Anyone with responsibility for hiring or promoting employees knows how frustrating it can be to choose a candidate that seemed right only to later find out that they weren’t a good fit for the job.
Bad Hire Costs are Higher Than You Think
In the staffing world, it’s commonly known that a poor job fit can cost a company 30% or more of the first year salary. Costs come from recruiting, on-boarding, training, lost productivity, overtime, mistakes, and lost customers. Other related bad hire costs include morale issues and disengaged employees. For small and medium sized organizations a bad hire can cripple operations.
Hire Right the First Time
Choosing the right person among a pool of qualified candidates is not an exact science. The hiring manager must weigh the pros and cons of each individual and make a final selection.
The Job Posting
The first step in selecting the right candidate is to craft an accurate and enticing job posting. A typical job ad focuses on what the employer wants from the applicant such as the academic degrees, specific skills and a strong work ethic. However, in this competitive job market focusing on what employers can offer job seekers will result in better employee matches. Job seekers are looking for work autonomy, career advancement and inclusion in decision making. It’s these types of job opportunities that produce a larger number qualified applicants. Postings focusing on what the organization can offer received three times as many highly rated applicants as ads that only demanded specific traits from applicants.
The Interview
The next important step in the selection process is asking the right interview questions. Having a good set of relevant questions is a critical step in the hiring process. Preparing a structured interview, with questions that address the attributes you need grow your business and adapt to constant change is very important. All candidates should be asked the same set of questions. During the interview, you will be seeking to learn the answers to these highly valuable questions. Is the candidate highly adaptive? Are they team players? Do they see learning as pleasure? Discovering the answers to these questions will help in selecting the best-fit candidate.
Reference Checks and On-boarding
Other important hiring steps include the reference check and a well organized on-boarding plan to get your new hire trained and working productively as quickly as possible.
Consider Hiring a Professional Recruiter
At the end of the interview process, if there does not seem to be a suitable candidate, then consider doing one of the following:
- Hire the candidate who most closely matched the requirements of the job. Plan for dedicated training to bring that person’s skills up to needed levels.
- Re-advertise and reconfigure the position to attract more qualified candidates. .
- Retain the services of a Professional Staffing Firm who will actively source qualified candidates for your role.
The best tool at your disposal is to seek advice from a staffing firm. Hiring a recruitment specialist to assist you may seem costly at first, but choosing the wrong candidate will definitely cost you more. Avoid bad hire costs by hiring right the first time. Learn more about Fusion Staffing Services.
