“Business is turning up and we’re getting ready to hire. I’ve heard it’s better to go by personal recommendations rather than looking at people through ads and job boards. How do you feel about this?”
Rarely do personal recommendations take into account the specifics of your environment and job. Often recommendations are biased by a desire to help someone move forward to the next opportunity. They usually lack a critical assessment of what it will take to succeed in your environment.
Someone else’s “a level player” may not be a good fit for your organization’s openings. Casting a wide net increases your chance of finding the right person. A rigorous interview process helps you avoid an impulsive hire. Once on board, get the highest level of commitment and drive by understanding what employees are looking for beyond a basic pay package.
Define the position
The right person in the right job is a winning combination. Consider personal recommendations as one way to build your pool of candidates. Don’t let that be your only source. Once you’ve received a person’s resume through a personal introduction, put that person through a standard assessment process, along with all of your other candidates.
Start by defining the position in terms of attitudes, attributes and skills.
- Does this person need to be quick or patient?
- Good listener or focused on tasks and numbers?
- High risk taker or low?
- Out front leading the charge or good at taking direction?
- Off-the-charts smart or average intelligence?
- Demonstrated experience, interest or just starting out?
- Graduate or college degree, high school diploma, trade skills?
I’m a big fan of advertising positions, to find out what kind of talent is out there, at what price. Post a description of the attitudes, attributes and skills needed for the job. Generally I find a better response of “right fit” candidates when including salary or hourly rate in the ad. Post the job in as many places as possible, including informing your network.
Define the process
Improve hiring success by defining your company’s hiring process, which includes getting to know a person over time, through several interactions.
- Establish specific criteria you’re looking for on a resume/cover letter.
- Log in resumes and narrow down to those that meet basic criteria.
- Conduct a phone interview using a script and gather more facts about skills, attributes and attitudes, and verify income expectation is within range of the job.
- Conduct first face-to-face interview with a script, using open-ended questions to find out if the candidate matches the job and fits the company’s culture.
- Check two to three references in depth; focus on previous bosses and similar work environments.
- Conduct a second face-to-face interview; re-confirm that what was seen in the first interview is really there and sort out any doubts.
- Find three qualified candidates who you are confident could do the job at the wage offered and fit well into the company’s culture.
- Negotiate an offer.
Define goals
Keep in mind that whether you get candidates through personal recommendations or job ads, it’s your company’s job to find the one person who will become an A- or B-level player in your organization.
Have an on-boarding, training and evaluation plan ready to go once you make your hiring decision. Define 30-, 60- and 90-day milestones for training and accomplishments. If there are problems during the on-boarding period, check if it’s your process or the candidate. Stay in touch with second- and third-choice candidates until you’re sure the person you hired is going to make it as an employee.
Be clear about what motivates employees beyond their pay package. A recent study reported that employees are looking for three things:
- Praise from immediate supervisor;
- Attention from leaders in the organization; and
- A chance to direct projects.
Open up to employees as they settle into their jobs. Give them ample opportunity to demonstrate why you had the confidence to hire them.
