Making a bad hire can have severe consequences for any employer, from damaging staff morale, to reducing team productivity and costing the business revenue, so it makes sense that avoiding a bad hire is a high priority for Hiring Managers. With 2017 just over the horizon, many businesses look to quickly close crucial skill gaps as they prepare to start next year on the right foot, which can often come with a significant risk. Here’s our guide to ensure you don’t end up with the wrong people starting with your business in the New Year.
Screen Your Candidates
If you’re not working with a recruitment agency having a comprehensive screening procedure is crucial to ensure the wrong candidates don’t make it into the recruitment process. In its simplest form, ensure you have a list of core, yet realistic role requirements. If applicants or referrals don’t tick most of the boxes, then don’t progress their application.
Prepare for the Interview
Once you have invited your shortlisted candidates to attend an interview, it’s essential to confirm all the basics have been covered. To help your interviews get off to a great start, here is a checklist.
Interview Your Candidates
Using a blend of behavioural and scenario-based interviewing techniques will ensure you leave the interview with the full picture.
Behavioural Questions
Behavioural-based interview questions use an applicant’s past behaviours to evaluate how well they would handle different situations, such as coping under pressure or with conflict. These include questions such as: “Tell me about a time you had conflict at work?” or “can you describe a situation where you worked well under pressure?”
Scenario Questions
Scenario-based interviewing techniques are used to identify how well a candidate would cope in an unfamiliar situation. These hypothetical questions will set a scene and ask the interviewee to solve a problem. The interviewer can analyse the candidate’s response to get an understanding of how they approach new situations and attempt to solve problems.
Pay close attention to the way the candidate provides their response. If they provided an example in their answer, be sure to check how recent it was. Look out for their body language and how comfortable they were when formulating their response. Gaining these extra pieces of information can significantly help when you’re stuck picking between a few strong applicants.
Have a Conversation
One of the best ways to attain meaningful information from your candidate is to have an engaging conversation with them. Sometimes, deviating from pre-set questions and establishing a positive environment can go a long way in gaining better responses from your candidates, and help paint your organisation in a better light.
The key to creating this environment is allowing your candidate to talk. Resist dominating the conversation and ask questions that invite your applicant to speak, not just answer questions. Consider what questions you want to be asked at the end of the interview and take note on whether your candidate decides to ask them. If they do, this could show that they’re engaged with the role, have been listening throughout the interview and want to learn more. A great candidate who has the right skillset but isn’t engaged or committed to what they’re going to be doing is still a potentially bad hire.
At the end of the main interview you might also want to consider inviting them to take an IT skills assessment.
Follow Up
Once you have concluded your interviews, take the time to carefully review your notes and those of your team. After you have reached a hiring decision, ensure you or your Recruiter complete comprehensive references from their previous employers. Then waste little time when it comes to informing the applicant of your decision. You don’t want to delay the process unnecessarily and lose the candidate.
Summary
With many businesses looking to start 2017 on the right foot, making a bad hire can be an expensive mistake. The best way to avoid this is to consult a specialist recruitment agency and provide plenty of time for your hiring process to be effective.
If you need help getting connected with fantastic IT talent across New Zealand in preparation for the year ahead, or some further guidance on how to interview them, don’t hesitate to contact us today so you can ensure your business has a great start in 2017.