As daunting as being interviewed is, the hiring process can be quite an intimidating experience for the interviewer as well. For the interviewee, there are only two possible outcomes, either you get the job or you don’t. For the interviewer, there’s the chance of selecting and hiring the wrong person, costing your organization thousands of dollars and putting your professional reputation on the line. Which situation would you rather be in?

The hiring process can be an exciting, yet frustrating experience, and a bad hiring decision can cause major ramifications for your organization.


For example:

Bad hires drag down productivity
Everyone in the office suffers when they have to cover for a co-worker who can’t, or won’t, do their job properly. Dedicated and competent workers become distracted and disillusioned by an incompetent worker that causes havoc by making mistakes, falling behind, and draining the managers time and focus.

Bad hires cost hard dollars
Replacing the average employee can cost an organization about 25% of an employee’s annual salary. Consider the costs of recruiting, interviewing, travelling and training. These are all replacement costs, as well as lost time on the job, either when it was vacant or when someone had to put off other tasks go to train the new employee.

Bad hires cause collateral damage
Organizations spend millions of dollars on workers compensation claims each year. As experts note, vastly more money goes to existing claims than to preventing the problems in the first place. What if someone in your organization was in charge of making sure all equipment fit the job and the workers, that everything was working correctly, and that all workers knew how to use the equipment efficiently and safely? These all sound like easy fixes, but someone in your company has to keep an eye on these details.
Does your organization take recruitment and selection seriously? Here are 7 simple ‘what-not-to-do’ tips to use when you are faced with your next hiring decision.

Do NOT:

1. Hire the first candidate that applies

2. Ask personal questions about religion, marital status, family situation, or race

3. Talk too much and forget to listen

4. Offer the job based on your gut instinct about a candidate

5. Offer the job to a candidate who seems to be just like you

6. Forget to double check references

7. Pose questions that require only yes/no answers

Many organizations today such as Google, Facebook, Hewlett-Packard, and AT&T have started asking more unusual interview questions as part of the interview process to see how employees can think on their feet, read Ten Off-the-Wall Job Interview Questions to see examples.

Regardless of the types of questions you ask, be aware of the severity of a bad hire. The key to helping making better hiring decisions and understanding the core characteristics of top performers is employee assessments. Check out our recent article Ssssh! The Secret to a Successful Hire.

Have you made any ‘silly/stupid’ hiring mistakes that you regret? What advice would you share with us? Let us know on our blog. http://info.profilesinternational.com