Hiring Great Employees

Friday, February 17, 2012

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate was 8.3% as of January 2012, which translates into 12,758,000 workers unemployed and actively seeking work. And yet many employers continue to complain they are unable to find workers with the right mix of job skills. Other employers are concerned that hiring a long-term unemployed worker may bring unneeded problems to their door step. Furthermore, there are numinous hiring guides that promise great employees in 3, 5, 7 or 10 steps. Others guarantee results with their software application and still others suggest stop hiring employees and hire entrepreneurs, partners or associates.

Unless your organization does not require trained, talented, knowledgeable, skilled, and engaged employees; recruiting, interviewing, selecting, and bringing the right person into the flock is an expensive time-consuming gut-wrenching chore. And it is not much different for the job seeker. A poor hiring decision by an organization can be equally devastating for both parties. Since it could take upwards of several months to a year to unwind a bad hiring choice; the selector and the selectee could waste a significant amount of time, money, and angst.

Employers must know the job and what it takes to be successful in that role, employees must know roles, responsibilities, and expectations. In some circles, job descriptions appear to have gone the way of typewriters. However, correctly written and maintained, job descriptions are to employers and employees as are blue-prints to architects and builders.

Sourcing or locating ideal candidates may be as simple as looking within your own organization or not. Relying on your current workers to refer job candidates could be a mixed blessing for both you and your employees. There is something to be said about candidates who bring a diversity of experiences and backgrounds that may not be found in someone who has focused solely on your industry.

The process of vetting candidates is full of potential dangers for unwary organizations. For a number of years most employers have provided only the minimum information to confirm employment dates and maybe position held. What candidates would give a knowingly negative reference? On the other hand, interviewing can provide some insight into the “real” person, especially when multiple interviewers are involved in the process. However, panel style interviews always seem to be dominated by one or two persons. Including superiors, peers, and even subordinates as interviewers allows for a full range of perspectives. It might tell you something about a candidate’s interpersonal skills if they snub the receptionist.

Cooperative selection and decision making methods allow superiors, peers, and subordinates to have some “skin” in the hiring process and decision, thus they feel vested in the success or failure of a new employee. After several years of staff reductions, current employees are elated to have some extra help for a change. While candidate selection may be complete, the integration of that new hire into the organization has just begun.

How any new employee is on-boarded into an organization will influence their initial and ongoing perception of that employer and may even determine the likelihood of their retention. Whether or not your organization has a formal probationary period or not the first few days and weeks of employment should be used to evaluate and re-evaluate the selection decision.

With competitive forces being what they are, every hiring decision carries the potential to add to or take away from an organization’s edge.