How to – Hire Well Your company needs to hire employees. Assuming that managers know how to hire because they have been hired however can leave your organization at great risk. If you have ever made a bad hiring decision, or have worked with the results of someone else’s bad hiring decision, then you know how valuable good interviewing and selection skills are. These key skills, which have long term ramifications, legal, financial, and morale consequences and strategic implications can be overlooked when looking at an employee’s development.

Practice makes perfect -- but no one is aiming for perfection
Children would rather play in a game then practice skill drills and our increase in age does not remove our desire for instant competence. Few of us like to practice but many like to perform. You can tell the difference between someone who has practiced and someone who has not (excluding those with God-given natural talent), and practice tips the scales in their favor.

Although employees may groan when asked to learn, re-learn, update and practice their interviewing skills, studies continue to indicate that well-trained interviewers reduce turnover and legal exposure and increase the ability to attract, employ and retain good employees as well as productivity. The opportunity to practice the art of selection interviewing allows participants to create a strategic approach to the hiring process. Integral to this process is the improvement in the manager’s confidence in his or her ability to select the most qualified applicants by: developing their awareness of the internal mechanisms that facilitate the employment procedure; understanding the laws and regulations that effect the interview process; and obtaining their buy-in to the value of basic interviewing skills that create a solid foundation from both an organizational perspective and a personal one.

“Do as I say” .... but what do you DO?
While these issues are implemented with a strategic focus, it is increasingly evident that in order to optimize a maximum return of trained employees, there needs to be a commitment at the senior level of the organization to demonstrate as well as expect these practices to be followed by the rest of the organization. That means not simply demonstrate the ability to increase the percentage of good hires and decrease turnover, but also modeling the willingness to practice, update their skills and attend training programs.

The things interviewers do not seem to take the time to practice (but should) include:
• Review and possible revision of the job description and requirements
• Compare position needs with evidence of skills
• Obtain samples of the candidates work
• Check references thoroughly
• Confirm resume claims and dates
• Create interview questions that illuminate areas of strength and probe areas of weakness
• Ask legal and job-related questions
• Attention to the public relations aspect of an interview

An interview is a conversation with three purposes:
• Gather Information
• Persuasively Give Information
• Public Relations

The marketplace and the workforce are changing and so must the techniques to bring in and keep qualified employees. Both internal candidates and external applicants may want the open position a manager is trying to fill. The challenge is to know exactly what you are looking for, who is available, and how to sell the position and your company to them.

The Old Way Isn’t Good Enough
Traditional trial and error of staff selection is no longer effective. Rather than viewing employee selection as a monumental task, the integration of effective hiring strategies into everyday duties is the only alternative for organizations that want to excel in the future

All of your employees who are charged with the responsibility of interviewing candidates should participate in training programs that prepare them for a strategic hiring focus. They should –
• Always be on the lookout for talent and enthusiasm
• Have a clear knowledge of the positions that are under their authority, and
• Work to create the image that will attract and retain applicants.

Superior interviewing skills sharpen the ability to identify, hire and promote the best in every field. If you suspect that there is room for improvement in interviewing and hiring skills in your organization, or that the employees who have the responsibility for interviewing are not getting the practice or feedback they need, pay better attention to the training and preparation they receive. Your goal should be to support them in making better judgments about whom to hire and promote, obtain information about the job and the candidate that are critical to making good hiring decisions, and get educated on employment laws and recent changes in the law.

Labels: employment, hiring, interview

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