Recruiting and hiring new employees to your company is a complex process that requires much time and effort. Failure to implement a proper hiring strategy can lead to poor hiring decisions and in increase in employee turnover. Hiring mistakes can do more harm than good, which is why it’s crucial for your company to implement a hiring process that’s both efficient and effective.
This article will outline common mistakes employers make during the hiring process and how to avoid them to attract and retain top talent.
Failure to Provide Candidates with an Accurate Description of the Role
The first step in the hiring process is recruiting talent to your business. To find a qualified candidate that meets your needs, you need to be clear about what the job entails in the description.
Failure to give candidates an accurate description of the role can lead to wasted time interviewing unqualified candidates or hiring the wrong individual.
To avoid this, make sure to outline all the responsibilities, requirements and qualifications in your job description to weed out the candidates that don’t fit the role. Refrain from crafting a generic description, as it will only make it harder to sift through all the candidates.
Rushing the Process to Fill a Position
One of the worst mistakes a company can make is rushing through the hiring process just to fill a position quickly. Though the need to fill the position may need to happen fast, the hiring process is something that takes time.
Rushing through the process can lead to hiring an unqualified candidate, which can ultimately affect your business. Finding the right employee doesn’t happen immediately.
Sometimes companies are so desperate to fill a position, that they hire anyone that applies. This can easily lead to an increase in turnover rate because you prioritized hiring someone quickly over taking the time to find quality candidates.
Pro Tip from Wesley Ward, VP of Marketing and Merchandising, Haa: ”Taking an extra week to screen more candidates is better than moving forward with the first candidate that applies for the position. The process doesn’t have to be time-consuming. If you take the time to be efficient in the way you recruit talent, you can find high-quality employees that won’t end up costing you.”
Forgetting Company Culture
A candidate may look great on paper, but how do you know if they will end up fitting in with your company’s unique culture? Sometimes the most qualified candidate on paper just isn’t the best fit for your business.
Though background and skills are extremely important, ignoring the cultural aspect can be a big mistake.
A great strategy for discovering whether a candidate will fit in with your company culture is to conduct group interviews with your current employees. Let your employees engage in conversation with the candidate and get a feel for who they are as a person.
Not Conducting Pre-Employment Screening
Another common mistake companies make is failing to that the candidate is who they say they are. You wouldn’t want to hire a dishonest employee, so conducting a pre-employment screening can help you ensure you are hiring reliable individuals.
Lying on a resume is unfortunately very common and according to Career Builder, 75% of HR managers have reported that they have found a lie on a resume.
Because of this, pre-employment screening processes should include a pre-employment background check, education verification, and past employment verification.
Not only does hiring an untrustworthy candidate affect your business, it’s also unfair to honest candidates who have worked hard to get to where they are.
It may make your hiring process a little longer, but properly ing your candidates’ qualifications and background can save you time and money in the long run.
Too Long of a Hiring Process
While some businesses rush through their hiring process to quickly fill a position, others may take too long, resulting in a loss of quality candidates.
Candidates may end up looking for other jobs and receiving other offers due to your lack of communication. It would be unfortunate for you to miss out on great employees because your hiring process got delayed.
Pro Tip from Jeff Arnett, CEO of Arnett Credentials: “If your hiring process is taking longer than expected, follow up with the interviewees and keep them in the loop. It’s better to be in communication rather than to leave them waiting for a response. Lack of communication could lead to losing great potential candidates.”
If you’re serious about hiring a new employee, don’t leave candidates waiting around too long for a job offer. Ideally, after you conduct interviews, you should be giving someone an offer within a week or two.
Summary
Mistakes during the hiring process can be easy to make, but they’re also easily avoidable. To better streamline your strategy, use the tips in this article to avoid common mistakes and ensure you make the best hiring decisions for your business.
Author Bio
Corey Doane is a contributing editor for 365 Business Tips. She has a B.S in Public Relations from San Jose State University and has experience in PR, marketing and communications.
