The Vaya Group, a Talent Management consultancy that applies science and precision to the art of talent assessment and development has released what it has tagged the “Deadly Sins of Hiring” in response to major cause of staff turnover. According to the Harvard Business Review, 80 percent is due to bad hiring and costs organizations much as the annual salary of the wrong hire. To help tackle this problem, The Vaya Group has produced what is considers to be some of common mistakes made by companies during the hiring process.
The Vaya Group’s “Deadly Sins of Hiring” include:
1. Inadequate Assessment: Focusing strictly on a candidate’s job experience or hastening the recruitment process fails to reveal the true strengths and development needs of a potential hire.
Suggested Solution: Have strong recruitment procedures in place along with well-trained managers and equally skilled HR professionals who understand how talent assessment works.
2. Using Faulty Assumptions: Believing that the hiring managers are acquainted with the “ins-and-outs” of the job and can spot the talents that will bring success to the company can end up going up in the wrong direction.
Suggested Solution: A clear definition of the job and its requirements should be sought out by hiring managers. A clearer and more complete picture of potential hires is also developed when candidates are assessed using multiple methods.
3. Asking the Wrong Questions: Interviewers can fail to identify the right candidates by asking a lot of questions unrelated to the position.
Suggested Solution: Design interview questions around the candidate’s resume covering aras such as track record, technical skills and leadership ability to get further information about an candidate’s suitability.
4. Unprepared Interviewers: Having many unprepared co-workers not coached on the interview protocol and distinguishing poor from good answers can result in a “too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen” situation.
Suggested Solution: Ensure that those on the interview team have been properly lined up by reviewing the skills that can ensure success and the assessment methods that can best appraise those skills.
5. Not Assessing for Cultural Fit: One of the causes of frequent turnover is making the assumption that a candidate will thrive in the organization’s current culture.
Suggested Solution: During the interview process, ensure that the company’s current environment is truly represented to the candidate as well as behaviors that will and will not work in its culture. It is important to note that while a candidate might be w right fit technically, it does mean he or she will be a cultural fit.
6. Insufficient Onboarding: A company investment in a new hire can crash and burn if inadequate assistance is given to candidate in acclimatizing and adjusting to the company.
Suggested Solution: Have an assigned “culture coach” to guide the new hire through the organization and its individualities, with well mapped out action plans for those experiencing cultural shifts and assessing a candidate’s behavior to identify characteristics that can assist in the adjustment process.
