The Ten Best Practices for Hiring Top Performers – August 2011
By Spiro Steriotis
THE CRUEL IRONIES OF HIRING
Most executives dread the hiring process.
“It was difficult to make time for it,” said one Hotel General Manager.
“The interviewing process was cumbersome and in the end I still felt as if I was making a huge gamble as to whether the candidates were any good.”
One of the cruel ironies of hiring employees is that the grind of your daily responsibilities often keeps staffing from being a priority until you are already short staffed. Unfortunately, rushing the hiring process creates even more time-consuming management problems. Furthermore, in your desperation to fill an empty desk, you may hire the wrong person and cost your firm even more productivity.
In my 20 years of experience working as a Hotel Manager and Search Consultant, I have found that following these 10 steps will significantly improve your hiring results.
STEP 1: PLAN YOUR HIRING
If your organization is growing, you are also outgrowing some of your staff. Plan for some turnover. Ideally you are planning at least six months ahead, but even if you are surprised by a sudden opening, you can still establish a schedule for hiring. Lay out a timetable for each step of the hiring process and stick to it. The best candidates are attracted to an organized and methodical hiring schedule and repelled by a chaotic one.
STEP 2: DEFINE WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
Stop and think about what success looks like in the job. One year from today what specific, measurable accomplishments do you want this person to have? Write it down, put it in your advertising, and talk about it in the interview. Good people want to make a difference and want to know what is expected of them. The more specific your goals, the more attractive your job will be to the right candidate - and the more it will scare away people who don’t want to work that hard!
STEP 3: START FRESH EACH TIME
When a good person vacates a position, don’t try to hire someone just like them. Design work teams to have people with diverse and complementary backgrounds, skills and abilities. List the skills and attributes that would make the team stronger. Identify patterns of behavior that would help someone achieve the critical goals of this position. List what would be rewarding about this job, and what kind of person would thrive in it - then look for that person. Never recruit a new person using an old job description.
STEP 4: TELL IT LIKE IT IS
Employers earn respect by openly sharing both good and bad information about the job right up front. It is perfectly acceptable to share a job’s salary range with candidates prior to the first interview. Don’t wait until the end of the second interview to share bad news like a low salary or long hours. The right candidate will rise to the challenge, and others will drop out before consuming valuable interviewing time.
STEP 5: GET TEAM INPUT
The wisest decisions include diverse input, so include the team. If the work team helps to select a candidate, they will be more committed to helping that person succeed. Different people observe different things in an interview. Hiring managers often find that they have a much better ability to evaluate the candidate’s responses when they are not leading the interview.
STEP 6: LISTEN FIRST, TALK SECOND
Have someone screen everyone by phone prior to the first interview to be sure that the work hours, location and salary are acceptable. Explain that the first interview is primarily to learn about the candidates, while the second is for them to learn about the organization. Avoid giving a tour of the facility to anyone except a finalist. The best way to find time to spend with the finalist is to limit time spent with the other candidates throughout the process.
STEP 7: FOCUS ON THE DESIRED ATTRIBUTES AND COMPETENCIES
Don’t be misled by a candidate’s enthusiasm and commitment to the organization. Excitement about the business is wonderful, but not enough to ensure success on the job. The role must also be a good match for the candidate’s attributes and skills. Determine whether the job duties will be rewarding, or a constant struggle.
People are far easier to manage when their job matches their innate abilities. Never hire an enthusiastic candidate who is not a match for the job - they will consume inordinate management attention without delivering significant results.
STEP 8: GIVE YOURSELF A CHOICE
Never hire from a field of one. Be sure to have at least two or three good finalists. You must think much harder about what you want when you choose between several qualified candidates. When there is only one qualified candidate, and the only question is to hire or not, the pressure to lower your standards is almost irresistible and often a mistake.
STEP 9: REVIEW PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Top performers want accomplishment at work. Put performance expectations in writing and discuss key performance measures in the interview, and again when the offer is extended. Review expectations at regular intervals for the first three months. Resist the temptation to put off potentially difficult conversations for later.
STEP 10: FOLLOW UP AFTER THE INTERVIEW
1. Check references carefully before extending an offer.
2. Be prepared for the new employee’s first day. Order their business cards in advance. Be sure they arrive to a clean desk, a working computer and working phone.
Demonstrate that this is a long-term investment for the organization and not just a quick fix.
3. Check in with the new hire regularly and ask the candidate how the job differs from their expectations. This non-judgmental approach gives you the opportunity to correct misperceptions and deal with issues while they are small.
CONCLUSION
Making good hiring decisions is both a science and an art.