In today's fast paced business world, it's just enough to find someone who can fill the position, right? NO! It's more important now than ever to find the right fit for a position. Some industry experts estimate it costs company over $4,000 for the wrong hire - management time, HR time, employee search costs, and more. A wrong executive may cost the company even more!
There are a lot of steps in an employee's development at your company -- but the first is finding the right person. Great people usually already have great jobs - how does your company attract the best talent? Consider advertising your job in unconventional ways - affinity groups (expert computer groups or local business networking functions), sponsoring local events (Picnic at the Pops or Jazz & Ribs fest), or employee referrals.
Once you have attracted the right candidates, you need to reconsider how you hire people. Who does the interviewing now? A recruiter? The hiring manager? Coworkers?
Your organization should develop what Jack Welch refers to as a "Hiring Batting Average."
Hiring Batting Average
The company should have three managers outside of the hiring manager interview prospective applicants. Each of these managers needs to rate the candidate a "Hire" or a "No Hire" -- no passes allowed!
At the employee's 6 month review, the hiring manager should rate whether or not the hire was a good one. If it was, the three interviewers get a "hit," if the employee was not a good hire, the interviewer gets a "strike." It's important to keep track of the hits and strikes for each interviewer and over time track the trend for each interviewer. We also recommend including interviewing as part of their bonus objectives ensuring they have a vested interest in making good recommendations.
You may find interesting things appear in the data - Jim, the 25 year company veteran, may make horrible hiring recommendations while a new manager with 2 years of experience makes great ones. Over time, Jim will stop interviewing people while the interviewers with the highest batting averages will become valued interviewers.
It also produces great side effects for the company - if these hiring recommendations are part of a manager's bonus objectives, they have a vested interest in the candidates they recommend being valuable team players. This will lead to employees keeping in touch with their interviewers and possible mentoring relationships developing.
Steps
Advertise your job opening in unique ways to get a lot of qualified candidates.
Weed through the resumes and find the candidates you're interested in speaking with.
When the hiring manager likes someone, have three other managers in the organization interview the candidate.
Have the three other managers rate the candidate a "Hire" or "Don't Hire." No passes allowed!
Have the hiring manager rate the hire at 6 months to see if it was the right fit.
Keep track of the interviewer's "Hire" and "Don't Hire" scores.
Include interviewing as part of the MBOs for managers.
Develop a key group of managers who are great at picking candidates.
Tips and Tactics
Don't rush to hire "just anyone" - wait to find the right candidate.
Hire for personality and team fit - not just technical skills or background.
Be picky and judicious - even if it drives the recruiters nuts.
ALWAYS check references.
If in doubt, pass on the candidate.
