Mistake No. 6. Not Involving Employees
Many times organizations believe that hiring is a function of HR or a function of the hiring manager. Unfortunately, that doesn’t take into account that the rest of the team has to work with and live with the individual you hire. The team also knows the job best and should be involved in the hiring process. Their input is invaluable – find a way to involve as many of the employees in the hiring process as possible.
Mistake No. 7. Taking the Bodies
Too many times we want to fill a slot and rush through an interview. We won’t interview strongly and in many cases, we will believe that anybody could do this job. We feel there are not enough people in the market place who can handle this job, so we sacrifice or give in, and don’t hold ourselves to the needed criteria. When we do not use criteria for the job, there’s no reason for a hiring process. We are looking to fill the position with a body. Those types of people and that kind of hiring process leads to a lot of turnover and to a neverending cycle of continuously filling roles and positions. It decreases morale, uses up resources and over time, kills an organization.
Mistake No. 8. Looking for Superman or Wonder Woman
Certain organizations and managers look for people that are impossible to find in the market place. We are never going to find the perfect human being who has every competency that we could ever think of, use or need. It’s important that we really know what is essential to success on the job. When we know what is essential to success on the job, we have a strong measuring stick for what we are looking for. When we know what we are looking for and we’re clear on it – we are able to find those people. We tend to look for superman or wonder woman because we’re looking for a fix rather than what we need. We need to know what we do not need in order to know what we do need.
Mistake No. 9. Treating Candidates like Candidates
First rule in hiring – it’s a two-way street. The candidate is making a decision and we are making a decision. We need to treat them with respect, not only as a candidate, but as if they are already part of our organization. We want them to walk away with whether they received the position or did not receive the position and have a relationship with this person that helps them and helps us. We want them to refer other candidates because they had such a great experience in the process. So, we need to make sure that this is not a test and that this is not a one-way street. We want to make sure they are treated like a human being and that our approach demonstrates respect for every candidate that walks in our door.
Mistake No. 10. Viewing On boarding as Separate from Hiring and Selection
Think about it. When interviewing candidates, most of us use tests and a variety of other measures during the interview and selection process. If we have strong interviews and use good assessments, then we will have enough information from what we have collected during our hiring process that we could actually work with them from almost day one, at least within the first week, on what a strong development plan would be for that individual. Imagine sitting down with the person and say, here’s what we saw in your interview process, here’s why we hired you and why we think you will be successful, and here are some things that we think you may need to work on. What are your thoughts? Then, together, collaboratively, put together a development plan for the next six months to a year. That’s powerful. That creates an interest in wanting to stay, confidence that employee has confidence in the organization and it will create discretionary effort and a shorter learning curve. Use the information you collected in the hiring process to help the employee get off to a good, strong start.