Recruiting is a hard process. Of course, mistakes happen along the way and it will inevitably happen that you make a bad hiring decision or a moment you wished you didn’t hire anyone at all perhaps! However seasoned you are at hiring staff, here are the “MUST ASK” questions to keep in your tool kit.
What projects or activities will my new employee lead?
What will you give him or her to do? This question is crucial to answer clearly before considering recruiting anyone. Giving precise, realistic and relevant objectives will enable you knowing where do you want to go, as for the new person you’ll bring into the business, and easily measuring the gap existing between your expectations and what can offer a candidate. If you realise the frame or shape of the role you propose is too blurred, it may mean that you’re not ready to give a new employee a proper position and allow him or her the opportunity to flourish and add value. The straight line model is awesome for this, I wrote an article on it a few months ago here.
Why should they join our company?
Afterwards, among all the parameters you should consider, positioning is key and will definitely help you to attract higher quality talent. Indeed, it is important for you to know what differentiates you from your competitors in terms of employment. Work environment, advantages of the role, values of the company… There are many points that can prove how different you are and what you can bring to someone. When you have defined that positioning, you’ll be able to get more effective leads and optimize your search for talent. At the same time, you will be able to set your offering apart from the competition and increase the probability of getting the employee you really want.
What do I want the new employee to bring to the company?
Your future employee will obviously have criteria when changing his or her job. However, it is important to define what your criteria is. Do you need a team leader that will be able to motivate a team again and impulse change? Would you prefer hiring someone defined by his or her experience or background? Identifying what you want your future employee to bring to your company, in terms of value, is crucial because as you expressed in your requirements, you may find it easier to know when you have a perfect fit for the job.
Is that what I’m really looking for?
Wherever the idea of hiring a new person in your company comes from, you really need to wonder if adding someone to your staff is the good decision or if that just seems right to do. The issues you are facing may come from another factor or a larger problem than what you actually think. In that case, hiring someone new will definitely not help you. Moreover, it may just exacerbate your issues and make you lose money, because of the lack of quality audit up-front
What if it all goes wrong?
However much creators of Psychometric assessment may like us to believe it, recruitment is NOT an exact science. Of course, we can go through a well thought out and thorough recruitment process, but that can never tell you all you want to know about someone – getting them in role for 6 months is the only prescription here – but if you get it wrong, the costs can be quite drastic! Salary payments, opportunity cost, training costs, productivity loss, loss of sales and many more – how can you mitigate some of this?
We can help – By providing a 2 year guarantee on our permanent placements we can at least shoulder some of the risk. In doing so, you also know you’ll be partnering with a company that has a vested interest in getting it right first time, for the long-term.
To find out more about how we can support you book a 15 minute call.