Avoid Making These Mistakes When Hiring Employees

“The cost of replacing an individual employee can range from

one-half to two times the employee’s annual salary.”

There’s no denying it: Hiring mistakes cost your business dearly. By Gallup’s estimate, a $15/hr. employee costs a minimum of $15,600 to replace. Replacing a manager salaried at $50,000 could cost up to $100,000!

The best way to prevent these unnecessary hits to your bottom line? Hire smarter. Below, our national employment agency explains how to improve your hiring process by avoiding common mistakes.

Top 5 Hiring Mistakes

1. Lack of planning.

Now and again, all employers have tough-to-fill or last-minute hiring needs (and PrideStaff is ready to help!). But reactionary hiring is incredibly ineffective. Instead of waiting until you have a position vacancy to begin recruiting, take a more proactive approach:

Analyze your current talent “supply” and “demand” to predict upcoming needs.
Determine which of those needs could be filled internally, and which you’ll need to recruit for.
Start creating a candidate pipeline well before you need to hire.
Consider partnering with a qualified staffing and recruiting agency like PrideStaff to forecast your needs.

2. Not casting a wide net.

If you’re posting your position to your company job board and considering the job done, you’re missing out on a wealth of talent. Great candidates come from any number of sources: referrals, job boards, your company website, social media, talent communities, networking events, career fairs, industry conferences, recruiting partners like PrideStaff…the list goes on and on. Develop a comprehensive recruiting strategy for each type of role to access a broader applicant pool.

3. Using a job description for the job posting.

Accurate job descriptions are an important part of effective hiring – but they’re only part of a complete job posting. To attract high performers, make sure you also sell the job by including the following in your posting:

The “What’s In It For Me” (WIIFM). Explain the job’s importance and key tasks creatively that appeals directly to an applicant’s career needs. If you can convince a candidate that they would be passing up a major opportunity, you have a much better chance of winning them over.
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.
Move beyond minimum requirements. Create a list of “success factors” the individual needs to achieve to be successful – and use them to round out your job posting.

4. Not following a structured interview process.

Conducting an interview that reveals a candidate’s suitability for the role and alignment with your culture doesn’t happen by accident; it requires careful training and a structured process. Give your team a solid framework for success:

Provide formal training on how to ask and score open-ended and behavioral questions.
Train interviewers on how to assess nonverbal cues and employ active listening techniques.
Provide a standard list of questions to ask all candidates and a bank of customizable questions appropriate for each type of role.

5. Skipping reference checks.

Even if a candidate looks great on paper, sails through screening, and WOWs the hiring manager, your work is not done until the potential employee is carefully vetted. The simple reason? Research shows that 78% of applicants misrepresent themselves during the hiring process. Before hiring, follow the same structured process to verify your potential employee’s education, employment history, and character.

Want to make better hires, every time?

Trust PrideStaff with your search. Using industry-leading technology and best-practices, our 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.