Through fortune (by having a bad staff quit) or misfortune (one of your best assets has left your team), you find your self playing the hiring game again. And like any game, violating the laws will get you in trouble. These are the deadliest (and costliest) mistakes you can make in the hiring game.
I am sure that none of these apply to you, but you probably know a friend or two who could use that information!
1. Going cheap
Bob just had his receptionist, Sue, retire on him. She had been with him for 10 years. Bob will miss her a lot but hey, there a chance to hire someone new at a much cheaper price, say, $4-5 and hour less! That would lower his bottom-line right?
Not necessarily! His receptionist was well grooved in and had developed a method of dealing with customers that was making the whole office run smoothly. That requires skills and the “newbie” better be able to catch on real quick. Like anything on the market, you get what you pay for. A TOP player knows his or her worth when looking for a place to work. Then again, a new employee with a high price tag is not necessarily the diamond you are looking for. That is where your screening and interviewing skills come into play.
2. Not writing a job description
You don’t like paper work. I get it! But that paper work called a “Job Description” can save you thousands of dollars. I am not kidding.
Let’s take our example of Sue above. She had 10 years to perfect that position and develop the systems to deal with customers, employees and, yes, you! Now, you tell me how on Earth will you know how to pass that information to the new staff and better yet, how will you be able to hire that new staff if you haven’t documented Sue’s job? You got it, got to Walmart and get yourself one of those “Magic 8 Ball”, shake it and wait for the answer!
KNOW what you are looking for by first of all FULLY DESCRIBING it! And… keep this in mind THROUGHOUT the hiring process! That is the only way you will be able to find the employee that has the qualities and skills set you are looking for.
3. Overvaluing Past Work Experience
You want the best guy or girl for the job to be done in YOUR business. That’s a given. Another common mistake is to assume that because a person had such a work experience in a SIMILAR company, that they will do the same for you!
Big impressive resumes are just that. Realize that this applicant has never been tested under YOU and in YOUR WORK PLACE. That impressive resume indicates that the applicant has experience and potential skill sets. That’s all.
Hiring based on what is in a resume or work experience alone can lead to serious disappointments.
4. Overlooking personality fit
To some performance is all that counts. I agree that this is very important. But that star player has got to work WITH your team. He or she must fit within the dynamic of the group and you! An applicant might be the best at what is required but their efforts and talents will be wasted with the discord and upset created because he or she rubs everyone in the team the wrong way.
We have an extremely precise test to screen the applicants for the personality traits that best fit the job requirements and your team.
5. Rushing a decision or hiring in desperation
That is a classic! When you hire someone you know or have the feeling that isn’t what you are looking for then I can pretty much tell that this is not the person you are looking for.
When the applicant sits down to be interviewed by you, it is their job to “sale” you that they are the right fit. The chances are slim that they are the right person for the job if you are not convinced that they are.
Do not rush the decision. It will save you thousands of dollars.
6. Hiring friends
I have a saying that I tell my clients: If you can’t fire them, do not hire them!
The guys that are a good time to drink with or a family member that need a a job don’t necessarily make the best employee. I personally have many good friends and family members which I get along great in social settings, but I would not hired even if you’d point a gun to my head.
This is not necessarily because they are bad staff but mostly because I enjoy their friendship and would not like it to be muddled because of issues that could occur
at the work place.
7. Hiring similar skills and personality traits
It’s natural that we like to surround ourselves with people who are similar to us. That’s fine if you’re setting up a book club, but not so smart when it comes to hiring. Ideally, your goal should be to hire people with different and complementary skills to your own.
By hiring people who have different skill sets or approaches to dealing with a certain issue, you can rapidly address any situations and your team becomes quite flexible and able to adapt to any challenges thrown at them.
8. Actively recruiting a candidate
Let’s me explain. When you are hiring, you are looking for the diamond, the top player. If you go after a person by rolling out the red carpet for them, you are sending a message that you need them worst than they need you. The candidate might be getting the idea that he can get a bunch of personal favors or benefits. They might think that they are entitled.
You don’t want to be in that position. When you are hiring, the person applying for the position must want it more than you do!
9. Botching the interview process
As you will see in the course, interviewing may be more of an art than a science, which means it can be easy to make mistakes doing it. One mistake entrepreneurs tend to make during interviews is spending a disproportionate amount of time selling the company, telling their own story and going to great lengths to describe the type of person they’re looking for. The result is that the owner gets fooled into thinking this is the perfect person for the job and the company, only to find out after the fact that it was all a sales pitch on the part of the candidate.
It is a far better method to let the applicants sell on their skills set and ability to do the job as it keeps you in the driver’s seat and in control of the hiring process.
10. Not checking references
I have heard so many times that checking references is a waste of time because the previous employer doesn’t want to open themselves to legal proceeding or retribution by an ex-staff. Yet, you are opening yourself to legal problems should you let on your staff a person who has a known criminal background and a bad rap with previous employer. It is called criminal negligence and lawyers LOVE going after you, the employer, when one of your new employee assaulted one of your client. YES, you can be held responsible for that!
The morale of the story is: Don’t be a statistic, always check references of your candidates.
11. Failing to provide support
Many business owners exhale a great sigh of relief when their new employee finally starts! The job is done and they can rest at last! HOLD ON! All that hard work to find your best candidate might just go in smoke if you do not provide your new employee proper support. By that I don’t mean to pamper and propitiate to them and there is a middle ground between hand holding and throwing them to the wolves! A new employee should feel that you are interested in their integrating well in the team, that any questions are answered and that you AND your team are there to make sure they can perform their job and are welcome in the team.
Remember that the pay check is only one part of the reason people stock around. The work environment also plays in important role in this.