In order to meet today’s work requirements, you need to find employees with the right set of competencies, skills, and knowledge. Hence, it has become a crucial factor for companies to identify and select the right candidates from the very first stage of the selection process. The pool of suitable specialists is not as big as it used to be…

As we pointed out in our previous article “Turnover costs: How much does losing a staff member really cost?”, a bad hire costs far more than just the price of a replacement… So, I thought of 4 things that you should take into consideration to ensure you will be making a good hire!

Here we go!

1) Provide a precise job description!

Attract the right candidates by making sure the job description is clear and accurate (see an example below). Speak to current staff members who do the job and make sure the job description matches the tasks they actually perform. Establishing an accurate competency profile is a challenge and should be done carefully, as it is the basis for every following step of the process and for your final recruitment success. Mishires will cost the company a huge amount of money!

2) Structure your interviews!

Structure your interviews - right from the beginning of your recruiting process because you need to make sure that you are keeping the good candidates in the process, right? A structured interview is the basis of making good selection decisions… Using certain interviewing formats, such as competency-based video interviews, allows you to assess candidates objectively and fairly using the same criteria, and not just leaving it to ‘gut instinct’.

3) Don’t oversell the job

Make sure the candidate knows exactly what the job entails, not just the perks, but also the reality of the day to day work. Keep in mind that there is a risk of losing your new employees if they find out that the job reality is far away from what they imagines (and from what you promised in the advert, job interview, …)

Undoubtedly, when it comes to job interviews, you want to present your company as an attractive employer. You are kind of “selling” your company to the candidates. Recent studies show, however, show that “Interviewers with a strong "sales orientation", i.e. those who wanted to enthuse candidates about the company, tended to be less able to predict the candidates’ future job performance, compared to those who focused on the actual assessment.”

4) Make sure the candidate fits into the company culture

As we stated in on of our previous articles on cultural fit assessment, you need to define WHAT the candidate should actually fit: What are the values, expectations, and objectives of the company? If the basics of the company are not known, then one cannot know how candidates must fit exactly.

Here are 3 steps to take to measure your candidate’s cultural fit.

Then, there is the possibility to show authentic (!) employer branding videos: take the candidate through a tour of the office, let them virtually meet current employees, especially the team they will be working with, and show them what working for your company would be like. This is part of a self-selection process where your applicants will figure out whether they fit into your company!

Use these steps to reduce the risk of hiring incorrectly - hire efficiently, but also correctly! A bad hire costs far more than just the price of a replacement.

Let me know if you agree and if you can think of other tips!