Every organization, regardless of size, can benefit from a refresher on hiring practices. Even seasoned human resources professionals can gain valuable insights from a few reminders about optimal hiring strategies. Despite the number of people your organization has successfully hired, mistakes can still occur. Perhaps a manager rushed the hiring process to fill an urgent role. Or, a candidate seemed impressive because they were eager and articulate, yet they didn’t quite fit the requirements. Sometimes, a candidate is chosen quickly when a more thorough search could yield a better fit. And the cycle continues.
The accompanying infographic, Are You Making These 7 Hiring Mistakes, highlights the serious repercussions of hiring errors. Alarmingly, nearly three out of every four employees admit to hiring the wrong person for a position, a staggering statistic. When you consider the time invested in the job search and the financial repercussions of a poor hire, it adds up to a significant waste of resources.
A poor hire is more than just a financial issue. It negatively affects overall employee morale. Supervisors spend excessive time managing employees who can’t meet job standards; bad hires may struggle to get along with coworkers, and employees may lose faith in the hiring team’s competence. These bad hires often realize they are not a fit and leave voluntarily, or they are dismissed because they can’t perform their duties. Either way, you end up needing to start the hiring process again.
How can you refine your organization’s hiring process? Follow the infographic’s advice! Avoid skipping crucial steps in the hiring process. Hastily attempting to hire someone can result in overlooking necessary pre-employment vetting and background checks, possibly missing out on important red flags. They might be using generic job descriptions that fail to clearly outline the position and your company culture.
Errors can also arise during the interview stage. Asking “easy” questions or hiring someone simply because they have a personal rapport with the interviewer can lead to poor hiring decisions. While personality fit is important, it shouldn’t overshadow the candidate’s ability to perform the job effectively.
The critical takeaway from the infographic is that taking the time to hire correctly, even if it means delaying filling the position, is the best approach. The right candidate will appear at the right time, but not if you need to restart your search process. A little extra time spent in finding the best person prevents the excessive time and money lost in the future.
This infographic should be required reading for anyone in your organization involved in the hiring process, especially when working with a vetting company to ensure thorough checks.