No one likes having regrets and unless you’re one of those rare, extraordinarily optimistic and occasionally irritatingly happy people that can find a silver lining in any situation, mitigating potential regrets is a big part of life.
There’s no question that in practically any sector of business a bad hire can be a disaster to the team and the company. So how do you mitigate the risk of a bad hire?
Profile, Profile, Profile!
Know EXACTLY what type of person you want. What personality type are they, what traits do they have, how do they interact with other people and what are their skills? Having a thorough understanding of what profile the new hire will have goes a long way towards ensuring you won’t hire the wrong person.
Go Fishing where the Fish are
Good recruitment relies on knowing where the fish are and how to get them on the hook. So if you’re going down the path of doing your own recruitment and not going to agencies, make sure you’ve done your research and know exactly where you’re most likely to find the best candidates.
Interview Correctly
We see this one go wrong all the time for any number of reasons. There are four that we’d like to address:
- Be prepared and ask the right questions. Formulate the questions before you start the hiring / interviewing process and ask a good range of questions that cover not just ability / experience, but cultural fit, their passions / drivers and what they want out of their career. It’s imperative these align.
- Have a consistent and thorough approach. This means asking the same questions and following the same format which will allow you to properly rank candidates against each other.
- Sell your company. So many companies forget they have to sell why a candidate should want to work there. Yes the candidate has some interest in your company and presumably they have done some research on you, but sell what they don’t / can’t know. Company perks, culture and what they people they will be working with are like.
- Listen to what they’re asking. A Candidate’s questions to you during an interview can be very telling of why they’re interested in the job. Are they asking about the team, the professional opportunities, and how this role could affect their future career? Or, are they asking about money, perks and what’s in it for them?
Let them Meet People
Culture within a team and company is important, people that get along / work well in a team are more productive but one jerk, with the sour face and attitude to match is all it takes to turn things upside down. So why are so many interviews conducted with only the hiring manager? Beats me. Allow the hire to meet as many of their potential colleagues as possible to ensure that they will fit with the whole team and not rick the boat.
On this point, listen to your team. The candidate might have seemed great to you, but if the team (who the person will actually be working with) are telling you a different story, listen.
Don’t Hire with Bias
Don’t let ethnicity, gender, religion, disability, sexuality, locality, physical appearance or any other discrimination cloud your judgment. Hire based on skill, experience, fit, aptitude and attitude instead.
Follow Through on your Promises
A lot of potentially good hires go bad due to promises being made in the interview stage that never eventualise into reality. There is nothing less motivating to an employee than feeling like they’ve been lied to. This will always (unless there is extremely good reason for not following through) end badly.
Reference! Oh man, Reference.
You might have missed it in the tag line, but reference! Do your due diligence and speak to former bosses, employees, colleagues or whatever you deem the most important connection. Take at least two as well, preferably from a different standpoint (i.e. manager and colleague) as people working with someone in different capacities may see the candidate in different lights.
At the end of the Day? Trust your Gut
We love a good gut instinct call here at ALRA so trust in it. If your instinct tells you the person isn’t right for your team and company, then don’t hire them. Conversely, if it feels right? Go for it.