your recruitment process.

Passion for your cause

First of all have they worked for similar causes? If not have they supported or volunteered for a cause similar to yours? These should be readily identifiable in their CV and a covering letter should detail what it is that motivated them to apply for a job with your organisation.

During the interview process find out how well they understand your cause, what it is you do and why they are keen to work for your organisation. Those who are really motivated to work for your organisation should know what you do and the benefits that you have for your beneficiaries. Real passion for your cause is difficult to fake and should be obvious from their reactions and answers during the interview.

Key skills for the position

It goes without saying that there should be some form of competency test during a thorough interview process. When looking for a fundraiser, for example, a key skill would be their ability to present. Can they communicate clearly and put forward a convincing argument? One of the best ways to test this is to ask them to make a pitch to the interview panel, giving them the scenario of presenting to a board of directors to win charity of the year.

Do they tell you what you need to know? Are they able to draw out the main points and make you feel that you want to support their cause? Ensure that it is a charity of their choice and not your own, otherwise you may focus on the wrong details – you will always know your charity better than they will!

Think carefully about the key skills that the person will need to have and make sure that these are detailed in the person specification, for bid-writers it could be attention to detail but for major donor fundraisers it could be their personality and previous experience of raising funds.

For the major donor and corporate fundraiser in particular a key test is to ask them to describe a time when they made the ask. What was the context and how did they do it? How much was it for and were they successful?

The right ‘fit’ for your organisation

Fitting in with staff and stakeholders is very important for a successful appointment; it ensures that they will be happy with their new surroundings and that those working with them closely will form a good relationship.

Introducing them to a group of your stakeholders (e.g. young people) during the selection process and then asking for the stakeholder’s views is a good method of testing this aspect of their personality.

To assess their ‘fit’ with your current employees, arrange for the candidate to meet the team they will be working with and set them a group task to test how they work and manage the group. This will also assess their ability to think on their feet and will give you an insight into their ability to work under pressure, as well as part of a team. Following this, ask the team what their views were about the candidate and take into consideration their feedback.

Weaving these stages into your organisation’s recruitment process, with careful consideration of the key qualities the vacancy requires, will help you get the right staff and move the organisation closer to achieving its goals.