THE SECRETS TO MAKING BETTER HIRES

Research shows that only about 1 in 5 new hires is considered to be unequivocal successes. This is an alarming low rate of success for a process that is essential to an organization’s success!

Why does the hiring process have such a poor success rate? Some key reasons are:

1. Overreliance on what the candidate’s resume states
   • Failing to properly take into account that a resume is a candidate’s self-created advertisement about themselves & therefore may contain:
     • • Elevated job title
       • Embellished skill set
       • Overstated responsibilities
       • Incorrect dates of employment to cover up gaps
       • Unclear or overstated educational credentials
2. Interviewing & evaluating candidates is not a core competency of hiring managers, and thus they do not know how to effectively:
   • Pose questions that produce revealing answers & important insights
   • Ask probing follow-up questions to drill down past an initial answer
   • Conduct behavioral interviews related to the key elements of past performance that need to be carefully & comprehensively evaluated include:
   • Fully assess soft skills, such as professionalism & interpersonal skills
   • Determine leadership skills & style, collaboration & teamwork
3. Disregarding the old adage that “past performance is the best predictor of future performance” is as true today as ever!
   • Assessing a candidate’s past performance requires looking past the accomplishments on their resume by knowing how to probe deeply
4. Most companies do not have the internal resources (talent & time) to most effectively:
   • Market the opportunity
   • Mine for candidates
   • Evaluate candidates
   • Present a pool of fully qualified candidates to the hiring executive

THE SECRETS TO MAKING BETTER HIRES

1. Have a well written job description, which means it not only describes the role’s functions & responsibilities, but also the skills, attributes, & experience needed to be successful
   • Review the prior & current job holders to pinpoint what made them successful or caused them to fail.
2. Identify a large number of potential candidates – not merely candidates who are actively in the job market, but also those candidates who are receptive despite not actively looking (“passive candidates”)
   • In conducting searches for clients, I typically identify a minimum of 50 potential candidates with whom to do an initial screen, & often go through 100 before having determined the slate of candidates to present for client interviews.
3. Thoroughly evaluate candidates to determine which ones best match your specifications, including:
   • • Competencies
     • Cultural compatibility
     • Character
     • Compensation
     • NOTE: From my experience, an alarming number of those involved in the process lack the skills needed to effectively evaluate candidates. In great part, this is due to their:
       • 1) Never having been properly taught how to do so
       • 2) Having limited experience in the interview & selection process
4. Whenever possible, have multiple individuals participate in the interview & assessment process
   • Include individuals from the company functions with which the position most interacts.
   • Consider having 2 (or 3 at the most) interviewers do the interview together, which has multiple benefits.
5. Have a standardized evaluation tool for completion by each interviewer
   • Do so even for those who will not be included in the final selection step.
6. Have an open, candid group discussion of candidates (especially those being considered for an employment offer) with all of the appropriate individuals whose input is needed
   • Ideally, one individual should serve as the facilitator.
7. Utilize assessment tools to improve the selection decision making.
   • Examples include those that assess specific competencies, behavioral styles & emotional intelligence.
8. Do not end the process until you have a candidate about whom you are excited.
   • Hiring mistakes are costly in multiple ways.

Author: Salvatore LoDico

The HR Godfather ^TM 

Senior Partner, Spuhler Associates/Founder & CEO, Trinity HR Consulting, Inc