What goes through your mind when you think about hiring someone?
Chances are, they are not words suitable for print!
This is understandable because selecting a candidate for hire involves risk and levels of the unknown.  The point at which you select your finalist can also come at the end of a long process, and you may have been burned along the way.  All of this adds up to hiring managers and HR professionals alike often shaking their heads at the mention of hiring.
The good news is that there are distinct strategies you can employ in order to improve your hiring outcomes and make that process less painful.
Get more specific about what you need.  This is not the glamorous part of the process, but it’s the most important part because it’s the foundation for all of your interviewing and other screening activities.  Go beyond generic statements like, “Works well with others,” and determine what that really represents.  Does it mean someone who is eager to please?  Someone who communicates politely?  Someone who challenges others in a kind way?  You have to know the specifics of what is necessary in order to explore with candidates whether they have what it takes.
One way to organize thinking about what is necessary for success in the role is to look at these categories:
–Specific technical skills & knowledge
–Specific behaviors tied to the role
–Specific behaviors that reflect your company brand and culture
–Time, work location, and travel requirements
Are you asking, “Where is education?” Well, requiring a certain degree is often an umbrella statement for requiring specific skills and knowledge.  Often this umbrella is not accurate, however, hence the counsel to get specific about the skills and knowledge needed.  Maybe a degree guarantees those, and maybe not.
Specifically screen for what you need.  Of course, this includes conducting interviews, but you can also use assessments and other tools to maximize your interview time.  Many of my clients follow a process such as this.
If the information in a resume or application looks good, the candidate is sent a questionnaire with a few basic questions about why they’re looking, what they are seeking, and skills. At the same time as the questionnaire, or once that is returned, the candidate is asked to take assessments.  I recommend no more than two: one personality and one skills (if there are distinct technical skills required).  The professionals at PAN (Performance Assessment Network) offer one-stop shopping for assessments of all kinds, including Gordon Personality Profile and Hogan (two of my favorites), and many skills/knowledge assessments ranging from advanced accounting to typing to problem-solving.  PAN rigorously evaluates all assessments it offers, so you have confidence that what you get through them is reliable, valid, and not in violation of EEOC rules. Next comes a series of interviews.  Before the first interview is an ideal time to provide the full job-description, if that has not been provided previously.
The phone interview (app. 30 minutes) may be done by the person administrating the search or the hiring manager.  The focus of this is to learn more about what the person is wanting, the communication and professionalism, and basic information about their knowledge and skills.
The technical interview is done in-person by the hiring manager, and maybe one other person who knows the job well.  The focus is on evaluating whether the candidate has the technical skills/knowledge (or the potential to learn).
The final interview involves the hiring manager and someone more senior (possibly the company owner).  The focus is to check for consistency and authenticity (i.e., the candidate seems the same as they did previously), and to confirm that the candidate will likely represent the company as desired and work well with their team. An informal group interview (even over lunch) may be done with team members as well during this visit.
Then there are the background and reference checks.  I highly recommend Barada & Associates for the background check because of their specialized knowledge about these (including the ever-changing laws), their mix of computer-based and person-based research, and the online management of forms and information exchange.
Finally, the offer is extended. I recommend a simple verbal offer followed by a written offer that requires the candidate’s acknowledgement.
Reflect and adjust. When you start your search, it’s great to have a very long list of all of the necessary characteristics of your ideal candidate, which is what you defined in step 1 above.  However, there may come a point when you have to acknowledge reality if you are having a hard time connecting with strong candidates.  At this point, it is wise to look at the situation to evaluate what might be happening.
–Are you promoting the position where it is reasonable to connect with your top candidates?
–Is there simply a very small pool of candidates for this position?
–Are you turning off candidates in any way?  The most common deterrent for candidates is confidential postings.
–Conveying unrealistic or overly burdensome expectations also turns away candidates, as do poor compensation and a poor reputation as an employer. (Are you being trashed on Glassdoor?)
–Do you have unreasonable expectations?  Are you dismissing too many candidates too early in your process?
–Are there environmental factors (e.g., holiday periods, low unemployment, year-end bonus anticipation) that are holding back candidates?
Examining the points above can lead you to some ideas for change.  Here are some other questions to ask that might yield to modifications in your search.
–Where else can you promote the opportunity?  Are there past candidates we can call up?  Is it time for a recruiter?
–Would we have more viable candidates if we altered the working conditions?
–Would we have more viable candidates if we altered the compensation?
–What could we train someone on rather than expect them to bring on Day 1? (Hint: You can’t really train people to be learners, hard workers or basically nice people, so when you find those folks who want to work for you, give strong consideration to training them on missing hard skills.)
Less can be more.  Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you have to have piles of resumes in order to make a good hire.  In fact, there is a sweet spot in terms of promoting the position specifically enough and in a targeted fashion so that you connect with the right candidate, but you are not wasting time and money by connecting with many unqualified candidates.  When you find someone great, move!  Try to have no more than 1 week in between touch points with a candidate.  Nowhere is it mandated that you must interview all candidates in waves; just make sure you apply the same process and screening to all candidates at the same points in the process.
Over and over I see clients have significantly better hiring outcomes by following these guidelines.  Most dramatically, a client went from having approximately 50% first-year turnover to 8%.  I hope these ideas make your next search one of you best.
Guest Author-Dana Harrison of Synergy Consulting Services
www.synergycs.net