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Finding the right people When a small company grows, managers must take on many new roles. Besides the day-to-day running of the business, they find themselves responsible for, among other things, relations with outside investors, increased levels of cashflow and, hardest of all, recruitment. For most managers of small and medium-sized enterprises, the job of searching for, interviewing and selecting staff is difficult and time-consuming. (0) ... .G... . Interviewing, for example, is a highly skilled activity in itself. We have found the whole process very hard, says Dan Baker, founding partner of a PR company. In seven years we have grown from five to eighteen staff, but we have not found it easy to locate and recruit the right people. (8).........As Dan Baker explains, We went to one for our first recruitment drive, but they took a lot of money in advance and didnt put forward anybody suitable. In the end we had to do it ourselves. Most recruitment decisions are based on a pile of CVs, a couple of short interviews and two cautious references. David Rowe, a business psychologist, studied how appointments were made in five small companies. He claims that selection was rarely based on clear criteria. (9).........This kind of approach to recruitment often has unhappy consequences for both employers and new recruits. Small companies often know what kind of person they are looking for. (10)......... According to David Rowe, this means that small company managers themselves have to devote more time and energy to recruitment. It shouldnt be something that is left to the evenings or weekends. | 
