By Art Snarzyk III, CPBA, CPVA, CPEQA, CPHDA

Eighty percent of turnover is the result of mistakes made during the hiring process, according to Harvard University. If you hire the right people, you will avoid the headaches, stress, expense and wasted time caused by turnover — not to mention the negative impacts on your current employees and customers. Here are some proven tips to hire once and hire right.

TIP 1: KNOW THE POSITION AND WHO YOU WANT IN IT

Goal: Design the “perfect robot”

The position you’re hiring for exists for a reason. What is that reason? Don’t stop at the job description and expectations — picture the type of person that is a perfect fit for that job. How should they behave? What are they driven by? Which tasks are most important? Which tasks will take up the most time during their week? For instance, the position may have a very important task, but it may only occupy an hour of time each week. With that information, determine how strongly you should weigh that skill against the applicant.

1.
Interview the position/job itself — Know what is expected, what it is supposed to accomplish, how it makes an impact on the company and its goals.

2.
Design your robot — In a perfect world, how would the perfect robot (employee) for this position behave, which personal traits would they possess, skills, education, what naturally motivates them (money, serving others, prestige, etc.)? Don’t necessarily focus on your current or past top performers — they may be the best you’ve seen, but not the best available.

TIP 2: WRITE AN EXCELLENT EMPLOYMENT ADVERTISEMENT

Goal: Write an ad that attracts the right people and detracts the wrong ones

If you want excellent candidates, write an excellent ad. If you want mediocre candidates, well, don’t. Focus on writing an advertisement that is going to reach the exact person you want to hire. It is all too common for companies to post an ad with a job description, hours of work, education level and pay. Those companies end up getting mediocre candidates — and too many of them. Your ad should include a few of the above elements, but should focus more on the person that should apply for the job.

You don’t need 300 mediocre applicants. You need 10 great ones. The quantity of applicants is not the measure of your success, the quality of applicants is. You just designed a robot in Tip 1, but we know that people are not robots. People are unique and so is your company and the position you’re hiring for.

I’d like to use a fishing analogy, since that’s the equivalent to what we are doing. We’re fishing for the trophy catch. That trophy is different for each fisherman. If you want bass, use worms, spinner-baits, or crank-baits. If you want catfish, use stink bait. If you want crappie, use minnows. If you want sharks, use a big wounded fish and chum the water. Know what you’re trying to catch and bait your hook appropriately. Also, know where to find your fish. You’ll have a bad day of fishing for sharks in Lake Eerie, or for northern pike in the Florida Keys. Make sure you post your advertisement where you’ll find the kinds of candidates you want.

1.
Write a good headline — The position you’re hiring for and why it’s awesome.

2.
Write about the company — Where are you located, how long have you been around, are you growing or well-established, who do you serve, what do you believe in, what do you stand for, why do you do what you do?

3.
Write about the candidate — List the behavioral traits, values, and skills of those who should apply. Are they fast-paced/slow-paced, methodical/love change, systems-oriented/creative, rule followers/outside the box thinkers? Also, write in a way that resonates with the type of person you want. Highly driven problem-solvers won’t read more than a few bullet points, while systematic analysts want more information than you would naturally want to provide.

4.
Be sure that you include instructions at the end of the ad that say, “Please include a cover letter with a brief description of why you should be considered for this position.” This is a test.

5.
Post the advertisement — of course you should post it where it is makes sense to your industry (Monster, Craigslist, Newspaper, Executive Search, etc.). Don’t forget to email it to friends, colleagues and customers. They know you, who you’re looking for, and they can help. You just have to ask them.

TIP 3: CONDUCT A GREAT PHONE INTERVIEW WITH THE BEST APPLICANTS

Goal: Ask questions to determine if you should bother spending more time with the applicant

First, you should respond to all applicants. Have someone mail or email a letter to those applicants you will not be considering. This is important so that they (and their network) know you are professional. You never know, you may reconsider them in the future or they may have a good friend that would be a perfect fit for your company. Don’t blow that opportunity by blowing them off.

To determine which candidates to set up a phone interview with, first make sure they passed the test from #4 above. Failure to follow that instruction will be predictive of their future behavior. Check over their skills, experience, etc. to see if it matches what your position needs. If you’re ready to move forward, set up a 15-30 minute phone interview to ask more questions. Hopefully, they will ask some, too.

Most importantly, ask every applicant the same questions in the same order. The order in which you ask the questions is important — as you have a conversation with someone, the conversation builds and increases rapport. Asking the same questions in the same order removes some of the bias that may occur between candidates. You’ll likely get a different answer if you ask, “Why would you like to work here?” as the first question than if you asked that question last.

