If you’re a small business owner and you’ve been relying on gut instinct to hire, you may be having less-than-stellar results. Because people aren’t always who they seem, hiring the right candidates for your business takes more thought and effort than many business owners think they have time for. But taking a longer (and deeper) view of the hiring process is a strategy that will always pay off.
Instead of relying on impressions and hiring off the cuff, you’re likely to get better results by building and using a hiring toolkit. It needs to be built around a methodical process for gathering data that includes resumes, structured interviews with focused questions, ability tests, and reference checking. Don’t worry – your instincts are still important. But tempering your hiring instincts with a rich mix of factual information will ensure that you’re avoiding hiring mistakes and hiring the best job candidates.
The secret of making better hires, according to forbes.com, could lie in the fact that you may be overlooking the obvious, or the single most reliable thing that makes a good hire. Leadership ability? Being a team player? A willingness to work long hours? A friendly, sparkling personality…and on and on?
None of the above. Instead you should be looking for integrity and character. Because without them, nothing else matters.
Proponents of this line of thinking, then, say that hiring should be values based. And when it is, they say, you’ll hire people who turn in better performances, collaborate more effectively with their peers and tend to be more loyal and stay in the job longer. This, in turn, improves team morale, across the board, and contributes in a big way to a more stable, harmonious culture.
Admittedly, it’s easier said than done. We’re all human, and as in other areas of our lives, emotions sometimes get in the way when we’re in the midst of the hiring process. Who hasn’t felt the equivalent of “love at first sight” with a candidate who instantly looks like perfection? It’s easy to get attached, but letting your gut or emotions lead negates a fact-based approach and could lead to a hiring mistake. And then your decisions are being guided by factors that have little to do with the candidate’s qualifications and won’t hold up in the long run.
A few examples:
- You’re used to being (and expect to be) right.
- You’re feeling desperate, especially if short-handed.
- As your workload increases, you may be more impulsive and impatient, and your listening skills could be slipping.
But you’ve also got the ability to recognize these signs, override your emotions and put your thinking (and hiring) back on a more rational track:
- Acknowledge that you don’t know everything! Include others in interviewing and decision-making.
- Take the time to build a well-rounded, methodical hiring process that includes specific steps.
- If your need for additional staff is urgent and you feel like any warm body is better than none, STOP! Remember the short- and long-term consequences of reactionary hiring. Then get busy with step 1 in your established hiring process.
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