What NOT To Do When Hiring Staff

So you've got some positions in your business or department that you need to fill, and now you need to find the right staff for those roles. This is such a crucial and business critical process, these are your future leaders, the people that will determine the success of your business. You are looking for the dream team, the right match, people that will drive your business forward.

So what common traps should you avoid? What key things should you not do to ensure you have a more efficient and effective recruitment process?

From advertising the job through to the successful candidate starting, here is what NOT to do when hiring:

1) Ignore Social Media - Employers and recruiters who used social media when hiring staff found a 49% increase in candidate quality. Use LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to help find higher quality candidates. Whether it is to advertise vacancies or engage with potential candidates, it's a tool that you shouldn't ignore.

2) Talk more than the candidate - Whether it is during a telephone interview or face to face interview, NEVER talk more than the candidate! Yes you should discuss the background of the company and the role, but make sure you are asking questions and let the applicant answer. You want to find out more about them to make sure you really do find the right people.

3) Ignore Your Current Staff - You should always offer any new positions to your existing staff, but also don't miss the trick of not networking through your team. Each staff member will know a number of people both personally and professionally. Ask if they know someone or ask them to advertise the vacancy through their social media platforms.

4) Post The Job In 1 Location - Just like fishing, the more lines you cast, the more fish you catch. So to truly find the best candidates, you need to make sure you advertise your job on as many platforms as possible. There are plenty of free platforms out there, and some that are worth paying for.

5) Recruit When Desperate - An easy mistake to make as a company is to only recruit when you suddenly need extra support. Try and think ahead and give yourself time to recruit effectively. It will take time from advertising a job to receiving CV's, to then review those CV's, Telephone screen and then book in face to face interviews. If you are too desperate to fill a position you may end up taking someone who if given more time and choice, you may not have employed.

6) Only Interview Once - It's very easy (and a lot quicker) to only interview a candidate once. There is so much value to interviewing your best candidates twice, see how they come across the 2nd time, what extra preparation they do, give them time to think about the job after the first interview, and yourself time to think and reflect on them as a candidate. Set a small task for them to complete to really get a taste of how they work.

7) Skip Telephone Screening - Most jobs will receive 100-200 CV's, and whilst it may be easy to be picky and just select a few to face to face interview, it is very beneficial to telephone screen first. See what their telephone manner is, how the answer some key questions and let that determine who is then invited to face to face interviews.

8) Recruit Without A Formal Process - Make sure you have a recruitment strategy, a plan that outlines how you will advertise, screen CV's, what you will ask during a telephone interview and also during face to face interviews.

9) Have Just 1 Person Recruit - Another easy trap to fall into is to only have 1 person recruit, to only have one person speak too or interview candidates. If possible, try and have 2 people interview each candidates so you can have different opinions. Someone else will spot something you didn't, or ask a question you didn't think to ask, and by having that extra perspective you have more chance of finding better candidates.

10) Throw Them In The Deep End - Once you have found the perfect candidate, make sure you have a solid induction and training plan in place. So many companies throw their new staff in the deep end and don't have specific induction plans for the first few weeks, or training plans to ensure the new candidate knows exactly what they need to do and the best way to do it. Spend some time planning the first few months for all new candidates to do all you can to make sure they are successful.

There is so much value to finding the right candidate, you save costs on having to re recruit, re train, waste of time. I remember an old manager telling me "Do it nice, or do it twice", and this applies to recruitment. Do it right the first time, take the time to make sure you recruit, interview and train new staff so you don't have to repeat the process.

I hope these tips help, if you enjoyed this post please do Like, Share and Comment any ideas you have to help people recruit and find the best candidates.