The resume looked great. She interviewed well, saying all the right things and providing great examples. You were so excited that you finally found “the one” that you skipped conducting reference and background checks—after all, you pride yourself on your ability to read people. Yet after only three weeks, you had to admit you made a mistake! You contacted the previous employers post-hire and found out they had fired your new employee for not achieving the results she bragged about! The bottom line? You hired a wolf in sheep’s clothing!
You lament that it’s too costly to use the right hiring tools. You falsely believe in your intuition, but human bias is alive and well and the reality is you are correct only 15 percent of the time. You rely on the candidate’s resume to determine his or her qualifications, but over 50 percent of applicants stretch the truth. By only accepting “good enough,” you place your company in jeopardy—clients do not want to work with wolves, or the bosses of companies who employ them.
There are solutions to your hiring dilemma: collect enough objective, valid, and reliable data. Using the right hiring tools can be cost effective, when used correctly.
First, use an application tracking system that requires completion of the application. Create pre-screening questions to help you weed out unqualified candidates. Also, have each candidate complete a qualified core values assessment. These three items are very cost effective and will help you vet candidates faster and more objectively.
Next, use unbiased skills testing and a qualified job fit assessment to determine if the candidate can do the work, and if he or she will do the job successfully in your organization. Remember, most applicants exaggerate their abilities, and high skills proficiency does not equate to a great job fit or the ability to achieve the required results. Ensure the job fit assessments meet the Department of Labor guidelines.
Now that you’ve collected objective, reliable, and valid data, it’s time to interview. (Relying upon interviews alone will result in a good hire only 14 percent of the time!) Interview to confirm the data you’ve collected and to find out more about the candidate’s work experiences and accomplishments. Weeding out poor interviewers who would be good hires is no worse than moving forward with candidates who interview well and are bad hires.
Don’t forget to conduct due diligence by conducting reference and background checks, along with employer and education verifications. These will illuminate a great candidate and provide a healthy work environment for current employees!
Do you still think the right hiring solutions are too costly and time consuming? Add up the hours you’ve spent skimming resumes, talking with unqualified or uninterested candidates, and hiring someone not really interested in the job. Yikes! Not using the right hiring tools is costly and doesn’t reveal the 101 other known and unknown factors! The solution: a well-designed selection system ensures your profits improve and your work life does too! It may even save your own job!
Before you hire another person, get your copy of Hire Amazing Employees, Second Edition (BizSavvyHire.com), which includes interview and reference-checking templates.
©Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013
Jeannette Seibly has been hiring great employees for over 34 years. She delivers straight talk with immediate results to business owners and executives of $1MM to $30MM enterprises, achieving dynamic results. You may contact her at JLSeibly@SeibCo.com to discuss your hiring challenges.