One of the most important aspects of building a strong team and even stronger company culture is hiring smart for your business. Above all, business owners are faced with balancing technical and financial needs when it comes to the hiring process. On the other hand, you cannot tell everything about a person from an application and an interview. This is why I have a few tricks that can be useful to you when it comes to hiring smart for your business.
Create a Picture of What You’re Looking For
The first step is to sit down and evaluate what you’re looking for in a candidate. What roles will this person be taking on? What skills are required for the position? How much experience does someone need to take on the job? Asking yourself these questions about future and existing roles throughout the business will give you an idea of what you’re missing, as well as what you are looking for in a potential new hire.
It is critical to go further beyond the technical needs and abilities you are seeking to fill the role— evaluate your business’ culture. What kind of person fits in with your business? Who will this new person be working with? What type of personality traits, values, etc. does this new person need to have to balance with your current staff? Knowing what you want before starting the hiring process can save you from not asking the right questions when interviewing.
Involve Your Current Employees
Secondly, involve current employees in the hiring process. By having current employees help with the hiring process, they may be able to offer insights into the job you may be unaware of needing to exemplify in the interview. There are a variety of strategies that your business can implement to ensure employees are more involved in the hiring process.
For instance, panels and small groups of employees can be extremely successful when interviewing a new candidate. Depending on the business, these panels can include department heads, a combination of department heads and lower-level employees, or a group of selected staff for smaller companies. Above all, the key here is to ensure each member of the interview panel is chosen strategically. Meaning each member of the interview panel should have some level of understanding about the position and, ideally, will work with or over the interviewee if hired.
Another option is a group presentation interview setup. The interviewee makes a group presentation to other employees/department heads. These interviews can show how an interviewee would prepare, how they communicate, and other skills that aren’t visible in the traditional interview style. This interview-style could be most effective for positions in which the potential new hire will perform group presentations regularly.
Don’t Rush, Hire Smart!
Lastly, and one of the most important things to keep in mind when hiring smart, is to not rush the process. Every business goes through periods where they need to quickly hire one or more people to reactively fill positions. However if hiring decisions are rushed you increase the likelihood of training someone who is not a right fit. Without a doubt leaving you in a position to deal with a higher risk of turnover. In which you will have to restart the hiring process all over again to refill the position. Along with a variety of other different consequences that come with rushing the hiring process.
We’re Here to Help
The professionals at Dodson Legal Group are here to help you with your business needs. Request your free consultation with one of our attorneys today.