Our Recruitment method is based on sound staff selection principles and practice. We meet with you and find out exactly who and what you are after. Your business is unique and we understand that you want exactly the right person. We also offer a 6 month guarantee with our people (not the standard 3 months), a 12 month follow up program and full Psychological profiling by our qualified in-house Psychologist - all as standard. So how do we make sure we get exactly the right person for you?

McDougall Smith’s 12 Steps to Successful Recruitment

1. Where possible, conduct an Exit Interview
2. Discuss with the employer/manager exactly who and what you need.
3. Find out exactly what the person does (and what else they could possibly do!)
4. Refer to our extensive database of skilled candidates
5. Roll out the best attraction campaign (advertising) to ensure we get only the best candidates applying
6. Shortlist the candidates by assessing both their experience/skills and their qualifications
7. Interview using behavioural and situational interviewing techniques
8. Fully reference check the candidate and ask the right questions, to the right people, to get the complete story
9. Conduct full Psychological testing (not computerised mood surveys) to assess all their strengths and weaknesses
10. Completely brief the applicant on what the role is, so neither party gets any surprises when they start, or after a few months.
11. Keep in contact with the applicant and the client during the initial settling in phase (usually at 2 weeks and then at 3, 6 & 12 months) to ensure they know there is support and that information is flowing smoothly.
12. Provide Employment Contract if requested

Successful recruitment is not a matter of finding a resume that looks good. It goes a lot deeper than that. And each job is different, so ask us how long we think it will take and we will give you an accurate timeline on the process, so you can manage your schedule. 

McDougall Smith would prefer to tell you that we have no suitable applicants at the moment, than to place an unsuitable person within your organisation. And remember, there is no fee until the candidate has been formally offered the position.

A package includes the base salary, any fringe benefit items taken as part of a salary package and if applicable, the value of a motor vehicle. For billing purposes and in line with market rates, we value a vehicle at $9000.

For billing purposes, we do not include the 9% superannuation as part of the package and unless otherwise specified, all candidates undergo Psychological testing.

We have a minimum placement fee of $3500 (ex GST) for all positions. Therefore, if we recruited a part time staff member for you, whose package equated to $15,000 per annum, our fee would be $3500.

Psychological testing and profiling has long been a proven indicator of people's behaviour and performance. It has only recently taken a foothold in the Human Resource and Recruitment sector, but has already proven itself as a reliable and accurate predictor of how an employee will operate in your business.

Many people think to themselves that they will get enough information from a basic interview. This could not be further from the truth. As our workforce decreases in it’s time of tenure of service to an organisation, individuals are becoming more practised and more skilled at the interviewing process.

Have you ever thought to yourself that the candidate was just telling you what you wanted to hear?

The testing is not designed to be a crystal ball, but it will tell you if an individual has:

1. The intelligence to perform the functions of the position (it is a proven fact that the higher the intelligence of an individual, the better the standard of work)
2. The personality that will make them either a leader or a team player (or both)

This may sound a reasonably simple concept, but think back to an employee that you had, that had the perfect resume, the perfect skills and had the perfect interview, but after only three months in the job, clashed with all the major players in your organisation.

Find out in advance if your "ideal candidate" is going to get along with your team.

The testing process offered at McDougall Smith can be completely tailored to find out the emphasis to the questions you have. Common questions are:

1. How will this individual deal with stress?
2. Is this person easily trained?
3. Have they got the "drive" you are after 
4. Do they have an aptitude for sales?
5. Are they likely to have interpersonal clashes with their team mates or clients?
6. Do they have the speed and accuracy to perform this job correctly?
7. Are they procrastinators or are they "doers"?
8. Are they assertive enough to delegate work (in leadership roles)?

Another common and widely used use for this testing is to examine individuals in preparation for a management role. You may have someone "on the floor" that looks to be ideal to make that next step. But make sure that they have the people skills necessary to manage, along with the technical skills.

These answers and more can generally be answered by our in-house psychologist (Jamie Smith) with a concise testing package and plain language report that starts from $795 ex GST. (Note that our full recruitment process includes this testing as part of the fee).

Human Resource Management can be a confusing, seemingly disjointed area of your business at best, and a litigious minefield at worst! Despite this, people really are your most important asset, whether you realise it or not and if they are not being managed properly in your business, you might be experiencing:

• Low staff productivity;
• Resignations;
• Significant ongoing conflict within your team and with management; or
• Staff dissatisfaction at having to chase you for leave balances, wages, performance reviews etc.

Or, if it’s not coming from your staff, you might be at risk of significant fines if the Industrial Relations Commission decides that your business is on its random audit list and you do not comply.

