Finding the right candidate for the job is not an easy process. And for the best results, you ultimately want to ensure an all-around candidate fit. And by all-around fit, I mean a candidate’s fit with the role and pace of work, the company culture, the team and the hiring manager’s leadership style. Here are some things to think about to help make your hiring strategy more effective.
360 Company Review Believe it or not, not every company does this. Before you post the job and start the interviews, round up your own team and ask them what their expectations are for the new hire, in conjunction with their business goals and team needs. And at the same time, it never hurts to revisit your company’s overall business plan to think strategically about what employee additions are needed to align with and support company objectives to lead to success. New hires should not just be hired to complete tasks, but to further the growth of the entire organization and live the organization’s culture.
Define Success Goals You only want qualified candidates to apply for the job, so take your time when writing the job description. Instead of writing a standard job description focused on job responsibilities, consider writing a job description focused on goals and metrics that this person will hit if they are successful. Get your team’s input. And during the interview process, explain the job description clearly to every candidate so they know what they can expect and what will be expected of them. The number one reason I get from candidates as to why they are looking to leave their current job is because of lack of career growth. They have not been given any defined goals and ways to track their success.
Assessments
Using personality assessments as part of the hiring process has become common practice. Some of the more popular ones are Personality Index and DISC. Personality Index works well when compared to historical data or data about the team’s make up whereas something like DISC can be used as more of a standalone tool.
While more companies are hiring for personality and then training for skills, I always suggest using a skill set assessment (such as an excel or a writing assessment) along with the personality assessment to help get a more holistic understanding of the job candidate and their all-around fit. Also, I typically recommend conducting the assessments within a particular time frame (timed) and administering them later in the hiring process unless it is being used as part of an initial application screening.
Hiring Department Research has shown that hiring managers aren’t successful the majority of the time. I believe this has more to do with teams not having the proper tools and resources to search, find and hire the right people or the interest and drive to allocate the proper amount of time to this task. If this is the case in your company, think about providing your hiring team with training, reorganizing responsibilities, or looking to external resources. And when it comes time to interview a candidate, have multiple interviewers and decision-makers and give each one different areas to focus on during the interview.
Outreach Efforts Don’t wait for qualified candidates to come to you. With the job description and goals in hand, get the word out everywhere you can. This could be through targeted searching and outreach through your network or through proven hiring resources.
Missed Part I? Catch up here: Who is out there to hire?