I met a successful entrepreneur last
Saturday at a cocktail party. The conversation quickly moved to business and He
maintained that his success is built on hiring great people, and he found it
immensely satisfying to surround himself with stars and leading them. He
explained with pride that in order to be employed at his firm, an employee must
pass 6 interviews with his team and at the 7th meeting and final meeting with him is asked one question: "What do you want to do ?".
He wanted people to live their dream in his company and was willing to embrace
their initiative.
However, one of his concerns was that more than 50% of those he hired did not succeed, as they pass the interviews by "lying & selling themselves" as he put it, wanting to get the job but not being capable to take it anywhere after. In addition, by his estimation hiring the wrong sales director in 2010 had cost him over a million dollars in salary and wasted expenses, not even considering the sales lost.
However, one of his concerns was that more than 50% of those he hired did not succeed, as they pass the interviews by "lying & selling themselves" as he put it, wanting to get the job but not being capable to take it anywhere after. In addition, by his estimation hiring the wrong sales director in 2010 had cost him over a million dollars in salary and wasted expenses, not even considering the sales lost.
This was obviously a strong
professional who cared about his company and his team’s success, and his
struggles got me thinking. By letting our "gut" lead our decisions,
we tend to hire candidates that know how to make a good first impression, that
look good, that we feel we have something in common.
The problem with this is that they sometimes don’t have what it takes to be successful in the role we are filling - especially when our friend the entrepreneur is not looking to provide clear guidance on what success looks like.
The problems with taking "gut" decisions are also documented by international studies. According to the results of a study by workplace psychologists OPP, 71% of all line managers would change the hiring decisions they've made if given the chance (1).
Unfortunately this second chance can cost up to 10 times the salary of the employee to be replaced in hiring costs, on boarding, training, performance assessments, firing cost and of course lots of TIME.
The key issue is that managers are making hiring decision every day, thinking they've made a good decision only to be disappointed a few months later.
The problem with this is that they sometimes don’t have what it takes to be successful in the role we are filling - especially when our friend the entrepreneur is not looking to provide clear guidance on what success looks like.
The problems with taking "gut" decisions are also documented by international studies. According to the results of a study by workplace psychologists OPP, 71% of all line managers would change the hiring decisions they've made if given the chance (1).
Unfortunately this second chance can cost up to 10 times the salary of the employee to be replaced in hiring costs, on boarding, training, performance assessments, firing cost and of course lots of TIME.
The key issue is that managers are making hiring decision every day, thinking they've made a good decision only to be disappointed a few months later.
How can this be avoided? Here are my
recommendations on how to move away from hiring with your gut:
* Ensure you define the objectives of each hiring clearly -
create a performance based profile to describe success and how it will be
measured. A performance profile is a well-thought-out,
prioritized list of the top six to eight things a person in the job needs to do
to be considered successful. It describes the primary performance objectives,
plus the key sub-tasks and challenges a person is required to achieve.
By focusing on performance you widen the number of candidates to
select from and are more likely to find a candidate that is able to deliver
results. In addition, by using a performance profile for the hiring you are
aligned from day one on what is expected at future
performance assessments, simplifying the ongoing tracking of
progress.
* By relying on your gate keeper (generally your recruiter) to
make the correct filter of candidates matching the appropriate criteria you
avoid wasting your time on irrelevant candidates.The next selection is already
about the fit to the role and I believe the hiring manager should get involved
as early as possible in the process to identify a match to the role and future
plans before others get involved in validation of fit to the corporate culture
& personality.
Efficiency tip: you can start with a 15 minute call to discuss
initial fit and only then invite for a face to face – generally saving you a
lot of wasted interview time
* Prepare the interview: In order to reduce the influence of instincts & ensure a fit to your performance based profile you should prepare your questions in advance. Create open-ended questions about topics described in your performance requirements to get the candidate talking about their relevant experience. Also, if your colleagues will be participating in future next interview rounds, you can split the performance profile into a number of different topics and each interview can be focused on one topic (therefore avoiding repetition between interviews and increasing the likelihood of getting a focused feedback from them about the hiring).
* Prepare the interview: In order to reduce the influence of instincts & ensure a fit to your performance based profile you should prepare your questions in advance. Create open-ended questions about topics described in your performance requirements to get the candidate talking about their relevant experience. Also, if your colleagues will be participating in future next interview rounds, you can split the performance profile into a number of different topics and each interview can be focused on one topic (therefore avoiding repetition between interviews and increasing the likelihood of getting a focused feedback from them about the hiring).
* Check references! The amount of information you can get from a
previous boss or colleague is directly related to the quality of decision you
will be able to make. Don't underestimate the power of this information when
you speak to the right people and ask the right questions.
[note - I will write about this topic in a separate article
as this step is often overlooked or badly managed]
I do not recommend to hire people that your gut doesn't trust - but hopefully by structuring your hiring process and decision you will find that your decisions will rely more on facts - therefore supporting your gut feeling.
(1)
http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/news/1017470/managers-decisions-people-gut-instinct-objective
