Businesses can set the right culture with employees before they even join by taking more care over their job offer letters, according to a Shropshire-based employment lawyer and HR specialist.

Alasdair Hobbs, of Human Results in Telford, has launched a series of top tips, offering a range of advice to help businesses navigate the tricky world of recruitment and employee management.

Alasdair said the aim of the series was to offer a steady supply of “bite-size” advice which business owners and HR professionals could read at their leisure.

He said: “I regularly deliver training courses, both inhouse and for organisations such as Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, but people’s time is precious so we were keen to make our advice as accessible as possible.

“We are sharing a series of bite-size video clips and blogs on our website and social media channels so people can pick them up whenever they have a minute or two to spare.”

Topics include absence management, onboarding staff, performance improvement and dealing with AI in the workplace, with more issues to be explored over the coming months.

A recent clip looked at job offer letters, with Alasdair advising businesses not to miss the opportunity to use a job offer as a way of starting employment in the right way.

He said: “Once you’ve found your candidate and decided to make an offer, don’t write your job offer letter too casually. They need a degree of formality to ensure everyone is clear about where they stand.

“For instance, it’s a good idea to stipulate the date that the offer needs to be accepted by. It’s quite common for candidates to have a number of opportunities they are pursuing, so it’s vital that you are clear about when you need to know of their decision or whether accepting by a certain date is a condition of the offer.

“References are critical, so it’s also important to be clear that any offer will be dependent on satisfactory references being obtained.

“An offer letter is your first opportunity to put the framework in place for a successful appointment, so take care not to waste that opportunity by firing off an email too quickly.”

For more advice about HR and employment law, visit www.humanresults.co.uk or call 01952 288361.