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One good hire can help improve your culture. However, just one bad hire can hurt your workplace culture.
If I get complaints about human resources, generally it’s about bad hires.
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And it often concerns the lack of soft skills in communication with bosses, coworkers and customers.
Here’s how to hone your instincts to hire the best:
1. Beware of the candidates who dazzle you the most in interviews.
All too often, the people who perform well in interviews are not who they seem to be.
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They’ve had a lot of practice in perfecting their answers and body language. They’ve learned to anticipate what you want to hear.
So, be skeptical of every candidate. Delve deeper to look beyond appearances.
2. Develop a screening process that yields honesty.
You need to position applicants to be honest in their applications and answers in the interviews.
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Follow with effective pre-employment screening with reference and background checks. Even screen the backgrounds of references.
On your web site, include a clause of exclusion in the event you detect lies on resumes. One of your first questions of an applicant is “Did you read our site?” Then, watch for their responses and body language.
3. Strategize on how to get good references
To be sure, it’s increasingly difficult to check references. But don’t give up.
Use a reference-verification form.
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In interviews, ask candidates to predict how their former supervisors would rate them in certain categories such as teamwork, communication, reliability and ability.
If the candidates’ answers don’t match the answers in reference checks, pass on them.
4. Have a rigorous application process.
Don’t make it easy to get hired. Make candidates invest in your hiring process.
You want the best employees, right? They want to work for the best employers.
Candidly, if you don’t show pride in your organization, applicants won’t either.
5. Double check your hiring instincts.
Yes, your it’s important to follow your instincts. But don’t take shortcuts.
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Seriously, double down. Actually try to prove yourself wrong.
If attractive applicants walk in the door, don’t let up and ask tough questions and thoroughly check references. Don’t allow yourself to be fooled by appearances.
From the Coach’s Corner, editor’s picks:
Hiring Applicants: 5 Deadly Sins of Even Savvy Managers – In this competitive and litigious marketplace, small details in human resources can make or break a company. Even though an organization’s performance matters, many managers unfortunately take shortcuts in the hiring process.
Hiring for a Small Operation? Conduct Behavioral Interviews – To enhance your culture, avoiding mediocrity is important. Whether you run a small operation in a big company or you own a small business, you’re wearing many hats. So you need employees who can successfully wear multiple hats, too.
Are You Hiring? Advertising Tips to Attract the Best Talent – Whether your business has grown so you need to hire a key professional or you’re replacing person, here are advertising-recruitment tips.
Check Your Motives before Hiring Sales Employees – 11 Tips – With many companies desperately in the hunt for sales, surprisingly, their predicaments are self-imposed. Why? They hire the wrong sales employees. Here’s how to recruit the best sales employees.
Hiring a Personal Assistant? Hire for 8 Qualities – The right choice of a personal assistant can make a huge difference in your operation. Basically, you need someone who can manage you – represent you well in a variety of tasks – an assistant who can make you look good.
“Although most executives pay lip service to the idea of hiring for cultural fit, few have the courage or discipline to make it the primary criteria for bringing someone into the company.”
-Patrick Lencioni
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