04 Aug 2023
You’ve made the decision to advertise a job, but you know that a critical issue in the appointment of whoever you choose is that they deliver the goods, otherwise their appointment isn’t a good use of company cash. Whether that’s about meeting targets quickly, delivering the sales income they need to, or turning your business around, it’s all about setting, monitoring and meeting objectives.
It is important that the person who is selected for this job is the right one who can take on the job role and run with it, but how do you make sure you have recruited the best person for the job at this stage? There are a number of steps that you can take in order to ensure that you have the person you thought that you did in the interview.
What’s the Right Option for You?
Well, whichever the option, make sure your employment contract reflects reality! That aside, read on:
Probation
Having a probationary period for any position means you need to have proper, transparent processes in place that your staff and their managers are perfectly clear about, and able to follow.
That means all parties are fully aware of what the process for monitoring probation are, how long the probationary period is, and what employees can expect to see throughout their probation period. There also needs to be a clear plan for managers to follow to ensure they manage the whole process well.
This should generally involve a formal review structure where manager and employee review performance against plan, agree progress and put in place improvement plans where relevant.
Probation is generally used where staff are employed on longer term / permanent contracts with a view to ensuring they are a good fit. Staff employed with a probation period generally expect that so long as they keep their nose clean, and meet their minimum objectives, they’re in with a decent chance of staying longer term.
Being able to successfully complete the probation period should lead directly into being employed permanently in most cases, having proven that they were capable of doing the things that were required by the employers. A period of probation tends to be anywhere from a month or two to six months in order that a good judgement can be made of the employees abilities up close by their line manager and by others.
Trial Period
A trial period in employment implies that an individual’s performance is being closely monitored, i.e. they’re on trial, and this will seem more of a challenge than completing a probation period. From the employee’s perspective, they really have to prove themselves if they stand a chance of staying in the role longer term. Many staff working within a trial period will in fact make every effort to go the extra mile to ensure they impress their employers as much as they can.
Their contract should either be a short term one which includes the trial period element, or a longer term contract which should state that employment will end on a specific date, unless they meet all their objectives and their conduct / performance is faultless.
Trial periods can be used where a candidate might not appear, during the selection process, to be the best fit for the role, but the employer is prepared to give them the opportunity to prove themselves without committing to longer term employment.
Fixed Term Contracts
Employment contracts with a defined start and end have a number of uses.
They should always be used where it is clear that a role is limited in duration, e.g. for a period of Maternity cover, or to oversee a specific project, or element of a project.
They can however also be used where employers again aren’t confident enough to commit to a permanent contract, for reasons relating either to the candidate concerned, or the definite longer term need for the work to continue.
Fixed term contracts are popular because they don’t provide a lengthy commitment, so even if the job isn’t a good fit for both parties, there is nothing tying them to continuing to employ the worker after the end of the fixed term. This, in some ways, is the best of both worlds as the risk is lessened for the company by only employing them for a fixed term and the flexibility of being able to decide whether or not to extend the contract is bound to appeal.
As there is now legal protection for staff employed on Fixed Term Contracts, it is generally assumed that most fixed term contracts are for shorter periods than the 4 year ‘limit’ in the Fixed Term Worker regulations.
Fixed term contracts should of course also include Probation periods, and can include Trial Periods too as outlined above, so in some respects the employer can cover all bases in making sure they get the best from their employee. Covering their bases is something that all companies should be looking to do and this is certainly one way to do it.
In deciding which of these options are right for you, just make sure that you bear in mind:
