Throughout my long career in HR I have always held the belief that for any organization to be successful it must always strive to hire the right people. We have all heard about or studied successful organizations and a significant common feature among them all is that they usually had inspired leadership pointing the way to success and a motivated workforce eager to make that success happen.
It sounds pretty straight forward and yet organizations continually make bad hiring decisions. It often happens because they haven’t clearly stated what is expected of those hires. If the process of hiring is flawed, it attracts the wrong people and the organization doesn’t have a clear idea of what the right person really looks like.
Over the years I have heard a litany of excuses but the one that still baffles me the most is the one offered by way too many managers who, in effect, say “What’s the big deal?”, “If it doesn’t work out, I’ll get rid of him or her and hire another one.”
The big deal is:
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It costs money and time to recruit and integrate a new hire in the workplace and meanwhile the organization suffers.
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During the hiring process, the quantity and quality of the organization’s output can easily deteriorate.
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Trust in the competence of leadership is eroded every time a new hire fails outright or is mediocre.
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Morale of staff suffers as a result and, with declining morale, commitment also diminishes.
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Ultimately clients, customers and staff all suffer because of the poor quality of leadership.
What must be considered when hiring?
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Know the Job. Ensure that an up to date job description exists. This should include skills, abilities, education and experience.
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Assessment Tools. Too often, we stick with conventional methods for recruiting and don’t dig deeply enough. These new, technology based, tools are designed to provide reliable data about a candidate’s potential performance to ensure that you hire the right person that fits with the organization’s culture and values. They are not the only solution but another tool that can be used in the process.
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Determine Search Area and Methodology. Identify the geographic area of the candidate search and what approaches are to be used to make a wide number of qualified people aware of the opportunity. This will increase the size of the candidate pool.
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Create Criteria for Selection. Determining the criteria and weighing them in accordance with importance to the job will ensure a significantly less biased selection. Also, consider what is essential to the job and what is desirable. Not everything is essential. Some criteria, such as experience in a certain field, may only be desirable.
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Create an Evaluation Process. This process will include reviewing, evaluating, and verifying education and experience in the candidates’ resumes; the interview process itself; and testing candidates as to skills, abilities and suitability.
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Final Selection: When you have identified the final two or three candidates, undertake an extensive interview process by including a variety of interviewers to eliminate biases that could lead to the wrong hire. Finally, conduct reference checks to verify what you have learned and to determine characteristics that are not easy to identify during an evaluation process.
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Job Offer / Employment Contract. This is a critical part of the overall hiring process. If the individual accepts the offer, it becomes a contract which forms the very basis of all aspects of the employment relationship going forward. This contract will be crucial if major changes are ever made to the organization that may impact on the position held by the new hire up to and including separation.
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On-Boarding. This process is designed to smoothly integrate the individual into the organization. There are many studies to support the notion that the first six to twelve months are crucial to the success or failure of a new hire. Smoothly introducing the successful candidate to the workplace and supporting him or her for a significant period of time will contribute immensely to the individual’s success and effectiveness.
A final point: Good hires don’t just happen. An organization must create a process that not only creates the best opportunity for a great hire but one that also is bias free and compliant with all employment legislation. We at Pesce & Associates have the knowledge and experience to design an effective recruitment and hiring process tailor made to your organization’s specific needs.
With Pesce & Associates you will always get Practical Advice with Principled Solutions and stems from our Proven Expertise.
Angelo Pesce, Founding Partner
