Select the best fruit
Selecting people for your organisation is like picking fruit. You want the one's that are ready to take on the challenge and have the most appealing attributes, knowledge, skills, insights and tone. That candidate that will help you reach and exceed goals and stay with you for some time to come and help grow the business.
"Hiring the wrong people is the fastest way to undermine a sustainable business" Kevin J Donaldson
So why is it we continue to pick the bad apples? the sour grapes, the tasteless strawberries, the bruised pineapple? Some reasons we can think of include: - we rush into perceived perfection
- we expect a Michelin star meal for the price of a cheap burger
- our wants stamp all over your needs, they are not best friends
- we put hazard warning tape around the criteria and restrict your pool
- we ask the wrong questions at interviews or too little
- our eyes may see something but your ears do not fully listen
- we do most of the talking during the interview
- we expect the knowledge, skills and experience to be just as you read it in the cv - remember thats the interpretation
The list above is just a short list of a few things that can lead to us selecting the wrong people.
8 companies that give the toughest job interviews according to #Glassdoor www.glassdoor.com are:
McKinsey & Company
Thoughtworks
The Boston Consulting Group
Gartner
Bain & Company
Rolls Royce
ZS Associates
Google
What is your acceptance rate? Google is 0.2%.
Getting selection wrong can be expensive and worst of all disengaged people cost you typically 1/3rd of the person's salary because that's how much you will be paying and not receiving a return on and at worst it could be up to 200% of the salary if you don't receive returns at all and you have to re-recruit. Can you afford to get Recruitment wrong?
So if you don't have the skills in house to ensure you do a great job, hire someone who can help you. There are some amazing recruitment consultants out there, who really know their stuff and will work with you, to understand your business, understand your needs, and make the best representation of your business possible to attract those candidates, you may not otherwise have access to.
"People are not your most important asset. The right people are" Jim Collins
Before hiring recruitment consultants or agencies do you homework! This would entail:
- who do they work with and how well do they know your industry
- what track record do they have - don't believe their hype. Remember recruiters are sales people so talk a good talk.
- test their knowledge and skill . Start with small assignments, work to bigger ones.
- don't try and get them down to rock bottom prices.. This will serve no benefit to any party.
By all means negotiate the fee, but be sensible and realistic. The better recruitment agencies use their skills, influence and network to help you hire and this deserves reward, especially if the candidate exceeds performance.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur" (Red Adair)