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July 31, 2011 at 08:00 PM
Steve owns a successful company. He has been in business for 10 years and has been profitable from the first month. From the recession of 2008 until today, he has been awash in applications, getting between 50 and 60 responses to his newspapers ads. But many of those who do apply have failed with their past company for lack of performance.
If he hires wrong, it will set his profits back months. If he succeeds, he could outpace his competitors. Hiring winners is even more important now. Every new hire has to be Steve’s best estimate of future sales success. The hiring decision can’t be a guess or a gut feeling. But how can Steve pick the right people who are sure to become winners? Here’s the first trap to avoid.
Trap 1: Wasting too much time on the hiring process
There are many techniques you can use to find good people. You can run an ad in the local newspaper and get 100 responses, 98 of which can’t put together two coherent sentences, one doesn’t have the experience and the last didn’t show up for the interview. The trap is that you spend weeks advertising and wasting hours every day without finding a winner.
You also could hire a head hunter at a cost of six months of your new hire’s pay. And after the trial period is up, the new hire quits and you are left with the fee. How about referrals? Most of the great workers already have jobs. You could ask all your friends for names of candidates, but they will only keep their ears open for those unemployed souls.
