Hire the Right Person—the First Time!
by Ken Keis, President and CEO of CRG International, Inc.
Hiring the right person the first time doesn’t happen by accident; it happens by design. Hiring the “wrong” people costs you money and time, not to mention the effects on team morale.

Research shows that the blame for staff turnover within the first year can be placed squarely on the shoulders of the business.

       Individuals who quit within six months were hired through an inadequate staff-selection process.
       Those who quit in six to nine months have had poor staff orientation or training.
Those who quit in nine to 12 months have experienced poor leadership and management.

Granted, there will always be exceptions.

Recently, a business owner mentioned to us that he was tired of the constant turnover—especially of new hires in the sales department. After some discussion, we found only one constant: the person who was screening, interviewing, and ultimately hiring everyone in the sales department.

If any business had an average of over 100 percent turnover of new recruits within the first six months, who would you hold responsible? It is then time to fire the person who’s doing the hiring; he obviously doesn’t know how to hire the right person the first time!

The cost of not addressing this critical issue is significant. Estimates suggest that the cost of hiring the wrong person ranges from six to 24 months’ salary and benefits. Is it worth it to improve your odds? You bet!

As long as we attribute our failure to retain staff to the market conditions—or falsely accept that it’s the norm to be unable to hire the right person the first time—these negative expectations will continue to affect staff stability and increase business costs. Long-term staff stability is based on your overall business leadership capabilities. Your goal should be to create a reputation that attracts and keeps the winners—not an environment that makes them want to leave your employ.

So how do you change your hiring process to ensure you hire the right person the first time?

The Plan
Always be clear about the position you want to fill—long before you even think about interviewing. Define the position based on what your business needs. Identify the standards, skills, and knowledge that the perfect hire would have. Lift your expectations to the highest level—don’t be afraid to ask for what you want.

The Job Description
Write down the detailed job description for the position. Include all areas of responsibility, skills, knowledge, performance, progress evaluation, and level of authority this position will have. Circulate a draft to key personnel to hear their feedback. Make sure to get a consensus about this position from the appropriate team members. Hiring the right person cannot take place without agreement from existing staff members.

The Interview
Never interview off-the-cuff or spontaneously; you will miss important details and make mistakes in the hiring process. A candidate with superior verbal skills will always win the heart of the interviewer, but that candidate might not be the best person for the job. To bring consistency to your hiring success, you must implement a structured set of interview questions, and rank each candidate according to his or her responses. Rate the applicants on their skills, knowledge, work history, extent of training/education, and of course, attitude. Then create a “short list.”

The Short List
Testing and assessments are a must for your short-list interview process. Most employers overlook the importance of this stage.

There are several types of pre-employment tests.
       Intelligence Testing measures verbal abilities in communicating, mathematical functionality, spatial ability, abstract concepts, and reasoning ability from materials, words, and figures.
       Skill Testing can measure the levels of the candidate’s skills and be helpful in customizing the training plan to that individual.
       Aptitude Testing, Interest Testing, Attitude Testing, and Personality Style Assessments are tools an employer can implement in the hiring process. Testing is a highly specialized field; make sure that the tests you use are tried and true.

In the interview process, make a point of communicating your corporate vision, mission, values, and policies. It’s not good enough to merely mention them to your candidate; he must agree that he wants to work under your business philosophies. Future accountability starts here.

The Hire
Never hire on the spot. If you do, you probably have not checked references and your decision will be more emotional than pragmatic.

Check references after the interview to confirm consistency between the candidate’s comments and the opinion of his or her previous employers. Given today’s employment laws, previous employers may be reluctant to be candid with their comments. This question should get a helpful response: “If you could send your past employee to training to improve his/her ability to perform his/her responsibilities, what training would you recommend?” The answer will help you get a clear picture of the applicant’s development issues.

The Candidates
Never be rushed into a decision. Have you ever needed a body to fill a space, so you hired the best of the worse?

Ask your current employees for referrals. Do your staff members know someone who would fit into the team? Rarely do employees recommend people with whom they would not want to work. Check local colleges, universities, the Internet, and trade publications. Network with your clients or suppliers to get referrals for the position.

One of our mid-size business clients is brilliant at pre-hiring. First, they identify individuals who would fit into the team before the position opens up. Time is then on their side. They have pre-hires—on days off from their current jobs—observe the daily duties required in the position, long before the job is posted. This is invaluable in proving sincere interest and confirming potential commitment.

A key component to building a solid business is having a good human resources process. With the right system, you and your clients can increase your business’s productivity, efficiency and profitability. The Comprehensive Personnel System (CPS) will assist small to mid-size businesses in establishing a solid human resources practice—thus enabling more effective personnel decisions.

The Comprehensive Personnel System provides:
       A solid 9-step process for hiring, developing and retaining employees
       A system to track and communicate all non-financial job and employee information
       The ability to graph a team’s personality styles in one place
       Questions to ask of applicants and their references

The CPS encompasses all phases of the staffing process, from planning to developing and retaining, and is designed to be used with the Personal Style Indicator, Sales Style Indicator, Instructional Style Indicator, Entrepreneurial Style and Success Indicator or the Job Style Indicator.

Hiring the right person the first time takes planning, systems, tools, and structure. Be proactive. Plan, rather than panic.