5 key steps to help select the right person for the job

We find that most hiring managers in business spend as little as 5% of their time or below annually in the recruitment and selection area in their own business, mainly as it is not there core job function. Even if you only recruit from time to time you can still be effective using some tips and methodologies we can share. It is often said “Hire for Hard skills, Fire for Soft skills”. There are different mentalities out there some of which want to have the most robust selection process and others think if it doesn't work out we will hire someone else!

• Opinions vary on the actual cost (in monetary terms) of a bad recruitment decision but it is generally accepted that the cost ranges from around 50% to 300% of the annual salary.
• So if you hire someone for say ￡20,000 – they may only last three months but the least it is likely to cost you is ￡10,000 but it will probably cost you more.
• And that doesn't include the cost of hiring someone else to do the job. More importantly – does it take account of things like lost opportunity, damage to customer relationships, loss of productivity overall in your team that often result.
• Or the effect it has on managers – this is particularly important if you are an SME who is centrally involved in both the hiring process and perhaps training, and dealing with the poor performance and other issues that arise.  So can you really afford to get it wrong?

 5 key steps to help ensure you get it right, first time

 Step 1: Understand your need – job analysis.

You have decided you need to hire more staff due to business requirements for a variety of roles. But do you really know what you need?

• Critically evaluate your existing resources. How does that measure up to what you need going forward.
• This gap, which might be described in functional terms like tasks, responsibilities, skills is the basis of defining the role.
• It is important to go one step further though and consider what would someone who is doing the job well look like.  Always aim for a high performance level not an average one.
• Look at the existing team dynamics – how it works together, who fills what team role and is there anything missing.
• It might be worth using some Scientific profiling to help in this process – this is really effective to aid the traditional methods as it provides more tangibles within the selection process to help get the best “fit” for the role/business.

Step 2:  Understand what you want

It’s not just about what you need for the business but about the type of person you want, or more importantly the type of business you want to create or maintain. Generally speaking what I mean is culture – “the way we do things within the business”.

• It is about the values and ethos you want your business and the people in your business to promote.
• It is about how you communicate with each other, the level of engagement and involvement, the way customers and suppliers are dealt with, the degree of flexibility and “we’re all in this together” that you need.
• It is important therefore that each person you bring into the business reflects and buys into that culture.

 Step 3:  Write a job description

These elements basically make up your Job Description or Job profile and shouldn't just be used for the recruitment process, but form the basis of your selection criteria, your training plans and performance review

• Broadly what the role entails (definition)
• The tasks, responsibilities and accountabilities involved
• What a good performer looks like and what competencies i.e. skills, knowledge and dynamics are required to achieve that
• What challenges and opportunities will be involved
• What type of person will “fit” your organisation – the personal characteristics

 Step 4: Short list candidates

Traditional methods would look like, CV sifting which helps identify “Hard Skills”. As noted in the previous steps to help with longevity and make the business more profitable it is vitally important you aim for as near to total alignment from your new hire(s). You may want to have a marking system for particular criteria – this will make life easier if you have a large number who meet this first stage but only want to progress a small number to the next stage of the process. “Wouldn't it be so much more effective and easier if you could have a solution that takes the time and the guessing out of the equation? With Grow Your Co.’s selection dashboard you have the answer. It utilises the science to help identify the right dynamics based on your set requirements (Job Benchmark) Candidates will appear in a ranking order on your own dashboard allowing you to focus more time and energy on the most suitable, aligned candidates for the role.

Step 5: Make your selection, Interview & Offer

Prior to interview what is most important is that you know in advance what you are going to ask, that it is based on assessing the extent to which the person meets the criteria and that you dig beyond the surface.

• Interviewing is a great way to get to know the candidates superficial observable social skills, a moderately good way to get to know and understand their ability to think on their feet, BUT a miserable way to identify core talents and weaknesses as they relate to the job. It’s not that it is a flawed technique but verbally asking someone what they are good at and not, is not a reliable way to gather information. Within the Grow Your Co Selection dashboard you have access to individual interview guide (specific to each candidates unique report) this highlights key areas to question at interview which helps Identify Core Strengths, Potential Weaknesses, and ideal environment (Providing tangibles).
• You should now have a top preferred candidate so time to make an offer.