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Finding The Best People
Did you ever hire an employee who didn’t work out? If you answered No, you are either a very skilled or very lucky manager. And you are part of a very small group. Almost everyone finds that staffing successfully is time consuming, risky and expensive.
This is important. Hiring, motivating and retaining good people is what Human Resources is all about – all HR functions, in one way or another, serve to provide staff who will help the organization succeed.
If the process is not a success, the shiny new candidate leaves prematurely or is a disaster and has to be fired – you are back to square one and you have wasted a lot of time and money.
Staffing can be less onerous, and success more likely, by following a simple formula.
Interview Effectively
Interviewing skills are learned – no one is a born interviewer. At least, read a book on interviewing. Better yet, get the help and advice of someone who has interviewing skills
The core skill is to listen. A classic interviewer mistake is to talk too much. Your job is listen and observe.
A second person should also interview the candidate. An HR specialist can help, but at least use someone who can interview effectively and provide you with a significant opinion.
Reference Checking
This is crucial. Ask the candidate to provide at least three reference names. At least two should be former bosses, and none should be relatives or non-business contacts. Checking reference requires many of the same skills as interviewing. Look for evidence that the candidate will fit into your organization. What was the candidate’s style of doing business with colleagues, clients, senior management?
As in interviewing – your job is to listen.
Psychological Testing
There are a variety of online psychological profile services that are inexpensive and very effective. These reports are surprisingly accurate and usually insightful. They should confirm the information and feeling learned from the interviews and reference checks.
Ideally, all three sources of information will tell the same story – if not, head for cover, and look again.
Planning and a professional approach to hiring will save time and money for your organization – and stress and headaches for you.
This post is a synopsis of a longer article that you can see at
Finding The Best People
Did you ever hire an employee who didn’t work out? If you answered No, you are either a very skilled or very lucky manager. And you are part of a very small group. Almost everyone finds that staffing successfully is time consuming, risky and expensive.
This is important. Hiring, motivating and retaining good people is what Human Resources is all about – all HR functions, in one way or another, serve to provide staff who will help the organization succeed.
If the process is not a success, the shiny new candidate leaves prematurely or is a disaster and has to be fired – you are back to square one and you have wasted a lot of time and money.
Staffing can be less onerous, and success more likely, by following a simple formula.
Interview Effectively
Interviewing skills are learned – no one is a born interviewer. At least, read a book on interviewing. Better yet, get the help and advice of someone who has interviewing skills
The core skill is to listen. A classic interviewer mistake is to talk too much. Your job is listen and observe.
A second person should also interview the candidate. An HR specialist can help, but at least use someone who can interview effectively and provide you with a significant opinion.
Reference Checking
This is crucial. Ask the candidate to provide at least three reference names. At least two should be former bosses, and none should be relatives or non-business contacts. Checking reference requires many of the same skills as interviewing. Look for evidence that the candidate will fit into your organization. What was the candidate’s style of doing business with colleagues, clients, senior management?
As in interviewing – your job is to listen.
Psychological Testing
There are a variety of online psychological profile services that are inexpensive and very effective. These reports are surprisingly accurate and usually insightful. They should confirm the information and feeling learned from the interviews and reference checks.
Ideally, all three sources of information will tell the same story – if not, head for cover, and look again.
Planning and a professional approach to hiring will save time and money for your organization – and stress and headaches for you.
This post is a synopsis of a longer article that you can see at
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