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The Helm Report: Tools, Tips, &
Techniques for avoiding hiring mistakes and developing
people
Published on the second Thursday of each
month
Barbara Otto, Editor (mail to mailto:botto@helmtest.com
Visit us online at http://www.helmtest.com/
Word count for this issue – 1,099
Approximate time to read = 5
minutes
HOW
TO AVOID THE MOST COSTLY HIRING MISTAKES, PART 2
Last month, we talked about the cost and, more importantly,
the cure for hiring the wrong person for the job. This month, I promised
to talk about the second costly hiring mistake: not hiring the
right person, the person with the potential to be a
great performer.
The
Cost Of Not Hiring Mr. or Ms. Right
We all know that it is expensive to miss out on hiring the
right people.
There’s a lot of discussion, and some disagreement, about just
exactly what those costs are, but we can probably all agree
that both direct and indirect costs add up to more than we
care to think about. This article is not
about how to calculate those costs, however; it is about how
to avoid incurring them in the first place. And a big part of not
incurring hiring costs is to hire the right person for the
job in the first place.
Who
Is Mr. or Ms. Right?
I asked you last month to make a mental list of your
employees, rank ordered from the best one at the top of the
list to the worst employee at the bottom – the employee whom
you may regret having hired, who uses a disproportionate
amount of supervisory time for example. This month, we’re
going to talk about how to increase the odds that you
recognize and hire more people like the ones at the top of
your list – the people with the potential to be exceptional
employees.
Let’s be very clear about who we’re talking about: people with the
potential to be exceptional employees are the ones who will
make a difference for your company. Not only will they do
a good job – they’ll do an exceptional job! These people may be
specialized in one area (a person who has a unique or
hard-to-find talent or skill that you need) or they may be
generalists (individuals who have the whole package – job
knowledge, skills, experience, and ability – in such abundance
that he or she will quickly move to a leadership
position.) Either
way, these are the employees who make exceptional
contributions to the bottom line. Of course, it isn’t
realistic, or even desirable, to expect to hire only
exceptional performers, but you don’t want to miss them when
you have the opportunity to add them to your company.
What Makes It Hard To Hire These
People?
There are a few difficulties associated with identifying and
hiring candidates with exceptional potential. Some of these
difficulties are the same ones that you encounter in every
selection process, and some are unique to outstanding
applicants. Let’s
look at the most common ones:
- Difficulty
#1: An Inconsistent Selection Process - Your selection
process may not be as standardized as it should be, making
it difficult for you to identify exceptional applicants;
- Difficulty
#2: Misleading First Impressions - Exceptional applicants
sometimes present themselves in ways that mask their
potentially strong assets;
- Difficulty
#3: Applying For The Wrong Position – Some applicants
haven’t yet found what they were cut out to do.
It’s not
enough, of course, just to identify the difficulties. You need to take steps
to minimize their effect on your ability to recognize and hire
exceptional employees.
To Deal With Difficulty #1: Standardize The
Selection Process
There are several things you can do in your selection process
to make sure that applicants with exceptional potential do not
get passed by.
First and foremost, set up a standardized selection process
that consists of standard hiring practices, such as written
job descriptions, multi-stage interview process, psychological
and drug testing, and consultative decision-making. This
step-wise selection process should be followed for each and
every applicant.
Be aware that
interpersonal chemistry may sometimes not be good between an
interviewer and an applicant, but it may be that the applicant
will never again interact with that interviewer. Interviews with more
than one person mitigate the effects of bad interpersonal
chemistry. Make
sure, as well, that at least one interviewer works in the area
that the applicant is applying to. Have everyone who
interviews the candidate make a list of positive impressions
and concerns, and then compare the lists; look especially at
common concerns, and compare them to the written job
requirements.
To Deal With Difficulty #2: Look Beyond First
Impressions
There are applicants who sometimes get in their own way and
make it more difficult than they intend for you to see their
potential. They
may have a resume with a typo or a format that you
particularly don’t like, or they may appear to be out of synch
with your company’s customary dress standards. Look past those first
impressions and review the requirements of the position you
want to fill.
Focus on the job requirements that are most important, and
evaluate the applicant’s knowledge, skills, and abilities in
those terms. Will
the interview behavior, appearance, or attitude that is a bit
off-putting actually get in the way of doing the job? If so, talk about your
concern with the applicant; he or she may not be aware of the
problem. If not,
look past it and look instead at whether this applicant has
other attributes that compensate.
To Deal With Difficulty #3: Consider Other
Positions
Be flexible when you see a person with strong potential to be
an exceptional employee, but who may be applying for a job
that will not require or use that potential. Perhaps this person
doesn’t know enough about his or her own potential or about
your company to understand the contribution he or she could
make in a different capacity.
The
Bottom Line
People with the potential to make an exceptional contribution
don’t come along every day, so you have to be ready for them
when they do.
Avoid the traps we talked about last month that are all too
easy to fall into (the pressure to fill a job, and the halo
effect) to avoid hiring the wrong people, and use a
well-thought-out selection procedure, the ability to look
beyond first impressions, and flexibility to recognize
potentially great employees when they appear!
Remember,
the only bad news is that exceptional people are rare. The good news is you
don’t need very many to make a huge difference; one or two may
be as many as you need. Exceptional people are
like the spices that make a good stew, but without the meat,
potatoes, and vegetables there is no stew. It is the balance
between a few exceptional people and a broad base of solid
performers that is most desirable.
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