
Most recruiters around the world complain that they are not able to get the right candidates for their company. Bad hiring not only causes loss of capital, but it also creates operational issues. We'll take a look at some of the biggest hiring mistakes employers make.
Hiring Costs Substantially
According to The Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) at the University of California at Berkeley, the average cost of replacing a worker is $4000.
Hiring the right candidates for your organization is extremely crucial in today’s competitive market. There is a lot at stake when it comes to hiring new employees, as companies invest a lot of time, money, and resources in finding the right candidate for a position in their company.
Most organizations have an HR, or a qualified recruiter, who does the work of screening the application forms and holds one-to-one discussions with the candidates.
A majority of these HRs and recruiters try their best to select the deserving candidate for a job, but often, it is seen that a candidate is not able to deliver on what he says in the interview.
Reason? Well, most prospective candidates have some idea of what the recruiters want to hear, and during the interview, they frame their answers in such a manner that the recruiter is impressed.
There is a lot of difference between what a candidates says he can do, and what he can actually do. Failing to understand the differences between the two has made a lot of employees regret their hiring decisions. There are some other hiring decisions that hurt the interests of the employees; let us take a look at them.
Being a Stickler on Job Skills
Take a look at any of the job posting on the Internet and you will notice that the word count under the ‘Job description’ section is bigger than the essay you wrote in high school. Most companies make the mistake of enlisting everything that they want a prospective candidate to do in a company.
Employers need to understand that humans have an inherent capability of learning new things, and when provided with adequate support and guidance, the process becomes a lot easier. Therefore, it is important for the employers to list only a few core competencies in the job posting, and leave the rest for the personal interview.
Focusing All the Attention on the Resume
A lot of employers spend a lot of time in analyzing the applicants’ resumes. While it is a good practice to gauge whether the skills of an applicant are in accordance with the requirements of the company, judging a candidate solely on his resume can be futile.
First and foremost, the insight that you gain when you have an in-person interaction with a candidate cannot be substituted by looking at endless resumes in your mailbox.
Secondly, there are several skilled freelancers, who provide resume writing services to individuals. So, if a non-deserving candidate comes with a stellar resume, there is a high possibility that the HR manager would be led into believing that he is the best match for the job.
Asking Redundant Questions
Individuals who have appeared for a job interview before must have come across the following questions:
- Why did you leave your previous job?
- Why did you choose our company?
- What are your best and worst attributes?
- Do you think you are a team player?
These questions will only make sense if you subject the prospects to a lie-detector test! Seriously, do you think that an applicant will tell you that his worst attribute is that he is laid-back and he thinks Mondays are meant for sleeping in.
Most recruiters judge how well a candidate answer these redundant, or unnecessary questions. Instead of grilling the candidates by these questions, it is better that the employers ask relevant questions to the candidate such as his job experience and relevant skills.
Hiring in a Haste
So, your team lead left the job without giving you a one-month notice period. You have got your HR to put out job postings and you want a replacement within a week.
Before you hire the first person that walks-in for the interview, do keep in mind that hiring hastily has its own perils. When you have a talented pool of prospective employees to choose from, you are in an advantageous position of making the right direction.
Hiring in a haste is like trial and error, and the chances that the employee will not live up to the expectations are usually higher. So, before you look out for employees, look inside and get an insight into why your previous employee left, and what steps you can take to ensure that his replacement would not follow suit and leave you in the lurch.
Try to interview an adequate number of candidates, and make your decision after thorough analysis.
Overselling the Job
Many employers make the mistake of overselling the job to the applicants. They tell them about the perks of working in their company, and how financially rewarding their career is going to be.
However, what they fail to tell the employees is that being employed is not a given, and one needs to consistently perform to avail all the associated benefits. Employers should make it a point to tell prospective candidates about the value of putting the hard work and labor to get the benefits that are promised in the offer letter.
Hiring on Basis of Gut Feeling
Well, it is not as if gut feeling doesn’t work. It may help you to choose a lucky number in a casino, but when it comes to the interests of your company, it is advisable to avoid making impulsive decisions.
There are a lot of factors that you should look at while you are deciding on hiring a prospect, and it is prudent to give each factor a deep thought before you arrive on a decision.
Getting Too Many Cooks to Spoil the Broth
An applicant will be truly flustered if he is made to meet different interviewers during the interview process. It takes some effort on part of the applicant in introducing himself to the recruiters and building a rapport with them.
If he has to go about doing the introduction and rapport-building over and over again, he might get an impression that your hiring process is flawed. This may portray a bad image of your company and obstruct your objective of hiring quality candidates.
Failing to Incorporate Modern Recruiting Sources
Companies who make use of the innovations in information technology stand a better chance of hiring the right candidates. A decade ago, that job posting on the classifieds in the local newspaper may have worked for you, but modern times demand modern methods of hiring employees.
If you haven’t yet taken to using the Internet and mobile apps for recruitment, there is a high possibility that you are not able to reach to the wide market of jobseekers.
Having a Preconceived Notion about Whom to Hire
Often, recruiters make a mental picture of what their future employee. What it does is that it creates a disadvantageous situation for those candidates, who are skilled and truly deserving, but miss out because they don’t match with what the recruiter has dreamed about.
It is very important to be open and impartial while you are hiring people and race, age, gender, and nationality should not be made a part of it.
Failing to Follow Up with Candidates
When a candidate is looking for a new job, it becomes a top priority for him to know about his prospects in the company he has applied. Employers should make it a point to give an honest feedback to the candidates, so that there is no ambiguity.
It has been seen that a majority of companies are hesitant in saying ‘no’ to a candidate, but failure to inform the candidates will only be seen as a sign of being mean and unprofessional.
It is not only the rejected candidates who need to be effectively communicated with, failure to communicate with candidates you are interested in can sow the seeds of doubt in their minds, and compel them to apply elsewhere.
Not Getting the Concerned Manager in Picture
Although it is the job of an HR manager to recruit the candidates for an organization, some employers make the mistake of completely ignoring the role of floor manager in the hiring process.
It is a well-known fact that most HR managers lack in-depth knowledge about the intricacies of how work is done on the floor; therefore, it becomes important that the concerned manager tests the skills of the candidate.
An HR manager might do a good job at judging the behavior of a candidate, but as far as the actual on-job skills are concerned, the floor manager should be involved to gauge it.