We are preparing to transition from mid-pandemic to post-pandemic status, businesses are gradually reopening throughout the country and allowed to have more customers in their facilities again. Many have suffered economically, and all hands are needed on deck to get back on track. Especially smaller businesses may not have sufficient staff in place to cover vacant positions and rush through the hiring process, resulting in poor hiring decisions. And poor hiring decisions are costly mistakes that can be avoided by focusing on two key factors: patience and solid hiring processes.
A lack of patience causes businesses to hurry to fill the positions with little to no focus on thorough interviewing, candidate testing, background checks, and evaluating if they are the right fit for the team. Poor hiring decisions take up a supervisor’s time, foster negativity among employees, and create an extra cost for the company. Bottom line: It directly affects customer service and quality of the product, ultimately creating a bad experience for the customers.
Some people believe it is enough to have a strong interview by asking good questions and doing an overall internet search about the candidate’s background with the goal in mind to save cost on skill testing, background checks, and time for hiring overall. Sometimes, they base their hiring decision on their gut feeling. Big mistake! It is better to take the time during the hiring process, and get the best job candidate, than ending up terminating a poor-fitting candidate after valuable time and investments were made in hiring and training the new hire, just to start all over again.
Some companies put supervisors in charge of hiring without providing interviewing skills training or verifying that they have interviewing skills. Knowing how to ask the right questions is critical for good hiring decisions. When we speak with new recruiting clients for the first time, we sometimes find ourselves educating the clients on the interview questions that are legally allowed or not allowed to ask the job candidate. “How old are you?”, “Do you have children?”, “You have an accent; where are you from?” are example questions that an interviewer is legally not allowed to ask a job candidate.
A part of great hiring processes is testing job candidates for their skills is a solid method to find out if they are qualified to do the job. The candidates may tell the hiring manager that they are for example great salespeople, and their resumes show years of experience in sales. But are they truly good at selling? To be successful in bringing in new business, the job candidate should have a ‘hunter’ selling style. Putting them to the test through the TrainerTainment Bird Personality sales test will determine if they are up for the hunter challenge.
Candidates for leadership roles require additional assessments. The Kolbe® leadership test available at TrainerTainment is a highly valued and recognized behavioral assessment tool. The Kolbe® test indicates how well the applicant will fit in the team, in which areas the potential for conflict may arise, and how to deal with such behaviors to keep conflict levels low. To learn more about this assessment, and how you can make it part of your hiring process, you can go to our website here and schedule a call with us; we would be delighted to talk with you.
Ultimately, the goal should be to hire right. Hiring right through patience and solid hiring processes is the key to low staff turnover, a good working environment, and strong job performance. Your customers will appreciate it, and you will save a lot of time and money in the long run.
