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A Written Appointment Policy Facilitates Effective Recruitment

A policy is defined as a set of guidelines on certain specific matters.

Here, we are referring to appointment of employees and related issues. You can insert these guidelines in your Human Resource Policy Manual.

The format of an appointment policy depends on whether we are referring to employment in the public sector or the private sector. The applicable rules often differ in many areas.

If you are talking about appointment in the public sector, a major part of employment is subject to legislation. Such legal provisions are either found in Acts of Parliament or state enactments or both.

The legislation may refer to the law governing appointment. An example is the Public Service Employment Act which gives power to a Public Service Commission to establish policies.

The policy usually deals with subjects on:

• Appointment Process
• Advertisement of Vacancies
• Selection and Appointment
• Notification of Selection or Rejection of Candidates
• Authority to take Corrective Action
• Support tools such as Checklists, on-line help via intranets (technology), manuals

The policy needs to cater for every group and types of positions such as professionals, technical experts, general workers, and so on. It differentiates between appointment of management and support staff.

It can happen that some aspects of this important matter is partly handled by another government agency. If so, this may not work well for the good of public sector employees.

Effective coordination between all parties concerned is necessary to minimize problems.

Other Areas Covered by Appointment Policy in the Public Sector
These include:

1. Reappointment
2. Types of Appointment such as temporary appointment, casual workers appointment, daily-rated employees, and so on
3. Promotion
4. Appointment of employee when deployed to another Government agency
5. Rate of pay on first appointment or promotion
6. Process of determining level of appointment within the hierarchy

The policy involves bulky information. You can use appendices stating the details at the back of the policy manual.

Appointment Policy in the Private Sector
Private organizations are "generally free" to determine their own appointment policies.

But the areas covered by such a policy is more or less the same.

When we say "free" we mean that private organizations can decide the contents of their policy subject to the laws of the country. These includes enacted laws as well as the common law.

Incorporation instruments of corporations provide the authority necessary to establish appointment policy. The final version of such policy is ready for implementation once it is scrutinized and approved by the Board of Directors.

When making decisions, Board of Directors are subject to good governance laws and other laws including the common law duty of care.

Unfair and discriminative appointment polices will come under scrutiny under anti-discrimination legislation. Many countries had enacted such laws such in the United States and Britain.

There are other regulatory laws affecting appointment. And there are employment norms that organizations cannot ignore.

Take these into consideration if they are reasonable and have the effect of improving your employment policy.

Your organization can encounter problems if wrong decisions are made. Tread carefully.

Seek adequate and up-to-date information. And obtain the necessary legal advice to ensure compliance with the law on appointment.

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