Wrong Hires Cost Two Times Salary
You’d never skip due diligence on an acquisition, so why trust your instinct on an investment as costly and important as your people? If you’re like most people who have to hire your hiring plan is like a three-legged stool: resume, experience, and gut. In other words you trust the information on the resume, their job titles, and their personal presentation in the interview. For such a serious decision many people take it so lightly.
A bad hire affects your bottom line. Turnover costs show up as:
• Low productivity before the employee’s departure,
• The cost of hiring a replacement – in dollars and time,
• The cost of mistakes that might have been made by the employee,
• The damaging effect turnover has on morale, and
• Numerous other costs.
What should you do rather than rely on your instinct? The interview process should focus on how an applicant has handled experiences. People’s past behavior is highly indicative of their future behavior. You should be asking candidates to tell stories or give examples of actual events to uncover certain job skills, characteristics or behavior patterns.
To ask questions about behavior you will need to first create a list of competencies that the job will require. Then you can build your behavioral questions around those competencies. For example, if the job requires problem solving skills you might ask, “Tell me about a time when you had to analyze information and make a recommendation. What was the thought process that you had to go through and what was the outcome?”
It’s a pay now or pay later scenario. Spend the time up front to be prepared to ask behavioral questions. Learning how the candidate handled situations in the past will help you determine their fit for your future.
A bad hire affects your bottom line. Turnover costs show up as:
• Low productivity before the employee’s departure,
• The cost of hiring a replacement – in dollars and time,
• The cost of mistakes that might have been made by the employee,
• The damaging effect turnover has on morale, and
• Numerous other costs.
What should you do rather than rely on your instinct? The interview process should focus on how an applicant has handled experiences. People’s past behavior is highly indicative of their future behavior. You should be asking candidates to tell stories or give examples of actual events to uncover certain job skills, characteristics or behavior patterns.
To ask questions about behavior you will need to first create a list of competencies that the job will require. Then you can build your behavioral questions around those competencies. For example, if the job requires problem solving skills you might ask, “Tell me about a time when you had to analyze information and make a recommendation. What was the thought process that you had to go through and what was the outcome?”
It’s a pay now or pay later scenario. Spend the time up front to be prepared to ask behavioral questions. Learning how the candidate handled situations in the past will help you determine their fit for your future.
Posted by Cal Tingey at 9/10/2011 5:37 AM 
Categories: Personnel
Tags: hiring hire employee investment due diligence interview turnover turnover costs job skills behavioral questions
Categories: Personnel
Tags: hiring hire employee investment due diligence interview turnover turnover costs job skills behavioral questions
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