Breaking Bad…Hiring Habits

Tired of hiring people who don’t live up to expectations?

Maybe it’s time to examine your hiring practices.

Every now and again, all employers have tough-to-fill or last-minute hiring needs (and PrideStaff is ready to help!). But if you get sloppy, skip steps or compromise your standards, those bad practices will result in, you guessed it, bad hires.

Is your team guilty of these hiring bad habits? If so, use the following tips to break them:

Bad Hiring Habit 1: Failing to clarify – and sell – the opportunity.

Accurate job descriptions are an important part of effective hiring – but they’re only part of a complete profile. To attract high performers, make sure you also:

• Clarify the skills, abilities, knowledge, experience and personal characteristics required for the job.
• Describe your corporate culture. A qualified candidate won’t succeed unless their values align with the company’s.
• Move beyond minimum requirements. Create a list of “success factors” the individual would need to achieve to be successful – and use them to round out your job description.

Bottom line, answer the primary question talented, hard-working people want to know: “What’s in it for me?”

Bad Hiring Habit 2: Relying on the same old recruiting tactics.

Still posting exclusively on “monster” job boards – or worse yet – advertising in the classifieds? These methods aren’t likely to deliver the best candidates, especially in tight talent markets like skilled trades and IT.

Consider where your best prospects spend their time looking for work, and develop a multi-pronged strategy to connect with them:

• Maintain and nurture a database of available candidates.
• Work referral sources both within and outside your organization (and create a formal, simple referral program to entice more high-quality referrals).
• Perform internet searches.
• Use social media to build your employment brand and connect with job seekers.
• Use LinkedIn’s advanced search features to identify prospects for higher-level roles.
• Partner with a qualified staffing firm like PrideStaff that proactively sources talent in a variety of ways – and can connect you with passive job seekers.

Bad Hiring Habit 3: Dragging your feet.

Unemployment is near record lows. Time-to-fill is just off its all-time high. The best candidates are only on the job market for a short time, and they won’t wait around for you to get your hiring ducks in a row.

While you should never skip steps in your screening, assessment and selection processes, do what you can to maintain momentum once you identify a promising candidate:

• From the initial application through post-placement check-in, look for ways to shorten timelines – without sacrificing quality.
• Consider phone or video screening for out-of-town candidates.
• Identify and eliminate bottlenecks that slow down decision-making and communication with candidates. For example, consider a panel interview as an alternative to multiple rounds of one-on-ones.
• Invest in technology to speed processes and ensure great candidates aren’t vulnerable to poaching by your competitors.

Want to make better hires, every time?

Trust PrideStaff with your search. Using industry-leading best-practices, our proprietary On Target fulfillment process quickly delivers candidates with the right skills, attitude and culture fit – each and every time. Contact your local PrideStaff office today to learn more.