New employees

Who conducts the interviews at your new starts? That was the question I posed during the recent session of our certificate in practice management. My colleagues and I were surprised at the answers we received. Maybe we shouldn’t have been, but as we were, I thought it would be helpful to some of you if I recounted some of the discussion.

We were talking about the process of replacing a member of staff who had left, be that individual a clinician, a nurse or a receptionist. We spent some time talking about job analysis (what exactly is required; do you need a replacement?) and about job descriptions (do all of your staff have a current job description?) It is surprising that many do not, or they have one that is several years out-of-date and does not reflect the latest roles and responsibilities they have. That can be a dangerous position to be in, because there may be a situation in the near future when confusion over roles and responsibilities and the absence of an adequate job description could lead to a tribunal referral.