International talent management experts estimate that the average cost of a poor hiring decision is 30% or more of that hire’s first year’s probable earnings, reports PI Worldwide.
That could result in costs upwards of $50,000 if you’re replacing a senior executive, adds the firm. Factor in productivity loss and lost opportunities, morale implications, turnover and recruiting costs and the price tag starts to skyrocket.
Here are some tips to avoid common mistakes that can lead to a bad hire.
1. Define the requirements of the role. Different stakeholders often have varying perspectives on what this means. So organizations should objectively align all stakeholders on activities that are most important for success in a given role. Having an agreed-upon job target sets the foundation for a successful hiring strategy.
2. Write an accurate job description. Hiring managers often make the mistake of focusing more on activities and tactical goals than on detailing all of the knowledge, skills and abilities that an employee will need to be successful. A well-rounded job description provides clarity around the needs of the job for both the internal team and external job seekers.
3. Define what makes a strong candidate. When analyzing the results of the recruitment effort, managers will, in many cases, identify several candidates who meet the minimum requirements of the job but will ultimately be a poor fit. To avoid this scenario, consider behavioural tendencies and attitudes in defining what makes a strong candidate and compare applicant profiles against the job target to determine compatibility.
4. Conduct better interviews. When hiring managers lack the training or practice opportunities to conduct effective interviews, they often resort to generic interview questions that don’t evaluate the candidate in the areas that matter most. Using assessment data to inform the interviewing process can help all members of an interviewing team develop structured behavioural interview questions to determine job and culture fit with greater accuracy.
5. Align the job offer with the candidate’s motivating needs. In today’s hypercompetitive market for top talent, organizations that do not align an offer with the behavioural profile of the person risk losing a strong candidate.
6. Customize an onboarding plan. Once the hiring process has culminated in a great new hire, managers must embark on getting that individual embedded in the culture and productive as quickly as possible. A common misstep is when managers don’t continue to leverage the data and insight collected thus far to customize the new employee’s onboarding plan and learning objectives. This unnecessarily puts the employee’s success potential and job satisfaction at risk.
This story originally appeared on our sister site, Advisor.ca.
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