1.
Know the applicable laws — especially pertaining to “protected classes.”

2.
Choose the best applicants — there is no set number, but you are looking for the A Team. If there are 5 — call them, if there are 10 — call them. If there is 1 — call that one (but consider running your ad for longer or in different places).

3.
Prepare a list of questions — same questions, same order, every candidate — got it?

4.
Tell them about your company and the position.

5.
Ask if they have questions — You’ll usually learn much more about the candidates by the questions (or lack of questions) they ask, than the questions you ask.

6.
It’s ok if you find that the candidate is not a good fit at this point. You just saved yourself and them valuable time.

7.
Follow up — with good news or bad.

TIP 4: PREPARE FOR THE IN-PERSON INTERVIEW

Goal: Do your homework so you don’t get fooled during the interview

Let me start this tip with two important points: 1) know the applicable laws and 2) be extremely consistent with your hiring process. This will keep you out of legal trouble.

Background checks can provide good information about your candidates. They can be conducted in a number of areas such as criminal, driving records, financial, sex offender registry, education verification, among others. Be sure you know the laws for the background checks you use, as it may not be legal to check for certain things that are not applicable to the job. Also, although scanning social media sites can provide you with a lot of information; it is a very dicey area for employers to play in.

Assessment tools should be a routine part of your hiring process. There are tools available that can tell you just about anything you need to know about your applicants. While background checks can tell you a lot about the past of your applicants, assessment tools will tell you a lot about their future. Which do you think is more important? Put another way — would you rather know the crimes someone committed in the past or the ones they are about to commit? I particularly use assessments to discover:

• Behavioral traits — how a person typically likes to behave, communicate, interact, etc.

• Motivation and engagement — what is a person passionate about, what motivates and demotivates them, why do they behave the way they do, etc.

• Skills — what they are good at, which skills need development, etc.

• Acumen — their insights, awareness, intuition, how they view the world and environment, etc.

• Emotional Intelligence — how well do they know themselves and others, can they interact effectively, are they skilled at regulating their emotional response to adverse situations, will they be skilled leaders, etc.

Note: although I recognize intelligence and experience as critical pieces of one’s personality, they are difficult to measure subjectively and I have not yet found an assessment tool that meets my standard of accuracy and context that can be relied on for hiring purposes.

1.
Know the applicable laws.

2.
Run background checks — only in areas that are relevant to the position.

3.
Use assessment tools — the more tools/sciences you use, the greater the chance of hiring a winner who lasts. If you are not skilled in the interpretation of the results, get outside help. Predictive hiring is crucial.

Note: you are not obligated to share the assessment results with the candidate, and I do not recommend you do if you choose not to hire them.

TIP 5: GET GREAT INFORMATION DURING THE IN-PERSON INTERVIEW

Goal: The final step in the decision-making process

If you’ve made it this far with an applicant, they should already be pre-qualified as an excellent candidate. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be wasting your time. Just like the phone interview, you should have a list of questions (which you will ask every candidate in the same order). However, these questions will dig a little deeper. Get clear about the specifics of the work, hours, conditions, company culture, goals, and expectations. You will be asking questions to determine if the candidate is in full agreement, capable and willing to perform while having a great “attitude.”

Use information from Tip 4 to determine if there are any areas that need to be discussed more deeply. For instance, your assessment may tell you that the candidate is a creative/free-thinking person, but the position requires rigid adherence to strict routine. Ask how the candidate will react to that. How have they liked those types of situations in the past? Will they enjoy being in that situation long-term?

Always ask open-ended questions because you want thorough answers. You’ll get a much better answer to a question like “How have you handled disagreements with coworkers in the past?” than you would if you ask “Do you get along with coworkers?” This interview should allow for more two-way dialogue so both you and the candidate can learn whether this is a great match or not. You may think it’s a great match, but you’ll have an unwelcome surprise coming soon if the applicant thinks it’s just a paying job to hold them over until they find something better.

1.
Again, know the laws — especially pertaining to “protected classes.”

2.
This is a discussion, not an interrogation.

3.
Ask open-ended questions.

4.
Talk a little more about “a day in the life” of the position.

5.
Be sure to find out if the candidate has any concerns or special circumstances.

6.
Discuss the next steps — when you will make decisions, when the chosen candidate will start, etc.

7.
Follow up — with good news or bad.

Art Snarzyk, known as “The Turnover Terminator,” works with contractors and professional service businesses worldwide to help them become better at attracting, hiring, and training great employees who fit their unique companies. More information about his consulting company can be found at www.InnerViewAdvisors.com.