In a perfect world, your business would never make a bad hire. Unfortunately, that’s not reality — bad hires are made all the time, regardless of the type or size of the company.
The problem is, bad hires are also expensive. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that a bad hire can cost your company 30% of their first-year earnings.
While it’s unlikely that you’ll make a great hire 10 times out of 10, you should aim to limit the number of bad hires you make. This means learning how to identify a great hire.
Here are six tips that will help you find the right employee for your business.
1. Personality Matters
No personality type is inherently wrong, but that’s not to say that every personality is right for your organization.
Certain positions and companies require certain personality types. A common issue that many hiring managers encounter is that, during interviews, candidates can be chameleons of sorts — tweaking their personalities to appear more favorable.
Through pre-employment personality assessments, however, you can build a better picture of a candidate’s true personality and determine whether or not they have the type of personality needed for both the open position and your company in general.
2. Look for a Sense of Commitment
The reality is that an exceptional employee who leaves your company prematurely can also be considered a bad hire. One of the best ways to help reduce employee turnover is to determine whether the candidate also values commitment.
While it’s impossible to know whether or not an employee will stick with your company over a long period, you can certainly identify a candidate’s desire to commit to the right company long-term.
There is a clear difference between a candidate who is simply looking for work and a candidate who is seeking a long-term venture. As a hiring manager, there are multiple ways to discern between the two.
Look at the candidate’s employment history. Do they tend to jump from job to job every year or so? Are they currently employed? You can also learn much about a candidate’s intentions by the types of questions they ask during interviews.
3. Keep Potential in Mind
When hiring, companies often focus on qualifications, certifications, and skill sets. While these are all important factors to consider—and in many cases, they may be critical for the position—also be mindful of the candidate’s potential for growth.
Especially if you’ve already identified a candidate as a long-term option, there are scenarios in which it can be beneficial to hire talent over experience.
Hiring solely for skill set often results in paying a premium for an employee that may not even be an ideal culture fit at your organization.
4. Match the Skill Set With the Position
Employers often hire candidates with industry-relevant skill sets that aren’t necessary for the position itself.
If a candidate has industry experience but lacks the basic skills for the position, you may spend just as much time training that employee as you would an employee who lacks industry experience.
Hiring an employee with the skill set needed for the position can save your company a significant amount of time and money that would otherwise be spent on training.
5. Emphasize Communication
The best employees communicate well and often. One study shows that oral communication is the skill of the greatest importance to business executives and hiring managers.
But communication goes beyond simply speaking with other executives and other employees. It includes the ability to listen and comprehend information, as well as the ability to write clearly and effectively.
What’s great about communication is that it’s easy to spot. After only a few interactions with a candidate, you should already have a strong inclination about whether or not they are a good communicator.
6. Culture Fit Is Important
Culture fit is often overlooked, yet it’s one of the most important factors when it comes to making the right hire. Identifying a great fit for your company culture can strengthen your brand and maintain synergy among team members.
Additionally, bringing a new employee into the right culture can keep them more engaged, and this might ultimately help you retain them. 47% of active job seekers regard company culture as their primary reason for seeking new job opportunities.
Of course, there are certain traits that are incompatible with the majority of businesses — a poor attitude, a lack of integrity, and laziness, to name only a few.
However, look at your company’s core values, more specifically, and determine whether or not a particular candidate lines up with the attributes that an ideal employee for your organization should exhibit.
