We”™re going to be hiring. In the past, we”™ve made mistakes. Bad hires cost time, money and potential. How do we make better choices?
Define needs, have enough good candidates to choose from, use a standard vetting process, check references and have a process for on-boarding new hires. Paying attention to past mistakes is one way to get the bugs out of future searches. Look at currently successful employees to help you define what”™s right for your company. The goal is to build a high performance team that can take your company to the next level.
Get to work
Be clear about requirements for the position. Misunderstanding what”™s needed can make a disaster of an otherwise well-thought-out hiring process. Define what your company needs.
Ask employees to help put on paper details about the upcoming hires. Answer the following questions:
- What are the position”™s basic requirements: education, experience, temperament, skills?
- What will the person have to accomplish within the first year?
- How will this position impact profits, customer relations and growth of the company?
Start with a good search. Open the doors wide to potential candidates. Post ads in print, online and on your Web site. Contact colleges for interns or to post ads for alums. Contact head hunters and negotiate a search arrangement. Post notices in your community. Tell everyone you”™re looking.
Go back through current employees”™ backgrounds. Where did they come from? How did they find your company? Try those routes again, if possible. Tell employees you”™re looking for more good people and ask them to help build the pool.
Give candidates multiple ways to contact your company: e-mail, fax, phone. Specify requirements in the ad and tell candidates to detail their experience as part of their response. Tell candidates you will check background and references.
Vet candidates
Start with a list of minimum and optimum requirements. Decide who will go through resumes to check for basic requirements. Have a phone interview and at least one to two face-to-face interviews, plus reference checking.
Build a list of standard questions to ask every candidate. Verify information on the resume: jobs and dates, education, etc. Ask candidates to describe a typical day on the job. Ask about their ideal work environment. Ask them to cite examples of problems and successes, talk about co-workers and managers. Ask where they expect to be in three years.
Stay out of the discussion and observe the candidate. Use “tell me more” to get the candidate talking. Ask yourself, is what I”™m hearing a match with the attitudes, skills, experience and attributes of people who succeed in my company?
References may give you a whole new perspective on candidates. Questions you can ask include: What advice would you give to this person”™s next manager? Would you hire this candidate again? Did this person leave the company in good standing? Be sure to check at least two to three references.
Be leery of candidates who cannot produce references from people they”™ve worked for. Substituting peers for managers is not an absolute rule-out, but it may be an indicator of problems. You want to know your candidate can command the respect of managers, and also has the good judgment to select good working environments.
Assess profiles
Who best matches your company”™s needs? Whose income and advancement expectations are most in line with what your company offers? How do candidates get along with the company”™s current employees? Does this person”™s vision of where he wants to be in three years match where your company is going?
Line up two to three candidates. Begin negotiations with each. Watch how the process unfolds. Select the candidate who makes the most reasonable demands, present and future. Be careful to not overpromise future benefits, bonuses and assignments ”“ you will be expected to step up to those demands.
Finally, lay out an on-boarding process. Make a good impression starting day one. Help new employees build confidence they”™ve made the right choice. Help them get off on a good foot with their new jobs.
Looking for a good book? Try “Hiring the Best: Manager”™s Guide to Effective Interviewing and Recruiting (Fifth Edition)”, by Martin Yate and Martin John Yate.
Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., a business consulting firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurial firms grow. Questions may be sent to her via e-mail at AskAndi@StrategyLeaders.com or by mail to Andi Gray, Strategy Leaders Inc., 5 Crossways, Chappaqua, NY 10514. She can also be reached by phone at 877-238-3535.