How to Hire the Right Talent for the Right Job

I recently wrote about the Hidden Costs of Attrition and it was heartening to see the response to the post. It is good to note that many people agree with the view that the cost of attrition is much more than what meets the eye. As promised, I am taking this conversation forward and sharing my thoughts on how address this problem of attrition. 

There are two broad ways in which the problem of attrition can be addressed:

1.      Hire the right talent for the right job

2.      Keep your employees motivated and engaged from the minute they join 

So in simple terms, if we can bring in the right person for any given role and make sure that the person is motivated with their job, and hence productively engaged with the company, we are highly likely to reduce our attrition problem significantly. 

Now let’s look at the first aspect which is hiring the right person for the right job. This may seem very basic at first glance, but it is important to note that getting the right fit is not easy and does not come without one putting deliberate effort towards it. 

The steps one needs to follow to get the right fit are as outlined below: 

1.      Getting the job description right – This is a great opportunity to clearly spell out what is expected from a person in that role. Most problems arise when there is a gap in expectations and actual role. This holds true for both the company and the candidate. Since the candidate does not know what is expected of him or her initially, it is the role of the company to spell out the expectations from the role clearly and in as much detail as possible. Keeping the job description vague or too broad, serves no purpose. While the cut-paste approach saves time, it does not add value. In fact it can lead to a lot of ambiguity and miscommunication. 

2.      Make sure the potential candidates actually go through the job description – You will be surprised how many candidates show up for an interview without reading through the job description. At SoaringEagles we help job-seekers and job-changers prepare for interviews and we have realized that most people don’t bother to understand the role or the company before applying for a job. You may ask, how we can make sure the candidate has read the job description. It is possible to do so by putting the selection process out clearly and getting candidates to confirm that they have understood the role and process before they get called for interviews. A little thought and planning upfront can make the process robust and smooth. 

3.      Look at the person as a whole, not just their prior experience or education – I am sure most of us tend to scan resumes to see if someone has any relevant or similar work experience while deciding to call candidates for interviews. While this approach does give you people with some fit, it does not give you the best fit. This is because each company operates differently and has a different culture. So it is very important to dig deeper and understand the exact nature of the prior work experience and the cultural environment. It is also important to understand why the candidate left the previous company while he or she was handling a similar role. So to summarize, it is important to not just look at past work but also at their attitude towards work, their motivation, their ability to persist and their cultural fit within your organisation. For instance, sales is very challenging role in any company. People who tend to have external locus of control and who easily give up, will not be a good fit for a sales job. This holds true even when they have held sales jobs earlier. 

4.      Don’t be in a hurry to close as soon as you find someone broadly matching your requirement – Finding good candidates is a challenge so as soon as someone seems like a suitable candidate, we may tend to quickly move forward. However, it makes sense to take time and follow a process. Typically, if a candidate is interviewed by more than one person, we are more likely to find out whether the candidate will be a good fit or not. So make sure your hiring process has at least 2-3 interviews. Also try to include a case study or in-tray exercise as this really gives you a sense of how the candidate thinks and resolves problems. Finally, make sure background checks and reference checks are done before making an offer. 

To summarize, in order to find the right candidate for any given role, one needs to go through a proper structured approach as outlined above. When hiring is done in an unstructured manner and very short time frames or in desparation, then it is likely that the candidate may not be a good fit for the role. A little investment of time and effort upfront can save a lot of cost and heartburn later. 

Will cover the second aspect, i.e., how to keep your employees motivate from the very beginning, in my next post.