With businesses facing high rates of employee turnover, wrongful dismissal claims and sexual harassment allegations (just to name a few issues), it surprises me that more thought isn’t put into hiring decisions.
Here are three mistakes I see all too often.
1. Not really identifying the business needs.
What are the skills, experience, character, and competencies you need? More importantly what are the organisation’s short-and long-term needs and the effect this hiring will have upon those needs.
When these are clear define the standards a candidate must meet including the educational background, work experience, and technical skills they must have.
And don’t forget to ask yourself if these could be supplied more effectively through outsourcing?
2. Hiring out of desperation
A key manager quits and must be replaced.
Most businesses have become so desperate at some stage that just about anyone will do. It’s only later that we realise how bad our decision really was.
If you can’t conduct a proper hiring process, hire a “temp” or borrow someone. But don’t hire in haste—too often you end up with a very bad taste.
3. Promoting from within
Remember the Peter Principle. (People get promoted until they reach their level of incompetence.)
Your best performers aren’t necessarily always the most qualified candidates for a specific job. This is especially true when promoting to management level. Just because someone is good at a particular role doesn’t mean they are capable of managing bigger teams or other functions.
Make sure you follow a thorough process when promoting from within. Not only could you lose other good people because of a bad promotion, just like incest, you can also create inbreeding and stagnate creativity.
