Sifting Through the Hiring Process to Find the Best Talent
If you’re ready to hire a new staff member, from the bottom to the top of your company, what impact do you think that hiring the right person can make? 30%? 75%? If that were the case, finding quality candidates would be important, but the difference wouldn’t be substantial. What if we told you, however, that the difference between choosing the right candidate and the wrong one is 5,200%? In fact, the bottom-line, financial impact on your company by hiring the wrong person for a job that pays $70,000/year can easily be $250,000! Now that we’ve got your attention, let’s discuss how to filter applicants to find that perfect employee.
Until you know who you’re seeking, how can you find them?
First, you must create an effective job description. What will this person’s specific responsibilities be? What kind of attitude should they have in order to get the job done? When you keep this in mind, it will be harder to let your enthusiasm for a candidate blind you to their real attributes. Also, you will more readily spot disparities in the way they answer or deflect questions in the interview process.
Now that you know who you’re looking for, where can you find them?
While “help wanted” ads sound like a great idea, you could end up with hundreds of applicants and no way to truly vet them. We suggest, instead, that you enlist the help of the 15 most influential people you know. Email them and ask for suggestions. If they don’t reply, call them and ask. If you have to wait a minute to let them think, then wait; don’t rush them, giving them a quiet moment to really think through who they know. Repeat this task until you have the number of qualified applicants that you want for your hiring pool.
It’s time to watch the cream of the crop float to the top!
Email each candidate with information about the job and how you got their contact information. Then, more as a test of their responsiveness than anything, give them three tasks to complete for you. This could be completing an online personality test, emailing their résumé in a timely fashion, calling your office to schedule a phone interview, researching a specific aspect of your company’s mission, giving feedback on an article, etc. Odds are that only about half of the hiring pool will complete the tasks and move forward as you view their steadfastness, and watch for any red flags.
Lock down the interview process.
From this point forward, you should whittle down the list with each step in the progression. Complete a phone interview with each of the remaining candidates, asking them to call you at a specific time in order to check their punctuality. Next, hold an in-person interview so that you get a feel for who they are and how they fit with the values of your company. Include other decision makers in your company as well as someone to take notes during this interview. Meet for a second time at a lunch or dinner with the final few prospects and possibly their significant other. Finally, plan to spend several hours with the last one or two candidates asking them in-depth questions that will give you insight into their background, life experiences, energy, etc.
The ends justify the means.
Once you have completed this process, you will have invested time and energy in finding the right candidate to be with you for the long haul. They will know that you care about your company as well as your employees enough to create a two-way devotion. By following the process – and sticking to your own hiring rules and company values – you can bring them in as a part of your work family; knowing you’ve made a good match that will stand the test of time.
The author of this article, Rick Sapio also recently sat down with Phil Romano, Founder of Macaroni Grill. He would love to give COD members the opportunity to “peek in” on this conversation and learn more about the Billionaire Mind and how to implement it in your life., please CLICK HERE or the picture below for access to this free video.
Rick Sapio has been involved in more than 100 companies, as either a founder, investor, owner, or operator, over the past 30 years. Rick has realized that by using a principle-centered business approach, one can radically increase the success of virtually any business. For the past 22 years, he has been CEO of a financial services/healthcare holding company.
Go to www.BusinessFinishingSchool.com to learn more about his 12 Foundational Principles of Business.
