KeenHire Blog by Margaret Graziano

Choosing Your Talent Wisely-Save Money By Doing Your Homework

SPECIFIC HOLISTIC HIRING TECHNIQUES THAT SAVE MONEY.

With a tree top look at your company and a foundation in place to grow from, it’s time to look at each role on a tree trunk level. Focus on the needs of the business and how each

role in the company is attached to the key performance indicators of the company as a whole. When you are clear on the performance objectives for each role in the company and how those affect the big picture of service, sales, retention, and profitability, it is much easier to determine who the best person is for these roles.

To help you get started, here are some specific holistic hiring techniques:

1) Hire right the first time:

• Thoroughly define each role in your company.

• Define specific success outcomes that are expected in the role.

• Isolate the CAN DO (Intellectual Quotient).

• Isolate the WILL DO (Emotional Quotient).

• Isolate the FIT IN (Character Quotient)

2) Follow the hiring protocol:

• Train each hiring manager on the CPR for their positions.

• Conduct a preplanned behavioral-based telephone screening.

• Employ a cursory pre-interview assessment.

•Hiring managers interview following an established position specific interviewing guide.

•Hiring decisions are made according to the predetermined hiring matrix.

3) Set up an effective ramp-up process that validates your hiring choice out of the gate:

• Socialization – on-boarding.

• Manager – new employee meeting.

• Game Plan – expectations, communications, work style.

With established hiring procedures adhered to consistently, your company will jump over and pass dangerous hiring traps, turn the tables on the mishaps of poor hiring and reap the benefits that come with having the right people in the right roles.

Choosing Your Talent Wisely With An Internal Hiring Process

WHAT IS AN INTERNAL HIRING PROCESS AND HOW DO WE CREATE ONE?
If you hire someone you don’t really know, for a position you have not thoroughly defined – chances are neither the person, nor the position will deliver. Hiring the right people right from the start requires  implementation of a comprehensive internal hiring process that selects the best and eliminates the rest.

Importantly, it all starts with benchmarking. Whether benchmarking the role, the top performers in that role, or benchmarking key traits of the best performers in the company as a whole, the first step is creating the model of what right looks like. Companies that take the time and effort to do so fully understand not only who they need, but why they need them. These are the companies that excel in the employee selection process and the capacity to build a “dream team.”

WHAT RIGHT LOOKS LIKE.
Before you evaluate your immediate needs, evaluate the company and team. This is called
the Internal Human Capital Inventory & Assessment and involves:

Choosing Your Talent Wisely The First Time

What does it take to Build the right team?

Have you ever thought you hired the workplace version of John Wayne, only to find out you’ve been duped and ended up with a Woody Allen?
 
Poor hiring decisions are costly mistakes that can range from 150 percent to 300 percent of an employee’s base salary.

Financial losses include expenses associated with hiring and training, low employee morale and decreased productivity. Plus, poor hiring choices frequently lead to deteriorating client relationships, loss of new business, unemployment, and more.

The bottom line is that bad hiring decisions can make or break a business.

You may have asked yourself the question, "Why did I make such a big hiring mistake?" You may also have asked yourself, "How can I avoid having this happen again?"

The two most common hiring traps are hiring in a hurry and hiring the resume rather than the person.  Companies that don’t have succession plans in place or that fail to practice cross-training often rush to relieve the pain of the empty chair. Businesses that ignore the hiring process in the interest of expediting it are far more susceptible to missing important clues that could otherwise prevent a poor hiring decision.

For example, studies on the behaviors of job applicants report that more than 65% of all candidates do not prepare their own resumes. Even more unsettling for prospective employers are the findings that more than 45% misrepresent the credentials on their resumes with one or more “tall tales.”