Whether you’ve just started a small business or are the head honcho in a entrepreneurial corporation, any of the following top ten employee hiring mistakes could prove disastrous for your business.
Employee Hiring Mistake #1: No Concept of Your Hiring Needs
Several recently released studies have shown that most entrepreneurs (around 70%) spend less than five minutes in employee hiring preparation, yet it only seems obvious that less planning increases the risks of not getting the right candidate for the job. If you don’t have a clear cut job description – create one. Knowing exactly what needs filling and doing is essential when posting a position, working with recruiters and any human resources departments either interally or externally.
Employee Hiring Mistake #2: Poorly Prepared Interview or No Preparation at All
Preparing your questions, keeping formal notes of the process, having a job description in place, knowing how to explain the job requirements and having answers to all of the commonly asked questions are integral to looking professional and polished to your potential employees. Plus, the extra confidence in knowing what you are doing can’t hurt.
Employee Hiring Mistake #3: Poorly Chosen Interview Questions
Every entrepreneur has done it: asked questions plucked from nowhere at the last minute because they didn’t take the time to do much more than that. The results, unfortunately, usually speak for themselves.
Employee hiring questions should be carefully crafted to determine the candidate’s skills, qualifications, on-the-job behaviors, likes and dislikes, work style, motivations and preferred communication methods. It’s not enough to know if they can merely do the job. You must know if they will fit.
Employee Hiring Mistake #4: Speedy Hiring Decisions
Few entrepreneurs and small business owners can focus solely on employee hiring tasks, so it is often tempting to hire quickly so you can get back to your main priorities, whatever they may be. Unfortunately this employee hiring mistake can leave you open to candidates who interview well but perhaps are unable to do the job or lack the qualifications to fit in. Don’t overlook warning signals just to get some stress relief in the short term.
Employee Hiring Mistake #5: The Do-No-Wrong Effect
This erroneous employee hiring mistake occurs when the interviewer finds a common element in the candidate and themselves: they went to the same college, have a shared mentor or love a similar hobby. As if by magic the potential employee can do no wrong, an effect quite similar to falling in love.
Reprinted with permission from Suite 101
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