6 BIGGEST HIRING MISTAKES YOU NEED TO AVOID
RECRUITING WITHOUT HAVING A SET PROCESS
While interviewing candidates for the job, it becomes all too easy to hire someone based on “gut feel”. You meet the rarely perfect applicant, and suddenly, all the other applicant become uninteresting and you are drawing up contracts after just barely meeting them.
That’s what happens when you don’t have a set process for recruiting. It can’t merely be “hold interviews and see what happens”. Before you even schedule those interviews, you need to plan a process so that you don’t get sidetracked. Without a process, the candidate hunt might go on for too long and you will end up hiring the wrong people.
NOT HAVING CLARITY TO HIRE PEOPLE FOR DESIRED ROLE
Not knowing exactly what kind of candidate you need to employ often leads to hiring “generalists,” or people who are generally good at everything, but not at what you actually need. Before go through into the recruitment process, make it crystal clear what kind of candidate you need for the job and what the job position needs. This also lets potential candidates know what you need and saves both you and the applicant a lot of time, energy, and money.
During the interview and screening process, have a scorecard with a specific criterion so you can correctly rate and rank your candidates. This will speed up the process and help you rapidly eliminate candidates who are not fit for the job.
RECRUITING WITHOUT TESTING CANDIDATES
It’s extremely easy to believe someone when they say they are the cream of the crop. But are they truly what they say they are? One way to double-check the candidates by giving them a series of tests. You can find tons of tests on-line that will measure proficiency and aptitude, depending on your field of business. You can also create your own test and see how they proceed. You can choose to give it right after the interview as this will show how they really work since the world have almost no time whatsoever to prepare.
NOT ASKING FOR ENOUGH REFERENCES
Another way to confirm if an applicant is as great as they claim they are is to ask for several references. Simply calling a former boss or two may be enough, but most of the time, applicant already ask their former superiors to put in a good word for them.
To avoid this trick, ask their former supervisors if you can also talk to their companions. Companions can tell you how the applicant is in the workplace, their work ethics, and their general behavior. Actually, try to call at least five to seven references from different companies and workplaces. This helps you to get the whole picture of who your applicant really is.
DEPENDING PURELY ON JOB POSTS
They say that the best applicant for the job is hardly ever looking for one. Those who hide on job posting sites are usually the ones who are fresh out of college or don’t have enough references to back them up. Job posts may find you a gem, but it’s also important to look for the applicant with the help of your social network. Ask people in your field if they know anyone suitable for the job, and chances are one of those recommendations will help to get your next best employee.
DISCUSSING COMPENSATION RIGHT AWAY
When you first meet an applicant, think of it as a first day. On the first day, you would not ask how much money they make; it makes you look money-minded. In the same way, bringing up compensation right away would lead to a number of conclusions. When applicant hears the figure, they may either be quickly turned off or become far too eager to take the job simply because of the money. Both of these situations are not ideal since they can lead to bad decisions on both sides. Bringing up compensation also highlights the monetary part of the job, when instead, you should highlight the non-monetary benefits, such as employee revive, career opportunities, and the like.
However, if it’s the applicant that brings up the topic straight away, this may be a red flag. Redirect the topic by saying that they should be more disturbed about the benefits of the job as another step in their career, rather than a source of pay. After all, they should first be trying to make you that they’re fit for the job before anything else.
The hiring process is a tricky one. There is no infallible way to do it, so don’t be afraid to use some unusual methods It may also take a while before you find the right candidate for you, but once you do, you will be grateful that you worked so hard to find them. Hiring the right candidate is finally the best thing you can do for your company as the employees are, essentially, the backbone of the company.
After recruiting your new employees, it’s also equally important to make sure you train them well and help them adjust to the environment of the workplace. Finding great employee-boss relationships is the way to improve your company’s performance and motivate your employees to perform to the best of their abilities.