Given the investment involved in finding, onboarding and retaining excellent employees, “one and done” interviews (“OK, start tomorrow”) are not the way to go, even if you are desperate and the candidate seems terrific. Effective hiring requires establishing and sticking to a process. Here are tips for building a great team.
Effective Hiring Practices
We’ve all been there. Work is heating up. Help is desperately needed. You luck into someone and voila, problem solved. Except that a week or two later, things aren’t working out well at all. Though there is no such thing as “fool proof” hiring, it is possible to make good hires more often than not, but doing so requires an investment of time and effort up front, as you implement a well thought out hiring process, which starts with a thorough job description, distributed widely:
Your hiring process should involve multiple methods for evaluating potential candidates, including applications, interviews, assessments, and reference checks. One interview is not sufficient to find the right team member. The first step to your hiring process is to make a job posting for potential candidates to review. Be clear in your job description. Set clear expectations. State the role, the responsibilities involved, and the outcomes you expect. Once you have a clear job description, post to the appropriate job boards that will get in front of the largest pool of candidates. Your local market will determine the best place to post your jobs. Consider attending job fairs, posting at local establishments, and using online job boards.
When interested prospective employees reach out to you, be ready with an application that requires some thoughtfulness and “elbow grease” to complete:
This does not have to be extensive, but you want to know that your potential candidates are going to put forth some effort to apply to your job. Add some initial screening questions that are important to you when you consider candidates. Ask about relevant experience. Ask about why they are looking for a new position. Ask about why they are interested in your company. You can get a good feel for how a candidate might fit within your organization by asking a few simple questions up front.
Having a completed application in hand is not just a formality to stuff in the HR file: the application can provide a jumping off point for interviews, arming you with points you want to learn more about. When it comes to interviews, experts say “Don’t skimp”:
You should have at least 2 interviews with a potential candidate. These two interviews do not have to be extensive, but it is important to have multiple interviews for a couple of reasons. First, it helps to ensure you’re getting the same person on a different day. It’s amazing how many candidates can nail the first interview, only to show up as a totally different person the next time you meet them. It’s also important to have more than one person involved in the interview process when possible. Maybe as the owner, you perform the initial interview for every candidate, but the second interview is done by the direct supervisor. Regardless of who is involved, if it’s possible have at least two different interviews with two different people.
Before you finalize your decision, hands-on job related assessments or technical evaluations may also be important, depending on the role and the level of expertise you are seeking. Once you’ve got the right candidate, you’re ready to make the offer. Just remember, your job’s not done until you implement and oversee a solid onboarding process: “According to BambooHR,… employees who had effective onboarding feel up to 18x more commitment to their workplace, compared to employees who feel their onboarding was less effective.This heightened commitment translates into all kinds of benefits for employers, including longer employee tenures and a growing number of brand ambassadors who can aid in your recruitment and customer marketing efforts.”
One specific technique that can be powerful during onboarding and beyond is assigning a mentor for new hires. In addition to giving a long-time employee a vested interest in the success of the new hire, you’ll be ensuring the new employee feels welcomed from day one. Teaming diverse workers who have different experiences, sometimes referred to specifically as reciprocal mentoring, can contribute to both jobsite success and worker satisfaction.
Teamwork!
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