Think Before You Hire

More than 2,000 full-time hiring decisions are made every day across Canada or 67,000 decisions per month. With something that big and that important, many business leaders are wondering if their companies are hiring correctly. The answer, according to one, expert, is yes and no. “You often hear that our people are our most valuable asset, but it is the right people with the right roles that is most critical to creating sustainable results,” says David McLean, Chief Talent Leader & CEO of GetKeepGrow, a Canadian hiring consultancy. “It is all about fit. We need to select people who are going to find the role, the organization, their boss and the work as meeting their needs so that they perform their best and want to stay. We also want those we hire to talk about their experience in ways that attract others who are a good fit with the organization.” In many ways, hiring has never been easier. Online job boards have multiplied in the last several years. There are even job boards that report job vacancies from other job boards. Getting the word out about a job is a simple click away. One major Canadian non-profit posted an Editor position in June and got 300 resumes in two weeks. Twenty years ago that was unheard of. The challenge, however, is not quantity, but quality. Finding an A-player is still as elusive as ever. “It is interesting to note how much effort goes into the purchase of a piece of equipment versus what is expended on a hiring decision–often in roles where the hiring decision is a million- dollar decision in terms of impact on the business,” he says. Getting resumes is a “no-brainer”. Getting top-notch talent takes smarts. Hiring is both a science and a skill, but too often it is based on someone’s “gut feelings”. Mclean says the key is how much thought an organization puts into the hiring process. It is best to start in the planning stages of the new hire. Organizations need to be very clear on the results the role must deliver in the first weeks and months, the non-negotiables, and the size of the supply of such candidates for the position. “Otherwise, you had better look for an attitude to learn and have mentoring in place to decrease the time it takes to get them up to full contribution,” he says. “Identify clearly how you want them to deliver results and ensure there is a good fit with what the candidate is looking for in terms of work environment, relations with the manager, the work itself and the organization offerings and what you are actually able to deliver. Otherwise you end up with a revolving door of talent and your cost of hiring goes way up.” The fit between the candidate and the organization can’t be overemphasized, adds Sean Slater, Vice President & General Manager, vpi Inc, an HR consultancy. He says today’s successful organizations are deliberate. There must be a fit between strategy and hiring. “One of the ways organizations prepare themselves to weather the storm, like we just had with the economic downturn, is to bring life to strategy,” he says. The successful organizations make it possible to attract the right talent to make the strategy work. He says a recent study from Europe on 70 organizations that had been through a transition or merger showed that those who focussed on bringing in people who shared the organization’s values, vision and goals generated competitive advantage for the business. “Those who put emphasis on person/ organization fit had a much more successful outcome. In another study, organizations that had engagement scores in the top 25% had 2.5 times the revenue growth than those in the bottom 25% and 40% lower employee turnover. There’s valid return on investing in engagement,” says Slater. “Organizations that had engagement scores in the top 25% had 2.5 times the revenue growth than those in the bottom 25% and 40% lower employee turnover.” The next step is in creating a clear and compelling message about the work you are offering, the environment, the organization itself and the kind of leader new hires will be working with. People what to know how your organization is different–they want to know the good, the bad, and the ugly. If you clarify your message, you don’t waste time interviewing people who are not a good match, or who start and then leave quickly because the reality didn’t match the promises made during the selection process. McLean says there are a number of tactics a business can consider: “Referrals are not new, but they are key to bring people to the organization. I also see some organizations benefiting from group hiring events where there is a chance to observe the candidates doing what they will be doing on the job and see if there is a good fit with the work itself, particularly useful in customer experience roles or sales roles.” Businesses also need to give job candidates a realistic job preview and the opportunity to connect with the the top people in the organization. They need to see what they will be doing. Even better, make them a job offer conditional upon spending a day or two in the work to see what they are going to be doing and learn what is expected of them. In either case, then they can opt out before precious dollars are wasted on training and orientation.

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Think Before You Hire

By:

AIDAN O’KEEFFE

More than 2,000 full-time hiring decisions are made every day across Canada or 67,000 decisions per month. With something that big and that important, many business leaders are wondering if their companies are hiring correctly. The answer, according to one, expert, is yes and no.

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AIDAN O’KEEFFE

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