How to keep hiring disasters in check

Be it a startup or a multinational corporation, hiring is a dreaded challenge that all entrepreneurs, managers and leaders face. Every single time there is a hiring requirement, the whole team is praying that the new hire fits in, does good work and is easy to deal with. Read on to find out what can be done to avoid all these disasters.

What makes hiring go wrong? Is it the employer’s chock-a-block routine that leaves them without time to be objective and insightful in an interview? Is it lack of foresight? Could poor hiring result from a poor choice of questions asked by the employer? Or is it really a matter of luck, coupled with the glitzy pay package on offer?

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Hiring the wrong employee can be symbolic of many things lacking in the employer’s sense of judgment and evaluation. Most employers are naïve enough to think that a good package is enough to bring the best out of an employee. Others – a handful few who understand that employees are the pillars on which stands the credibility of their company – take hiring as seriously as they take themselves.

So, is there a formula to keep hiring disasters at bay? Is it applicable to all? If there’s one, why do even the best employers fail sometimes? The answers to these queries can shape the future of hiring, and the future of business itself.

Communicate your culture. Thoroughly, clearly and simply

Among other things, poor hiring is often a skillful employee caught in the wrong job. The employee gives the impression of being articulate, good and promising, but in being offered a designation their nature and faculties are not best suited for, these otherwise promising employees end up becoming a roadblock in the journey of their company.

The best way to avert this disaster, forever, is to make clear your company’s intentions via your mission and vision statements. Most of today’s employers and entrepreneurs take these statements a tad too lightly. They use them as space fillers on their websites. You may have noticed how a lot of these statements are but poor replicas of each other, making it very difficult for a serious employee to find the right company for himself.

However, if you have worked hard to arrive at a working culture you aspire to achieve, you will certainly have something different to say. In order to define your uniqueness, you must first be unique. Once you’ve made your intention clear, whether via advertising or website communication, rest assured that the right employee will find their way to your door.

Say what you need to say

It’s clear that many job seekers are looking for jobs online. It’s of utmost importance, therefore, to make your website the perfect place for them to find you, and vice-versa. Apart from keeping the ‘careers’ page of your website interesting, ensure that the page carrying the job descriptions is written with simplicity and clarity.

Ambiguity and verbose descriptions will only work towards sending out vague ideas about your expectations. As per Inc.com, “The expectations, qualifications, responsibilities, and scope of the position should be laid out clearly. This should not be a wish list, but an itemization of the specific skills, certifications, and experience required to be successful in the position. If particular skill sets are required―especially with technology and coding skills―make sure a particular skill-set is listed.”

The right employee could be the right question away

According to an article on Inc.com, “Your website's "careers" page is the perfect place to present your company at its best and provide clear messages about the kind of people needed.” The article cites the example of the Oracle Careers Homepage, which in order to separate the grain from the chaff, asks every job-seeker, "You want to change the world, don't you?" This is a huge question, and can be answered effectively only by a serious job seeker. The ones who came in hoping to find a fat paycheck and a brand name to go on their CV will be sourly disappointed, and (usually) refrain from making their frivolity public.

If you do want to go the question-way on your careers page, ensure that the questions asked reflect the culture of your company. If you post a question just because it sounds big but has nothing to do with your company, you’ll only appear pretentious, and lose your chance at attracting the right employee.

You are always one step away from hiring the right employee, or the wrong one. If you take hiring carelessly and treat it as a necessary evil to help you bring in the big monies, your attitude will be reciprocated in no time. Therefore, in order to save yourself the humiliation of making the wrong hire due to lack of insight or time on your part, start out by investing some time and effort in the hiring the right HR personnel. Once you’ve found yourself the HR team of your dreams, you can go back to realizing your goals without worrying too much about the new hires.

Read Also: 3 changes that will immediately improve your hiring process