If you’ve been an employer for any length of time, you have been humbled by the task of hiring. I have. When we hire the wrong people, we expose our organization to loss. The wrong person can cost your endeavor thousands of dollars, wound your team morale, negatively impact your customers, and create a culture of distrust. The list of possible grievances only gets darker and more devastating.
That’s the bad news.
There is good news. When we hire the right people, it changes everything. Typically, profits increase, morale goes up, trust breeds an increase in speed of operations, and the overall level of performance improves paving the way for a more professional organization.
We should approach the hiring process with humility and skill. When we lack humility, we recklessly bring just about anyone on the team out of either desperation or because we are deaf to wisdom’s warning.
We lack skill when we have not established a hiring process. Intuition is not enough. In fact, intuition is only a small factor in making good hiring decisions.
Sometimes we forget that many people will say just about anything to get a job. In many cases they are not lying to you as much as they are to themselves. Many folks looking for work are listening for only one phrase: “You got the job!”
If you’re looking to hire, take the time to think through what the job requires. Write it down with as much detail as you can so that it will reveal to you the type of person you need. This first step will help you clearly see the skillset needed, the maturity and character required, and even the temperament most suited for the position.
Once you’ve pictured the type of person you’re looking for, then you can begin designing your hiring systems. How will you advertise? How will you follow-up on references? Will you conduct various assessments and/or skill tests? How many interviews will you require and how many people will partner with you in making the best decision? And how much time will you invest in making this hire?
