When our clients are looking to hire employees for their expanding businesses, we often hear the same concern. “I’m scared I might make a mistake and hire the wrong person.” or “I’m scared things might not work out.” We agree—this can be scary for any business owner. Hiring and training an individual, only to find things don’t work out can cost a lot of time and money.
When a company replaces a salaried employee, who has left, the average cost can be as much as 6-9 months of that employee’s salary. That’s a sizable amount of money, so hiring the right people for the right job becomes more impactful.
It is important to ensure your company hires people, with not only the right skills and education, but also those who are motivated, and hold values that are in alignment with your company’s culture.
A recent study of 20,000 newly hired employees determined that 46 % will not be with that same company in 18 months. Not because of the lack of job related skills, but because these employees have personality traits which do not fit with the company’s culture and long term values.
This seems like a scary statistic, but you can follow steps to hire well and retain this talent long term.
Successfully Fill Job Openings: A Four-Step Process
1) Develop a hiring strategy that ensures a consistent selection process for filling all positions. Create a system that can be easily followed and easy to communicate to applicants. The hiring strategy is a sequence of activities that take place before the new employee starts. These recruiting activities include marketing, interviewing, screening and hiring. Onboarding a new person includes training and management time. Like any business system, write it down, so it becomes a documented process and doesn’t need to be recreated every time a new hire is needed.
2) Create a clear job description for each position that is created in the company. Know what functions that job is required to fulfill and what skills, knowledge and abilities this individual must possess. If you are unsure how a job position interacts with other job positions, , to review the major business functions performed by any company.
3) Include a personality assessment. A resume and background check will tell you what the applicant did in previous years, but when the applicant completes a personality profile instrument, you can consider how they will work with others in the organization. You want to make certain there are no workplace personality clashes before they occur. A good personality assessment helps clarify that issue.
4) Institute a new-hire orientation program that will guide the new employee to success. It takes time to create, but will ensure the individual is starting on the right track. Yes, a tour of the facility is important, and so is a review of the employee policy manual, but I think the best thing to include in the orientation program is a mentor. Someone, within the company who can answer questions and provide helpful advice in learning the ropes of the organization.
These steps help you put people in the right jobs from the beginning. Contact us and let us help you create your hiring strategy. We’ll help you find the right people to join your team and create more profit and long-term business success. Our goal is always to build businesses to work brilliantly.