Business Management
Senior 4 · Entrepreneurship
Business Management
Lesson 4 of 5
25 min
Iradukunda and Hirwa repair phones from a small shop in Musanze. Customers queue from opening time, so they decide to hire a third technician. They post the job on a local radio station and on social media and receive 48 applications in a week. At the same time an uncle offers to invest Frw 3,000,000 in the shop if he can become a partner. (The people and figures are illustrative.)
Think about it: how would you pick one technician from 48 strangers in a fair way? And is choosing a partner the same kind of decision as choosing an employee?
An entrepreneur chooses employees (who work for a wage), partners or co-founders (who share ownership, risk and profit), and also advisers, suppliers and agents. Each choice is hard to reverse, so the process matters as much as the person. For employees, managers follow a standard process.
Definition
Job analysis: studying a job to find its tasks, responsibilities and conditions. It produces the job description (what the job holder will do: title, duties, reporting line, pay and hours) and the person specification (the skills, qualifications, experience and qualities the job holder needs, split into essential and desirable).
Example: "Essential: can replace screens and charging ports; desirable: can repair water-damaged boards."
Definition
Recruitment: attracting suitable candidates to apply for a vacancy, from inside the business (internal) or outside it (external). Selection: choosing the best candidate from those who applied, using methods such as shortlisting, tests, interviews and references.
Definition
Induction: introducing a new worker to the business, its people, rules and safety procedures. Probation: a trial period at the start of employment during which the employer checks that the worker can do the job.
| Internal recruitment | External recruitment | |
|---|---|---|
| Advantages | Cheaper and faster; the person already knows the business and is known; motivates staff by showing a path to promotion | A wider choice; brings new skills and ideas; fills jobs no current worker can do |
| Disadvantages | Small choice; leaves another vacancy; can cause jealousy; few new ideas | Costs more and takes longer; the newcomer needs more induction; more risk of a poor choice |
Important
What Rwandan law requires (Law N° 66 of 2018 regulating labour in Rwanda, as published on 6 September 2018)
An employee can be replaced; a partner shares ownership, decisions and, in a partnership, unlimited liability for the debts of the firm (you met this in the unit on laws in business). Before accepting the uncle's money, Iradukunda and Hirwa should test:
Tip
Hire for attitude, train for skill, but test both. A short paid trial task (repairing two real phones under observation) shows skill far better than an interview answer; good references show reliability. And always score every candidate against the same criteria.
Worked example 1: a weighted scoring matrix
Three shortlisted technicians are scored out of 10 on four criteria. The weights reflect what the shop values most.
| Criterion | Weight | Aline | Bosco | Divine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skills test | 0.40 | 9 | 7 | 8 |
| Customer manner (interview) | 0.25 | 6 | 9 | 8 |
| Reliability (references) | 0.20 | 7 | 9 | 6 |
| Experience | 0.15 | 8 | 5 | 9 |
Weighted score :
Divine ranks first, just ahead of Aline. Analysis: the scores are close, so the weights decide. If the owners value reliability more (weights 0.35, 0.25, 0.30, 0.10), Bosco scores and moves to first. Agree the weights before scoring, so the choice is fair and not bent towards a favourite.
Worked example 2: is careful selection worth the cost?
The shop spends Frw 45,000 on adverts and Frw 25,000 on phones and parts for the skills test, and the two owners spend 12 hours on shortlisting and interviews, which they value at Frw 5,000 an hour. A bad hire, by contrast, might damage 6 customers' phones worth Frw 40,000 each and be paid Frw 150,000 a month for 3 months before leaving, after which the whole process must be repeated. (Illustrative figures.)
Interpretation: a bad hire costs more than six times the whole selection process, before counting lost customers. Careful selection is cheap insurance.
Warning
Common mistakes. Hiring a relative or friend without testing them against the person specification; asking questions that discriminate (about religion, ethnic origin or family plans), which the law forbids; giving no contract or induction; and choosing a partner only because he brings money.
Time2Resources, "The recruitment and selection process" (about 6 minutes). Follow the steps from identifying a vacancy to choosing a candidate, and compare them with the seven steps above. Which step does the video add or name differently?
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the Musanze case, the selection chart, the tables, the worked examples and the practice items. People, businesses and figures are illustrative (2026).
Quick check
Put these steps of hiring an employee in order.
Tap the cards in the right order.
