Are You on a Hiring Treadmill?

We don’t always make the best hires…

If you are like me, there will be some hiring decisions you have regretted. You may have hired someone whose technical skills were a bit “suspect” but you had been interviewing for months and hadn’t found the right person. Or you hired someone who interviewed well but didn’t play well with others… Or you hired someone who just wasn’t a fit to the culture. Yes, it can happen to us all!

In the USA unemployment is running at 4.3% (US Dept. of Labor). In Maine it’s 3%. For some jobs like Direct Service Providers, where the pay is low and the work is difficult, turnover nationally runs at 45%.

The hiring treadmill…

For many employers, it can seem like they are on a Hiring Treadmill. Always hiring to fill open positions and knowing that trend is likely to continue. And they may end up taking people who are not a perfect match, hoping it will all work out.

What can an organization do to attract potential employees in a tight labor market to ensure they get people with the right technical skills, the right people skills, and who will be the right “fit” to the organization and culture? Without all three there will be trouble ahead…

Some things to consider in hiring:

• Be really clear about what you need: the technical skills and the people skills
• Be really clear about the kind of person you need, to fit your organization’s culture.
• Develop good interviewing skills, good interview questions and a good interview process
• Do the right background and reference checks
• Give the candidate enough information about the job, company and culture. Make it attractive, but don’t stretch the truth! That may lead to dissatisfaction when the candidate comes on board.
• Consider having team members join in the interview to ensure the right fit.
• Avoid any questions that will get you in trouble.
• Consider partnering with a hiring agency to do some of the work