What does a bad hire cost you?
Research shows a bad hire can cost your company at least 30% of their salary, but there’s more than just money at stake. Your personal success is on the line too.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you working too many hours because you’re covering for an ineffective employee?
- Is a single employee dragging your whole team down?
- Are you getting pressure from above to deliver more than your team can accomplish?
- Are other teams performing better than yours?
- Is your boss telling you to be tougher on your employees?
If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these questions, you should consider what action to take. Whether you choose to give the person a chance or let them go depends on a number of factors. However, you can learn how to avoid this situation in the future by following a better hiring process.
No one is perfect, so the key is to hire someone who has or is able to develop the necessary skills and characteristics to succeed at the job. Determining that requires a systematic, objective process.
It’s worth investing time and money into a solid assessment of job candidates. It pays for itself when you have a successful employee and it avoids much greater costs when you don’t. Plus, it helps protect you against unfair hiring practices that could bring about even costlier litigation.
3 Tips for Hiring Good People
1. Create a detailed job description
A good assessment process starts with a detailed job description that includes specific behaviors and characteristics necessary to be successful at the job. For example, an engineering job description might include: “operates computer-assisted engineering or design software or equipment.” A logistics manager’s job description might include: “maintains metrics, reports, process documentation, customer service logs, and training or safety records.”
2. Choose predictive assessment methods
Whether you conduct interviews, tests, or job trials, it’s important to do them in a systematic and objective way. For example, structured interviews with job-relevant questions are better predictors of performance than casual interviews that differ between candidates. A test of emotional intelligence might be a good fit for candidates for a team leader position. With tests, however, it’s important to have a qualified person read and interpret the results.
3. Train people how to assess candidates
Invest in assessment training for those involved in the hiring process. Teach employees and managers how to interview and how to rate candidates. Help them understand what questions are good and which ones are either ineffective or illegal. Walk through the job description with them so they know what they’re looking for in a successful candidate and make sure they ask the same questions to all candidates.
Alternatively…
If your team is strapped for time or just not interested in learning this skill, hire an outside firm to do the assessment for you. It doesn’t cost that much and it can save you a bundle in the long run.
