The 10 Biggest Mistakes Made in Hiring

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    THE 10 BIGGEST MISTAKES MADE IN HIRING

    By Donald A. Phin, Esq.

    "If workers are carefully selected, the problems of employee discipline will be negligible."

    Johnson & Johnson Co.Employee Relations Manual, 1932

    Organizations today are beset with high rates of employee turnover, wrongful hiring claims, sexualharassment allegations, workplace violence, employee theft ... the list goes on and on. Such risks aremagnified when you hire the wrong person!The wrong person is underqualified, litigious, controlling,insubordinate, and detrimental to an entire firm. Indeed, the seeds of many failed employee-employerrelationships are planted during the hiring process.

    Within the pages of Hiring Smart(reviewed in the Winter 2000 EPLiC), Dr. Pierre Mornell offers a wealth ofprescriptive recommendations45 specific "do's"that will increase a firm's chances of hiring effective,productive employees. In this issue, we examine the opposite perspective and share with you some of themost common mistakes10 "don'ts"for the hiring process.

    It makes no difference whether an organization is large or small, or hiring an entry-level worker or anexecutive. For example, we've seen a convalescent home unknowingly employ a violent felon: a janitorwho kidnapped, raped, and then killed one of its patients. At the other end of the spectrum, we've seencompanies hire multimillion-dollar executives; that's not what they cost the company in salary, but howmuch long-term strategic damage they caused. By avoiding the 10 pitfalls examined in this article, youwill be in a better position to prevent the costly mistakes that victimized these organizations.

    Clearly Identify Company Needs

    When seeking to fill a position, your company must clearly define its goals in terms of skills, experience,character, and competency. Determine the actual, objective standards a candidate must meet, and therequisite educational background, exact work experience, and specific technical skills they must possess.In addition, it is important to evaluate the organization's short-and long-term needs and the effect thisparticular hiring decision will have upon those needs. Many times, however, an organization's

    requirements can be more efficiently met through outsourcing or strategic partnering. Don't automaticallyassume you need a certain type of employee. Test those assumptions before you hire.

    Test a Prospective Employee's Skills

    Skill testing is a must. Every job has some form of measurable, objective performance standard. Identifyit and test for it. A secretary who types 60 words per minute with mistakes will be less effective than asecretary who types 90 words per minute without mistakes. However, if a company fails to test for typingskills, it will have no way of evaluating a prospective employee's ability to perform a specific task. Underthese circumstances, a supervisor may criticize the first secretary for lack of productivity, when she is infact giving her best effort. Unless you test an applicant's skills, you are taking a gamble that they canperform. It's a bet you just may lose.

    Avoid Hiring Out of Desperation

    Too many hiring decisions are made out of desperation. The following scenarios occur repeatedly: a keymanager quits and must be replaced NOW; rapid growth forces a company to fill positions without enoughforethought; programmers are so scarce that anyone will do. We've all, in pure desperation, broughtsomeone into an employment relationship only to find out later that they were not trustworthy orcompetent. Don't fall prey to such fear-based thinking. Rather, consider the alternatives. If you are unableto conduct a thorough, timely hiring process, hire a temporary or leased employee or borrow an employeefrom another company. But don't hire in hasteyou may end up with waste.

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    Guard Against Hiring Out of Laziness

    Despite the high stakes associated with hiring, we often get lazy. Managers who are lazy hire the firstremotely suitable person who walks through the door. Often, we simply want to avoid the hiring processaltogether. After all, we have jobs to do. Companies and managers must fight this very human tendencyto do less rather than more. Alternatively, if you don't want to endure the rigors of the hiring process,then contract with someone else to do it for you. Consider engaging the services of an executive recruiter

    or search firm. Or delegate this task to a trusted individual within your company.

    Watch Out for Infatuation

    A series of surveys has revealed that during the hiring process, most interviewers made their decisionupor downwithin the first 10 minutes of the interview. They then spent the next 50 minutes internally

    justifying that decision. We buy cars the same way. First, we choose the car we want to buyfrom anemotional standpointand then search for objective data to justify that emotional decision. We all knowthat "facts tell, but emotions sell." Remember, the best con artists attract infatuation. In studies whereprofessional actors are interviewed for jobs for which they have no experience, they are hired at a higherrate than those who have actual qualifications for such positions! Simply because someone "looks" rightfor the role does not mean they will be. You can guard against infatuation by having coworkers interviewprospects, having group interviews, and by conducting follow-up interviews.

    Avoid Baggage that Gets in the Way

    Everyone carries some baggage. Sometimes, it is the belief that a woman can't operate a forklift, that aman can't be a nurse, or that a minority cannot function as an executive. But baggage is not reality.

    Men once dominated orchestras, until they began to conduct "blind auditions" where a curtain was placedin front of the performers. The quality of their sound, not their gender, became the sole evaluationcriterion. The preconception about what makes a better musician was removed, and thereafter womenwere hired at twice the previous rate. It is a fact the best and brightest are not always going to look andact the way you think they should! Seeking diversity is not important simply to placate the EqualEmployment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Rather, it has become an absolute necessity in today'scompetitive economy.

