A bad hire can cost a business up to 2.5 times the employee’s salary. To put this into perspective, if you hire the wrong person for a role with a salary of $50,000 you could set your company back $125, 000—and worse, the consequences of a wrong hire can linger well after the employee has left the company.
If you think writing great job descriptions, reading resumes, and holding interviews is the right strategy to find top talent, think again. Only 40-50% of employers reported being satisfied with their new hires 90 days after they’ve started.
There is a lot more to growing a team than hiring based off of gut feelings and well-written resumes. Resumes are after all a piece of marketing material designed to land an interview.
Employer branding
Hiring the right people begins by attracting quality candidates to apply. Have you considered how effective your employer branding is at attracting top talent?
You can demonstrate your company’s values in terms of security, management style, office culture, and opportunities for growth through social media channels and word of mouth from team members.
Standardise your interview process
Creating a hiring process does not need to be complicated. Interview every candidate with stock interview questions rather than basing your interviews off of the candidate’s resume and “winging” a conversation.
If you ask the same questions to all your applicants, you’ll have a base to compare your answers to later and reflect on your decision.
Don’t rush
Hiring is one of those tasks that tend to get put off until it’s absolutely necessary to hire someone right now. This leads to rushing the hiring process—sometimes thinking that any person will be better than no-person—which is absolutely untrue.
Make your hiring process collaborative
Incorporating a diverse hiring team will help you find the right fit. Companies that have a hiring panel are more likely to be satisfied with their hired candidate 90 days after the hire.
A hiring panel will also help stop you from hiring for the wrong reasons like gut-instinct and likeability. As a team, you’ll be able to sort through any red-flags.
Screen for attitude
Attitude is more than a smile on the candidate’s face and being pleasant. It’s about one’s disposition towards work.
You can ask questions that can uncover this like: Tell me about the last time you set a goal for yourself but were unable to achieve it.
It doesn’t matter how they answer this question. Follow up with a question asking what had gone wrong. This will determine whether the candidate has an internal or external locus of control.
This locus of control refers to how strongly people believe they have control over situations and experiences that affect their lives. Did the candidate have the self-awareness to claim their own responsibility for what happened or do they look to blame others?
Applicants with an internal locus of control tend to be more successful at their job. These people have the right attitude for work and are not afraid to take on accountability.
Growing your team is an investment in your company, but it can be intimidating to make this next move. No one ever sets out to hire the wrong person for the role intentionally.
Hiring the best talent comes down to having patience, standardised interviewing processes, and a team to screen the best candidates.
Hiring for your company does not have to be a stressful ordeal, and if you’re looking for extra help give the Majer team a ring!
