The Art of Hiring Smart: Costly Mistake #3
One of my clients had been in dire need of cleaning house with the few employees she had in place. What the client really needed was a new hire geared to managing day to day operations in the office. Hiring this person would enable my client to focus on her strengths which are geared to business development.
In talking through the "performance indicators" for this new hire, my client mentioned she knew someone who might be perfect for the job. I suggested we meet her together and I would conduct an interview to sense if there was a fit. In this instance, we were not using any formal assessment or pre-hiring tool.
As it turns out, we did interview this candidate. And while she does offer talents that the client could put to use, it would definitely not be for the operations manager position. How did I know? And what did I share with the client?
Bottom line was, based on my experience interviewing with and without an assessment tool, I was interviewing with one goal in mind. Find out what this person has a proven history of accomplishing and see if the skill set needed to be successful would apply to the job for which we were hiring, operation manager.
Truth was, this candidate is a very successful sales person. But not the type of person who could perform well in the role of operations manager.
So what's the message here? First, clearly define what you need your new hire to do. Define the job in terms of what you expect the employee to do, achieve, and perform. You need to define the job so well that you can indicate to your employee clearly that they are doing the job well and meeting their goals. Measurable results. I prefer to use pre-hiring assessments if the budget allows. It's like having an x-ray to work with. If you don't use an assessment get the employee to tell you in detail what specifically they have accomplished in past jobs. Get detailed. Drill down. Have the employee substantiate what they are telling you. Just in case they are blowing smoke. Follow up and verify what you can.
Last but not least, be discriminate. Don't compromise your values when it comes to hiring new employees. Approach the process with discipline and try to avoid hiring people who can't do what you need them to do.
Cliff Jones
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