The new challenge: Avoiding hiring mistakes

Ingrid Kast, CEO at DAV - July 2010

Back in the late 90's, it was the 'war for talent' that challenged us. In those days, during the dot.com boom, companies were desperate to fill positions.

Nowadays, with budgets being so much tighter, we are operating in a much leaner environment and we are under more pressure to fill each position with the right person: we have far less room for error!

So what are the most glaring errors when hiring?

• Not defining a success profile for the job
• Hiring 'like-minded' people
• Penny pinching
• Hiring over-qualified people
• Giving interviews the wrong focus

Nowadays, with budgets being so much tighter, we are operating in a much leaner environment and we are under more pressure to fill each position with the right person: we have far less room for error!

Defining a success profile for the job starts with having a good think about what kind of person did an okay job in the role, and what kind of person did an excellent job. What skills, behaviours and characteristics did each person have? Draw up 5 - 6 competencies that will make for outstanding performance.

For a full picture of what's needed for success in the role, ask direct reports, peers and leaders for their insights into what competencies are important.

Too often we hire 'like-minded' people. We 'follow our gut' which, more often than not, means we are subconsciously evaluating ourselves when we make hiring decisions - and then we use logic to rationalise the decision.

By all means, we should trust our intuition, but only once we have done a lot of hard work to find people who think differently from us. This is especially important for senior management teams, where we typically have a very strong desire for 'fit' and compatibility. We need to be very conscious of looking for both divergent thinking and culture fit.

Being unprepared to pay an extra few thousand a year could lose us a good candidate. We want all our people to be comfortable with what they're earning. Of course, money is not the only reason a candidate decides to take a job, but it is still significant.

What happens, though, if a new hire expects more than we currently pay people in our company on the same pay grade? Well, then we should check to see what other candidates out there expect for the same role. If they are all asking for R 10 000 more we probably have internal issues we need to look at.

What happens, though, if a new hire expects more than we currently pay people in our company on the same pay grade? Well, then we should check to see what other candidates out there expect for the same role. If they are all asking for R 10 000 more we probably have internal issues we need to look at.

We can easily end up hiring over qualified people when we are searching for the absolutely perfect person; we tend to look for more qualifications than the role needs. They, being under-challenged in the role, may soon become unhappy and leave.

Of course, we don't lower our standards, but we accept that everyone has deficiencies. Trust that when you hire a 7 on your rating scale, you will be able to build them up to a 10.

For most levels, including senior management, the fit between the candidate's values and attitude and that of the organisation is more important than skills, which training can provide. If they don't fit our company culture, though, no amount of training will fix it.

For senior management hires, however, skills are just as important as organisational fit. Crucial skills for senior roles would include financial responsibility, strategic thinking, expertise across different business functions and the ability to influence and persuade. Of course, with a track record of success applying these skills.

Giving interviews the right focus comes from the knowledge that there's no better predictor of future success than past behaviour. So it makes sense for us to focus interview time on specific, behavioural questions. 'Tell me about a time you felt overloaded', rather than 'What would you say your weaknesses are'.

Crucial skills for senior roles would include financial responsibility, strategic thinking, expertise across different business functions and the ability to influence and persuade

As the candidate describes their experiences, we are looking for competencies we know are needed for success in the role. Don't get too hung up on whether the candidate has had the specific experiences you'd like. Instead, look for the general competencies they are revealing in their description, such as resourcefulness, decisiveness, resilience or sensitivity to others

A great way of assessing how well the candidate will handle the pressures of the role is to ask them their thoughts on handling a specific situation your team is currently facing.

We chatted in more detail about the effectiveness of this approach in .

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Tags: Leadership, Talent Attainment, Talent Retention
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