Why put so much time into hiring an employee?
By: Carrie Beers
Human Resource/Management Consultant
USI New England
Carrie.beers@usi.biz
The simple answer: The right applicant, with the right skills, and right behaviors, aligned to your business strategies, will drive the success of your business.
The hiring and employment selection process that includes application, interview, medical examination, tests and information gathered to determine a qualified applicant, is regulated by laws and regulations at both the Federal and State level. The government tasks companies to ensure they have appropriate protocols in place to validate compliance in the selection process.
Aside from the laws and regulations that companies must follow, it is essential for company owners to establish a "best practice" approach to hiring. A well defined selection process greatly benefits a company. It will establish ground rules for everyone involved in the process and enable you to make an informed decision concerning the skills and abilities of an applicant, and provide insight as to how this individual will fit in with your team.
Over the years, many business owners have asked me why their hire did not work out. This question would cause me to begin a Q&A session to discover the hiring process utilized at the time. In my experience, they have not given the appropriate time or attention toward making a hiring decision.
I have found this perplexing because any time I am going to invest a lot of time and money into a decision that will cost tens of thousands of dollars; I ensure I'm making an informed decision. I make sure I understand what I'm looking for, where the best place is to look, the performance I expect, will it fit into my environment and how do I make sure I'm not looking again in the too near future because I made an uninformed choice.
Let's look at a few basic things to consider when you need to hire someone.
Establish a clear outline of what you are looking for in a qualified applicant.
Make sure you have a clear understanding of the job. Ask yourself, what skills are required? This includes technical skills and behavior skills. The technical skills are established based on what the job requires and the job description. For the behavior skills ask yourself the following questions to assist you in establishing what behaviors the ideal applicant will have:
1. Does the person have to be able to pay attention to detail?
2. Do they need to be able to focus on more than one task at a time?
3. Do they need to be able to communicate effectively over the phone
4. Do they need to be able to communicate effectively in person (one-on-one, group, presentations, etc.)?
5. How dependable does this person need to be?
6. Will this person work independently or with others?
7. Will this person be managing people?
In addition to establishing what skills and behaviors the applicant will need today, identify some of the skills they will need in the future.
Establishing the right questions up front will help you stay focused when reviewing and interviewing applicants.
How are you going to find applicants?
Many times employer's are concerned because they spend a lot money in advertising in newspapers, on job boards or websites only to have the wrong applicants applying for the position. Before you spend any money advertising do some homework and find out where would be the best places to advertise for the position. Consider how you found other qualified employees and what job boards are geared towards your industry. Remain open to other areas of recruiting. You may discover that the best way to find qualified applicants is not through advertising but through a placement or temporary agency, local college or an association that has access to the types of qualified candidates your are trying to attract.
Please remember to talk to your current employees, vendors, customers, etc. to find candidates. After all this is a group of individuals who know your culture and personality. Just remember you still need to qualify someone who is referred to you the same as any other potential applicant.
Establishing a marketing plan for recruiting will aid you in spending recruiting dollars wisely.
Preparing for the Interview
There are many questions employers think they can ask, but can't. Become familiar with the dos and don'ts regarding what can and can not be asked during an interview. My rule of thumb is "If it does not pertain to how the person would perform the functions of the job, it does not belong in the interview." This includes personal information about an applicant that might be "nice to have" but is not relevant to their ability to do the job.
Prepare a list of open ended questions ahead of time that you will ask all applicants. It is important that you establish a baseline to determine who is qualified. So asking everyone the same questions 90% of the time helps you be fair and consistent in determining qualifications for both the applicant's technical skill and behavioral skills.
Ask applicants questions regarding their resume or application. Have them talk about each of the positions they held to determine what work they did and what responsibilities they liked. Have them fill in any gaps or missing information.
Conducting the Interview
Many times employers will conduct interviews as though the applicant is being drafted or interrogated. This approach normally limits the information an applicant will give. Applicants placed in this situation are often fearful of saying too much; therefore they leave critical information out of the interview.
Creating an open and inviting interviewing atmosphere provides the opportunity for you to obtain the right information to make your hiring decision.
During the interview remember to listen more than you talk. Ask open ended questions throughout the interview. When you are not sure what an applicant is saying, follow-up with some probing questions so the applicant can clarify an answer.
An applicant's body language can some times provide you more information than the response. Blushing, little eye contact, twitching, fumbling, and perspiring may indicate either the person is timid or that your questions provoked a negative reaction. If you asked why they left their last position and they respond because of cutbacks (while not maintaining eye contact) don't believe them until you probe and ask a question to validate their response.
You need to watch your reaction to an applicant's response. This includes your facial expressions and body language. You do not want your non-verbal communication skills misread.
Before concluding the interview take a moment to review your notes to insure you have all the information you need to make an informed decision.
Prepare what you will share
Too often a qualified applicant does not take your position because they lack information to make an informed decision. To avoid this, be prepared during the interview to provide an overview of the company and some of the goals for the future. Your goal should be to provide applicants with all the necessary information they need to make an informed decision. After all the applicant is interviewing the company.
If you consider the above-mentioned areas when initiating a selection process, you will begin to see a change in the outcome. Regardless of the applicant's source, from a trusted referral or an internet search, making sure your process is consistent and welled defined avoids the question, "Why did I hire that person?"
This paper mentioned that the selection process involves complying with federal and state regulations. However, the above-mentioned areas focus on one specific area of the selection process; designing a program that would identify qualified applicants so you can make an informed decision. You may want to seek advise from a consultant or legal advisor to be sure your entire program also meets employment regulations.
