Hiring the ideal employee is, indeed, a complex and time-consuming challenge, with a lot riding on the outcome, so saddle up.
You certainly want to make sure the selection process is an efficient and effective one before inviting a new team member to your huddle. Attaining your business mission requires having talented and dedicated employees - a goal that is easier said than done.
At times, with all the other time-consuming priorities, it is not always easy to do the analysis and assessment that effective matchmaking necessitates.
For a recipe of ideal selection, I recommend you focus on the ingredients of competencies - knowledge, skills, abilities, experience, work ethic maturity, values, integrity, motivation, dedication and cultural compatibility.
Organizational behavior experts define the workplace culture as the norms, values, expectations, traditions and behaviors of the organization. This compatibility is as important as hiring for competencies and work ethic.
For example, you select a candidate who has fantastic experience and expertise, as well as an excellent work ethic, BUT is not compatible with your specific culture. You happen to be a very creative and entrepreneurial culture and the candidate is best placed in a very structured and even somewhat bureaucratic organization, thus, a poor match and potentially costly outcome.
To attain the ideal employee requires developing a strategy of assessments that evaluate competencies, work ethic and cultural compatibility.
The interview, which is only a part of the process, should be an evaluative discussion that is an MRI, not an X-ray, so to speak. Use behavioral-based questioning, allow the interviewee to do most of the talking, and certainly adhere to the complexity of the legal dos and don'ts in an interview; there are many things you may ask but, indeed, there are several topics you may not address.
The process is an investment in time not an expense. It reminds me of a cliche regarding employee training: one manager says "Boy, training can be expensive. What if we train them and they eventually quit?" to which the other manager responded, "What if we don't train them and they stay?" YIKES!
Is your approach an investment in time and thoroughness or a quick expense. The new employee may not be an angel, but you will come close to a match made in heaven.
Machamer is a human resources professional college instructor who is authoring a book and a consultant with Pinnacle Consulting LLC in Williamsport.
