Overview of Common Hiring Mistakes
Are you making one or more of the five most common hiring mistakes?
Some hiring mistakes are caused by picking the wrong candidate. But more often, hiring mistakes come down to poor preparation, poor hiring skills and worse, your company’s poor structure. And then, other hiring mistakes are really a result of errors a company makes handling employees after the hire – not developing the new hire or not weeding out the underperformers.
(To check yourself, look at these additional frequent hiring mistakes we wrote about a while back. These could reduce your hiring mistakes and 
improve your sourcing decisions.)
Hiring mistakes occur especially when you are in a hurry to fill an important position. When you’re bringing on a new employee, it’s important they know both the basics of the job and how to fit in with your business culture.
So, what are the most common hiring mistakes, and what can you do to avoid them?
Your Managers Don’t Have Necessary Interviewing Skills
Some employers think anyone can be an interviewer.
Wrong!
It takes certain skills as well as personality traits and experience to be a skilled interviewer. Consider some of these:
- Prepare before the interview
- Knowledge about the job
- Training and experience
- Attentive listener
- Empathetic attitude
- Know appropriate questions to ask
- Ability to recognize uniqueness
- Don’t make the interview about the interviewer
Since not every hiring manager is an experienced interviewer, your managers should bone up on some techniques and tips to help avoid hiring using gut instinct.
You Don’t Pay Enough Attention to Candidates’ Fit
There’s a good deal of attention paid to a candidate’s fit with company culture. Of course, you need to find someone who will be a good fit with your current team and your overall organization’s culture. Someone who shares your beliefs, values and attitudes. However, remember your goal is hiring capable employees, not necessarily the most pleasant. Your hiring managers’ role is to select not only the most qualified, but also the best-suited candidate.
Organization Lacks Sufficient Job Structure
There is a difference between a stiff work environment from the old days and a completely unrestrictive one without rules. It seems many workplaces have gone over to a too-relaxed environment.
Even if you wish to use a loose organization, it’s important that your new employees have some structure surrounding their position or you will have a failed hire on your hands. Order and consistency are fundamental for any business.
There are a many advantages from a structured and efficient work environment that can’t be ignored.
The trend toward a casual style of work environment has been established to increase motivation and worker productivity. And it has worked.
But, regardless of the level of job structure that if each hire has a clear set of goals it will minimize worker stress and has the capability to increase productivity.
Not Providing the Right Training
Employees bounce so frequently job to job, and technology changes so rapidly, that you need to always be training hires.
Training and career development are among the top factors employees use to rank a job’s attractiveness or as a place to work. About half of employees indicate a firm’s training make them more likely to stay.
Yet, companies often spend more for coffee than spending for training.
Crazy! It’s not surprising hires don’t work out.
Failing to Dismiss Underperformers
You’ve done what you can to source, hire and develop the right personnel. Still, some don’t work out. Frequently, a manager will recognize a poor performer, but believes they will improve with just a little more grooming and development.
Uh uh. But this is rarely the case.
Instead, time will drag on and the employee will either be pushed from one manager to another to avoid the discomfort of firing someone. But eventually the ultimate will occur – firing them. But the harm has already infected the job and other workers. . A poor hire will affect your bottom line, your team, and your customers, so when you perceive their inability, learn to cut them as quickly as you can.
Wrap-up
Avoid these 5 familiar hiring mistakes to improve your new employee satisfaction and boost productivity. Not just the new hire, but the entire team.
Consider choosing a professional staffing agency skilled in sourcing and recruiting employees to minimize those pesky hiring mistakes.
Do you have questions about your hiring process? Call us today for suggestions.