Special Report - Hiring Winners

We work with managers extensively to develop their skills in coaching and counseling employees for improved performance. And we are often intrigued and confused that individuals who are in great need of serious coaching and counseling were ever hired in the first place. In some cases, definite coaching and counseling problems showed up in a person on the first day or within the first weeks of employment.

The following are ten tips that, if followed, will help managers ensure they hire individuals who are not only technically competent, but also are a great fit with the culture of the department or organization.

1. Write a specific, comprehensive job description, prior to advertising or interviewing anyone. We recommend gaining agreement from several people on your team as to what are the characteristics and job competencies that will be needed for someone to be successful in this position.

2. Hire for attitude, train for technical competence. If experience teaches you one thing as a manager, it is this: People with great attitudes are willing to learn whatever it takes to be successful in their positions. A technical expert with a bad attitude can ruin the motivation and attitude of the whole team. Recently, Joseph A. Ettore, Vice President of Polymer Technology Systems, Inc., stated he hired with the philosophy of ACES in mind. A=Attitude, C=Confidence, and E=Enthusiasm. With the first three letters in place, you form the foundation for S=Success.

3. Have multiple people on the team interview the candidate one-on-one. We have practiced this in our own firm for several years and have experienced the following benefits. First, different people see different strengths and different areas of concern in a candidate. Second, multiple interviews usually require the candidate to come back on multiple visits. For many reasons, poor candidates usually get filtered out of the multiple interview process. Last, when multiple people have interviewed the candidate and are in agreement about hiring the individual, more than one person feels responsibility for the individual's success. (Note: It is a good idea to inform the candidates prior to the interview that there will be more than one interviewer.)

4. Ask open-ended questions in the interview. Open-ended questions yield much more accurate information in an interview than closed-ended questions. For example, if the position requires an individual who has extensive knowledge of the computer program Excel, an appropriate question might be: "In which computer programs do you have a high level of expertise and give me examples of projects." An inappropriate question would be, "Have you ever used Excel?" Most people who are being interviewed know the appropriate answer to that question is "Yes." Open-ended questions tend to yield more accurate and honest responses.

5. If you mishired, cut your losses early. Every manager has at least one story of hiring the wrong person. We come from the philosophy that there are a lot more wrongful hires than there are terminations. Do not manage a mishire with hope and hint. Some managers hope the employee improves. If that does not work, they get tough and drop a hint. Hope and hint does not work with mishires. If it is the wrong person, then immediately coach, counsel, or train the new employee. If that does not work, terminate the relationship and start the process over. In the majority of cases when we have worked with managers and supervisors who have agreed they mishired, termination should have taken place in the first 90 days. When termination does not occur within the first 90 days, more often than not, the problems tend to multiply. Great managers and leaders have the guts to deal with the problem.

6. Check references. This is a simple but important step that gets forgotten. By checking references, you can gain insights to the candidate's prior performance and work-related attitude. Due to legal implications and restrictions, we know that checking references is more difficult today. We also know that when checking references for potential candidates, previous employers are more apt to work around legalities for great candidates than they are for marginal candidates. Sometimes you can learn a lot by what is not being said about a candidate.

7. Give a skills test. A simple skills test, like proofing a letter with errors, might make a #1 candidate a #2 candidate. One good skills test is to ask candidates to write a letter to the company that describes the type of training and information they anticipate needing if hired. If done on a computer, you will have a sample of their writing and computer skills.

8. Assign a buddy. When bringing on a new hire, assign a fellow team member to help ensure the new employee's success in the organization. Many managers leave this task to Human Resources; after all, HR does new employee orientation. While orientation is great for a portion of their first day, after that new employees need fellow team members to become buddies and supportive friends.

9. Ensure needed tools are in place prior to the new hire's first day on the job. To have needed essentials in place, everything from a desk and a computer to business cards, is a great way of saying "Welcome to the team."

10. As the manager, take time to meet with the new employee on a regular basis. Ask, "How is everything going?" and "Is there anything else we can do to support you and ensure your success?"

We are the first to agree that hiring great candidates is as much an art as it is a science. By following the ten steps listed above, you will increase your chances of successfully hiring the right individual.