At McDougall Smith, we believe that having an effective Human Resources Management system means that you can attract great people and retain them to help you grow and develop your business.  It can also safeguard you against potentially costly fines and litigious situations. Our experienced HR Consultants can support you in a number of key areas of Human Resources. We are outcome focussed and tailor our approach to suit what it is that you want to achieve, whether that is:

• Developing a strategic plan or vision for your organisation and planning how and with who you will get there;
• Having the right policies, procedures, checklists and documents in place to be compliant and ensure the wellbeing and safety of your team;
• Checking that your practices are in line with legislative requirements;
• Having an effective performance management system in place to facilitate two-way communication to monitor, motivate, and support your team;
• Supporting your management team by providing them with performance development, leadership and counselling skills;
• Increasing the overall satisfaction of your team; or
• Managing changes to your organisation in a way that will achieve optimum outcomes.

We believe that to help your bottom line, the HR initiatives that we support you with, need to be outcome focused and user friendly. Because of this, we will give you ideas and hands-on tools that really work, along with advice that takes into account your business’s unique culture and development needs.

Outplacement is the industry term for retrenchment and redundancy issues (and processes) facing employers and employees. What it endeavours to do is assist both the employee and the employee to make a smooth transition when the employee leaves the workplace.

Issues facing the employer can range from a disgruntled staff member facing involuntary redundancy or retrenchment, through to a general feeling of unrest within the existing body of employees that remain at the workplace. This latter issue can lead to decreased performance amongst employees and productivity can drop significantly.

An effective outplacement program will not only ensure that a departing employee will exit happily and confidently, but your existing staff will be assured that you, the employer, has their best interests at heart and therefore a level of security.

McDougall Smiths’ Outplacement Programs can range from the full design and implementation of a reduction of staff through to a relatively simple counselling session with a departing employee, to ensure that there is not an excess of "bitterness".

Once you have decided that one (or a number) of your team needs to be retrenched or made redundant, there are some important factors to take into account. Some of these elements and issues of Outplacement (and retrenchment and redundancy) are:

• Is your employee actually "beyond salvation"? That is, is there a simple, underlying problem that you have not found, that could be righted through discussions with an external party, such as an employee assistance councillor? Remember, training staff takes your valuable time and money and therefore, if it is a simple issue, maybe we can assist to "put a finger on the problem" and therefore retain your employee
• Have you followed the correct legislative procedures in the termination process? If you haven't read the Workplace Relations Act for a while, it is suggested that you revisit it and be assured that you have followed the steps. Termination of an employee can be a minefield if not done correctly
• Is your employee in a union and if so, have you discussed the termination with the union? In the past, unions can often suggest outplacement programs such as this and they may be easier to deal with if they know that you are making every effort to assist the individual leaving.

These are just some of the issues facing an employer about to embark on a realignment of their workforce numbers. McDougall Smith can assist you through the “minefield” and ensure that not only is the departing staff member adequately cared for, but your existing team is confident in the organisation.

McDougall Smith can assist you with a full outplacement program that will assist in all of the issues mentioned above and more for $2500 + GST. This would include full employee debriefing, career transitioning workshops, psychological testing if necessary, resume generation and a full and concise report to the employer at the end of the program

An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is primarily designed to aid the employee with whatever difficulties they have at the time via a professional counseling service. This can range from issues within the workplace through to problems at home that get brought into work. Regardless of their origin, these problems generally have an impact on an individual's performance and 9 times out of 10, this can be alleviated by simply communicating the problem and working through it with a professional. After all, communicating itself, helps to relieve some of the burden. Common areas where EAP’s can be used are:

• grieving over the loss of someone close
• an employee who has suffered or witnessed a traumatic workplace incident
• an individual who may feel they are being bullied or traumatised
• someone who is adversely affected by financial issues or health issues
• assisting an employee deal with corporate restructure or organisational change
• stress management
• career counseling
• suspected alcohol and drug issues

Along with alleviating issues and problems that they may have, we generally find that employees will offer constructive and meaningful suggestions during their feedback. This serves as an added bonus to your business, in that McDougall Smith is helping your employee overcome their personal challenges (thus usually resulting in increased performance in the workplace) and then providing feedback and information that they may not necessarily do with their immediate managers. We can then forward this feedback on in a confidential and anonymous manner that will assist you to move forward.

Employers of Choice are now offering an EAP as part of the employees overall package therefore helping to attract and retain their people

EAP's are a proven method to alleviate issues such as absenteeism, high staff turnover, a decline in productivity and work related injuries.

Our service can be as little as a one-off counseling session through to a fully structured in-house system which will begin by a presentation to your staff to fully educate them on what is available and what the end outcome could be.

Jamie Smith BSc. (Psych) (Hons), Psychologist and Partner in McDougall Smith, will ensure that each and every staff member is treated with care, compassion and dignity which will assist in a positive outcome for all parties. Please don't hesitate to contact us on (07) 4659 5000 for more information on this service.