Five Reasons You Hire The Wrong People
Posted: February 1, 2013
Leadership
Hiring the wrong person not only wastes time and money, it creates a ripple of negativity that impacts everyone in your company.
Here are five reasons you wind up hiring the wrong candidate:
1. You ignore the total package. Every employee has to follow company rules and guidelines, whether formal or unwritten. Still, some can’t — or won’t.
The skilled engineer with an incredible track record of designing new products while berating support and admin staffs won’t immediately turn over a new interpersonal leaf just because you hired him. The programmer who only works vampire hours won’t magically transform into a standard-issue 9-to-5-er.
For some people, the work and how they perform that work is what matters most — not the job. Don’t assume you can change them. You won’t.
Instead: Decide to accept the total package. If you desperately need engineering skills, live with the proven engineering superstar’s diva behavior.
Always assume that if compromises need to be made, you will be the one who makes them. If you aren’t willing to accommodate or compromise, pass.
2. You hire for skills and ignore attitude. Skills and experience are worthless when they’re not put to use or shared with others.
You can teach skills, but you can’t teach enthusiasm ... or work ethic.
Instead: When in doubt, hire for attitude. See the candidate who lacks certain hard skills as a cause for concern, but see the candidate who lacks interpersonal skills as a giant red flag.
3. You sell your business too hard. You absolutely need employees who want to work for you, but never try too hard to sell a candidate on your company.
Good candidates have done their homework and know whether — or not — your company will be a good fit.
Instead: Describe the position, describe the company, be open and forthright, let your natural enthusiasm show through and let the candidate make a decision.
Never sell too hard. The right candidate will recognize the right opportunity.
4. You ignore gut feelings. Nothing beats a comprehensive hiring process — except, sometimes, a dose of intuition.
Instead: Let your experience and intuition inform your hiring decisions.
Don’t be afraid to conduct little tests. One classic is the waiter test: How someone interacts with a person who serves them is often a good indication of how they will interact with people “beneath them” in your company.
5. You take the wrong chance. There are two kinds of chances you can take on a potential employee: good and bad.
The good chances: Taking a shot on a candidate that may have serious potential; on a candidate who has few of the skills, but all of the attitude; on a candidate you feel certain brings the enthusiasm or drive your team needs.
Then there are the bad chances: The candidate with a history of attendance problems who you hope will somehow develop a strong work ethic; who has no experience in your industry and only wants to talk about how quickly and how often he will get promoted.
Instead: No matter how hard they try, everyone makes hiring mistakes. Don’t take bad chances — those almost always turn out poorly.
Take good chances. Good chances often turn out to be your most inspired hires — and your best employees.
Jeff Haden lives in Harrisonburg and is a ghostwriter and a columnist for Inc. Magazine. He can be reached at blackbirdinc.com.
Here are five reasons you wind up hiring the wrong candidate:
1. You ignore the total package. Every employee has to follow company rules and guidelines, whether formal or unwritten. Still, some can’t — or won’t.
The skilled engineer with an incredible track record of designing new products while berating support and admin staffs won’t immediately turn over a new interpersonal leaf just because you hired him. The programmer who only works vampire hours won’t magically transform into a standard-issue 9-to-5-er.
For some people, the work and how they perform that work is what matters most — not the job. Don’t assume you can change them. You won’t.
Instead: Decide to accept the total package. If you desperately need engineering skills, live with the proven engineering superstar’s diva behavior.
Always assume that if compromises need to be made, you will be the one who makes them. If you aren’t willing to accommodate or compromise, pass.
2. You hire for skills and ignore attitude. Skills and experience are worthless when they’re not put to use or shared with others.
You can teach skills, but you can’t teach enthusiasm ... or work ethic.
Instead: When in doubt, hire for attitude. See the candidate who lacks certain hard skills as a cause for concern, but see the candidate who lacks interpersonal skills as a giant red flag.
3. You sell your business too hard. You absolutely need employees who want to work for you, but never try too hard to sell a candidate on your company.
Good candidates have done their homework and know whether — or not — your company will be a good fit.
Instead: Describe the position, describe the company, be open and forthright, let your natural enthusiasm show through and let the candidate make a decision.
Never sell too hard. The right candidate will recognize the right opportunity.
4. You ignore gut feelings. Nothing beats a comprehensive hiring process — except, sometimes, a dose of intuition.
Instead: Let your experience and intuition inform your hiring decisions.
Don’t be afraid to conduct little tests. One classic is the waiter test: How someone interacts with a person who serves them is often a good indication of how they will interact with people “beneath them” in your company.
5. You take the wrong chance. There are two kinds of chances you can take on a potential employee: good and bad.
The good chances: Taking a shot on a candidate that may have serious potential; on a candidate who has few of the skills, but all of the attitude; on a candidate you feel certain brings the enthusiasm or drive your team needs.
Then there are the bad chances: The candidate with a history of attendance problems who you hope will somehow develop a strong work ethic; who has no experience in your industry and only wants to talk about how quickly and how often he will get promoted.
Instead: No matter how hard they try, everyone makes hiring mistakes. Don’t take bad chances — those almost always turn out poorly.
Take good chances. Good chances often turn out to be your most inspired hires — and your best employees.
Jeff Haden lives in Harrisonburg and is a ghostwriter and a columnist for Inc. Magazine. He can be reached at blackbirdinc.com.