When a company hires someone who does not succeed, it can cost 3-6 times the amount of the hiring salary. Besides salary, taxes and benefits, there are an immense number of hidden costs related to hiring the wrong person for a key role; from the loss of new business and business in general, to the impact on employee performance, productivity and morale.

A deeper look reveals more impact specifically directed at the hiring manager (ultimately accountable for the failed attempt) loss of reputation amongst peers and staff as well as credibility as a leader capable of surrounding himself with winners. Let’s not forget to mention the risk related impacts when a poor hire terminates; legal, hr, intellectual capital, unemployment, etc.

Media from the Wall Street Journal to CNN, “Good to Great”, “Top Grading”, and hundreds of CEO's with whom I’ve spoken, agree that one of the top strategic initiatives of many companies is hiring not only new talent, but also the right talent. What recruiters need to understand and embrace is that while there is a talent shortage, growth oriented companies are demanding more of their workforce, and are unwavering in their expectations to attract and hire 'difference makers.'

This means our industry as a whole needs to get better, fast. The opportunity to make an impact has never been greener than it is and will be for the next 15 years.

With the diminishing available talent pool, and the compelling messaging about off-shoring lower skilled labor and processes; astute companies recognize the need to invest in hiring and retaining key strategy impacting players. Companies in tune with the global demand for talent as well as the changing demographics and psychographics affecting their workforce are painfully aware of their inability to attract, select, retain and develop the right people on their own. These companies committed to winning the war for talent also know they need to create an environment that fosters growth, development and challenge.

All of this means these firms are making investments in systems and operating practices that elevate their ability to attract & retain the best. Companies choosing to leverage their opportunities for innovation, competition and achievement of corporate objectives know they need to invest in and partner with industry experts who specialize in building hiring systems and teams, retention programs and leadership and employee development programs.

Recruiting is where it all begins. There is no employee development program on the planet that can rebirth a poor manager with poor competencies into a great leader if they fundamentally do not have the right behaviors, values and motivations. When then right core traits are present, competencies can be learned; when they are not present, all the training in the world cannot and does not make a difference.

That’s where assessments and behavioral interviewing can make a huge impact in your ability to position yourself as a leader in Talent Acquisition. When you take the step and gain the ability to bring the future to the present and predict what will show up in the performance review, your clients regard you as a team member committed to their end game.

Assessing the candidate starts with understanding and assessing the client, their goals and objectives, their road blocks. It starts with uncovering their core values and their often unarticulated core rewarded behaviors. Moving into common denominators of top performers at the company and then into competency and behavior gaps that this candidate needs to fill.

Once you fully understand where your client is going then and only then is it appropriate to find out about their recruiting need. When you do, find out how the position impacts the companies direction, core objectives and values. Probe into the key performance indicators for the role and how this performance in the role is measured. If they don’t know use your consulting skills to facilitate a discussion. You certainly cannot recruit for a job and successfully fill it with the right impact player if no one knows what great performance looks like.

Then your job as a recruiter extraordinaire is to analyze the role and ensure what this role is accountable for doing directly impacts the performance indicators, as many times when you do this you will find that the role is doing a lot of things that never affect the performance indicators. Your clients know that they do not know how to create job functions, they know they need help, they know their hiring process does not always work and they know they cannot afford another mistake, so don’t be afraid to challenge their thinking. It makes sense to link the functions to the measurements, it’s common sense.

The last thing you do, before you get the requirements for filling the role is talk about the real person they need. Ask questions like, “If I find you a person with the perfect resume and the wrong behaviors, what is the impact?” When they trust that you have their end game in mind, and they believe they can count on you to deliver the right person; most companies will tell you if you find them a person who can achieve the objectives in the role and they honor the company values and they cause great things to happen, it does not matter exactly where they come from.

People get hired for their experience and or resume and get fired for who shows up on the job.

More questions to ask when determining the who the ideal candidate is are:
“So, how would the ideal candidate be motivated?” By Money. Power. Making a difference. “What would they value?” “How would they manage people?” Through inspiration, delegation, development. “What management and or sales style would most work here?” “What would the ideal candidates thinking be like?” Would they think from a place of integrity, innovation, common sense, of high level decision making?”

Once you and your client understand who the ideal is, and then you honor that conversation by validating that your candidates and submittals are ideal; your influence of placing someone who is part of the succession plan exponentially increases.

Once that happens you are also part of the succession plan !