How To Hire Successfully

Date Posted: 06/10/2014

Want To Hire The Best Talents? Do Your Homework!

Our recent article on “Nine Traits of the Ideal Employee” elicited a number of responses asking us for more information on “how” to identify that ideal employee. As such, we thought we would share with you some pointers on how to go about finding the right person for the job. We trust you will find them useful.

According to recent research done in the U.S., bad hires cost a company as much as US$50,000. This doesn’t even represent the cost of productivity loss and training new employees. It was also reported that 69% of the companies have been affected by bad hires in 2013. The majority of companies made bad hires because they just needed to fill the job urgently (43%) and unqualified candidates accounted for 22%.

The key to a company’s growth is to make sure that the right people fit into the right job. Finding the ideal employee for a particular job is crucial to the success of any business.

Before you start the hiring process, it’s important that you do your own homework and make sure you know what you want. Here are a few practical steps you can take to make sure you are hiring the right talents:

1. Detailed job description. Create a thorough list of all the tasks, qualities and skills the candidate must have. It is important to look at the job position as a whole and what is required of the candidate. Create a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly tasks list of what the candidate will need to do.

2. Create selection criteria for the position. Make sure to list down specific criteria that will be your basis in screening resumes. These should come from the job description and must be measurable. Asking questions with this list in hand will help you to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate and to determine if the candidate will be a good cultural fit as well. Also, double check if the candidate is equipped with the right skills for the job based on his/her previous detailed work experience.

3. Identify your recruitment method. In today’s competitive market, you need to identify where your target candidates are and how can you effectively attract these types of people. You can opt for internal recruitment, employee referrals, internet recruiting, or use executive search firms and so on. If it’s a difficult or hard to fill position, it’s often best to use all the methods above to find the best candidate for the job.

4. Prepare best assessment tools to match requirements. Identify testing services or come up with your own exam that can check if a candidate is well-equipped with the right knowledge and skills for the position.

5. Check job history. Eliminate job hopper candidates. Always assume that a candidate who has several years of experience but who has only stayed in a job for a year or two and who has changed jobs frequently is going to be doing the same thing when you employ him/her. Is it worth spending the time, effort and money in recruiting even a very qualified person only to have them move after they become productive? The answer is obvious, is it not?

6. Headhunting. Research suitable candidates working for competitors or other similar companies even if they are not actively looking for a job. Approach them to see if there is a chance of them moving. You never know if someone is open or what they are thinking if you don’t ask them. In this way, if the person accepts, you’ll be sure you‘re getting the right person for the job.

Sometimes it’s difficult for you to approach a candidate who is working for a competitor directly yourself. In this case, using the service of a recruitment agency to approach the candidate anonymously can help you fill the job opening with the right person.

7. Networking. Your colleagues and friends may know some really good candidates who are searching for new opportunity. Networking with professional organizations, clubs, social groups, etc. can also help you spread the word and to tap into right candidates and save you a lot of time and money.

8. Internal recruitment. Before you begin hunting outside with expensive advertisements, using a recruitment company and job search engines, it is important not to forget the people already working in your organization. Providing opportunities to current employees for further development or a promotion can be a great motivator. The added advantage is that the person is already familiar with the culture of the organization which can also give greater stability. All properly maintained personnel records can be a major resource in helping you find a candidate from within.

9. Appoint a recruitment agency. Using a professional, reputable third party search firm like Ikon to do all the hard work of sourcing candidates, administering exams, interviewing and assessing candidates can, in the long term, save you a lot of time, effort and money. They will present you with the best candidates. Then, all you have to do is just the final interview of the shortlisted candidates and make a selection.

Hiring is extremely costly. Your objective is to fill an open job as quickly as possible with the best qualified applicant at the lowest cost. Reading resumes; contacting and interviewing applicants; checking reference and related work experience can be a waste of your time and many of your other duties may need to be neglected. Employment agencies like Ikon can cut down on the time needed to find the right person. In the event you need to conduct mass recruitments for the rank and file staff, it is also best to use an agency.

Ikon’s extensive database can make the process less time consuming, costly and frustrating. Ikon can save you money and time. We have files of pre-screened qualified applicants who can be referred to you immediately. This saves you the time and energy of reading countless resumes and interviewing unqualified applicants. Building an ongoing relationship with Ikon gives you the added advantage of having us inform you about highly qualified candidates who become available even when you do not have an immediate opening. Ikon doesn’t charge you a fee unless you hire the person and that person starts work with you so there is no risk at all on your part. Ikon also guarantees to replace staff they have placed with you.