    Carefully Evaluate Candidates Recommended by Employees and

    Associates

    Just because someone recommends a person they think would be highly capable for a particular positiondoesn't mean that person is qualified. We have seen many occasions where someone was hired withoutgoing through the usual evaluation process simply because they were recommended by another employeeor colleague. Don't let someone else make your hiring decisions for you. Follow the usual channels andrequirements when anyoneno matter how highly recommendedseeks to work for your organization.

    Do Not Blindly Promote from Within

    We are firm believers in promoting from within an organization. However, your best performers aren'tnecessarily always the most qualified candidates for a specific job. This is especially true when promotingto the management level. Simply because someone is particularly adept at handling a certain functiondoesn't mean they are capable of managing others. Many a career has gone downhill after such apromotion.

    Remember the Peter Principle: organizations frequently promote otherwise capable workers until theyreach their own level of incompetence! Make sure your company follows a thorough hiring analysis whenpromoting from within. Promoting solely from within can create inbreeding and stagnate creativity. Toguard against these pitfalls, companies should consider filling at least one-third of all positions involvingpromotions with people from outside the organization.

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    Perform Extensive Background and Reference Checks

    We are often asked to investigate a claim of harassment, theft, threatened violence, or other workplacemisconduct. As part of our investigation, we always review the involved employee's file and evaluate theextent to which a background investigation was conducted. Much more often than not, little or nobackground information was obtained. Employees with drug problems were never tested prior to hire.Security guards who conspired against their employers were never checked for criminal records. The

    employers of employees who engaged in wrongful conduct at other companies had never been contacted.Yet, many companies are afraid of engaging in extensive background investigations out of concern forEEOC and legislative privacy mandates. Don't be. Potential problems can be avoided by securing releasesfrom job candidates and/or their previous employers. em.

    Recognize and Rectify Poor Hiring Decisions

    To their credit, many organizations quickly recognize when they have made a fatal hiring mistake, oftenwithin the first 3 months of the employment relationship. But they don't terminate the employee. Youmust overcome this very human tendency to admit a mistake and dismiss unsuitable employees on atimely basis!

    However, if you do make a poor hiring decision, try your best to help the person land on his or her feet.This means doing what you can to put the person back to at least the same position in which you found

    them. Assuming an employee's job-related conduct did not involve fraud or dishonesty, try to help byproviding outplacement assistance, a positive recommendation, and a reasonable severance package. Thisapproach will often prevent an ex-employee's bitterness or, even worse, a lawsuit.

    Conclusion

    When you have the opportunity, go back and analyze the departments within your company that haveexperienced unusually high turnover or performance problems. Ask yourself, "How did we hire theindividuals who failed to perform up to our expectations?" "What process did we use?" "Did we make anyof the mistakes outlined above?" Remember, if you want to hire the right employee, you have to follow aproven, systematic process that allows you to do so. When you hire the best, you will have highproductivity, loyalty, innovation, team players, a healthy bottom lineand a much-reduced exposure toemployee lawsuits.

    To hire successfully, you need effective strategies and time-tested tools that can help you to accuratelyevaluate a job candidate's skills and character. Refer to Figure 2 for a summary of successful hiringapproaches. You can access at www.donphin.coma wealth of forms, checklists, and agreements that willfurther assist you in making more profitable hiring decisions.

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    FIGURE 2

    10 HIRING PITFALLSAND HOW TO AVOID THEM

    Hiring Mistake Preventive Measure

    Failing to identify companyneeds

    Carefully analyze the job functions your business requires; considerhiring on a temporary basis to confirm these needs.

    Failing to test skills Develop and use an objective skill test for each specific position.

    Hiring out of desperation Use temporary, leased, or borrowed employees.

    Hiring out of laziness Engage the services of a recruiter or delegate the task to anotherperson within the company.

    Avoid infatuation Have follow-up interviews; have peers/coworkers also interview thecandidate.

    Avoid personal baggage Develop objective qualifications for each position and have otherpersons review these criteria.

    Avoid automatically hiringsomeone recommended

    Make allcandidates go through the normal hiring process.

    Blindly promoting from within Objectively analyze internal candidates, preferably in conjunction withother managers; make one-third of all promotions from outside thecompany.

    Failure to do extensivebackground and referencechecking

    Obtain releases from candidates; engage the services of outsideagencies to check backgrounds.

    Failure to recognize you havemade a poor hiring decision

    Rectify mistakes quickly; assist terminated employees in securing newpositions.

    Don a l d A . P h i n , E s q ., has been an employment and business litigation attorney since 1983 and earnedcertification as a professional consultant to management (CPCM) in 1994. He presents workshops and

    seminars for groups including The Executive Committee, CEO Club, Foundation for EnterpriseDevelopment, Insurance Marketing and Management Services (IMMS), and Risk and InsuranceManagement Society (RIMS). Mr. Phin is the coeditor of EPLiC and the human resources consultant forIMMS. He is the author of Building Powerful Employment Relationships andLAWSUIT FREE! How ToPrevent Employee Lawsuits. His articles have appeared in The Risk Report, Business Insurance, CFGUpdate, and other industry publications. He can be reached at (800) 234-3304 or by e-mail [email protected].