Mistake #1: Desperate Hires
Some of the excuses I get for this include…
– urgently lacking in manpower.
– better to hire wrong than not to hire at all, at least there’s someone to “help around”
I beg to differ.
If you total up the costs of having the wrong hire vs not hiring, I bet you every single time, it cost you more in hiring the wrong person than not to hire at all until you get the right person.
The costs include non-performance, salary paid, the extra work the other staff need to do to pick up the slack of a wrong hire, the damage in morale and motivation of existing staff, the costs of doing the job wrong…. it all adds up to more than simply continuing the search for the right candidate. Everytime.
Mistake #2: Not understanding there’s actually a 2-step process to hiring a candidate.
Step 1: Lead Generation, ie, getting qualified candidates to be aware of your vacancy and to be interested to apply for the job.
Step 2: Selection, ie, actual interview process to choose the right candidate for the job.
Not having enough candidates to interview is a Lead Generation challenge.
Not having the right person joining your team after interviewing candidates is a Selection challenge.
They are not the same. Yet, the majority of business owners equate not having enough candidates as not having quality candidates. I repeat, they are not the same, recruitment is a 2-Step process.
You need Lead Generation strategies to get enough qualified candidates to interview. To do that, you need to identify the right medium to attract candidates for different positions. Each position, just like each product/service you sell, has a different niche/target market and you need different strategies to reach different category of candidates. Depending on the category of candidates, you might need to advertise on print media/online job portals, run referral programs, use employment agencies, engage headhunters, etc…
The interview process is the actual Selection process. In the selection process, focus on cultural fit before skills fit, ie, hire for culture, train for skills.
Ask yourself these 3 questions in this sequence, in relation to each candidate:
1. Can he/she do the job?
2. Can he/she do the job the way your organization wants him/her to do it?
3. Does he/she want the job?
Mistake #3: Not offering a trial or test-run.
A trial, or test-run, is not the same as probation period.
Probation period means you have selected the candidate, issued an offer letter and candidate has resigned from his/her current job to accept your offer. If things don’t work out during the probation, you need to terminate the candidate or candidate needs to resign.
A trial, on the other hand, involves asking a candidate to take a few days leave to experience the daily routine of the job he/she is applying for, working with you and your team. You pay the candidate an allowance for the trial and backdate the salary to cover the trial period if you hire him/her after the trial.
After the few days, both the candidate and you have a real feel of whether he/she is a fit for your organization. You get more committed team members this way, plus, you save time on induction as the candidate already know your team when he/she officially joins.
Most good candidates will jump at the opportunity to try out something new without having to let go of the safety net of their existing jobs.
You can do trials for more than 1 candidate at the same time even if you just have one vacancy, unlike offering a straight employment candidate.
So before hiring your next team member, remember:
1. It’s better not to hire than to hire out of desperation.
2. Break down the process into Lead Generation and Selection.
3. Offer selected candidates trials without quitting their jobs.
ps: Additional steps are required if you are a Family Business looking to hire executive level team members, more on that in a future posting!
Have a profitable week ahead!
The Familybiz Works Team.
ps: If you own a business in Malaysia, register NOW for our FREE Business Optimization Clinic, valued at RM699. We guarantee you will get at least 1-2 ideas you can implement immediately, even if you do not engage our services.
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