Guide To Hiring Effective Employees

Achieving success for any business depends on many factors. Some industries thrive on the uniqueness and possibilities of an idea, some rely on the production effectiveness, and some thrive on the marketing strategies and so on. Every business needs to master the basics of every function as a base and let the unique advantage or offering build over it.

However, any business cannot even survive nor thrive without competent people working for it. No matter how groundbreaking innovation a company offers, or any revolutionary processes they have, if they don’t have the right people at the right job, the business is a house of cards that is awaiting its demise.

Human Capital is the real base and indicator of any company’s success. It doesn’t matter how exceptional strategies and planning are in place; if the culture is not empowering and enabling, strategies can’t work. People in the company set the culture, and the culture sets the tone for the ruthless execution, which promises exceptional performance and unmatched excellence.

This is the reason companies invest so heavily in terms of time, money, and strategy to ensure they can attract the right talent, retain them, and grow them to get the most of them.

With the abundance of competition and scarcity of quality talent, companies struggle to get the right fit. Similarly, it is essential to hire people who are compatible with the company culture and utility, as sometimes hiring top-notch talent (apparently) can ruin company culture and performance.

Determining the right mix has no scientific formula but an art exclusive for each company. Similarly, diversity and inclusion have a lot to do with shaping the right people culture too, as diversity benefits business in the form of fresh perspective rather one-eyed view.

Therefore, a lot of companies ensure the right balance of gender ratio in hiring as well; they seek support from DES (Disability Employment Services) to have competent people for the job with some ailment or disability.

Hence, hiring is not a one-off procedure but an ongoing rigorous process to ensure the right practices. Getting the right candidate can push the company towards success, whereas the cost of hiring a wrong candidate is way more than just a monthly salary amount. Let’s take a look at a quick guide to understanding some fundamental practices to hire productive employees.

Identify, Outline, and Develop Requirements for the Position:

First and foremost, hiring managers need to identify and finalize the function, utility, and requirements of the position of a job. It is a crucial step as doing it right can help in devising the screening requirements, evaluation criteria, and prospective pay scale for the position. Every party related to the function and job must be included in this step as a deviation in the plan later can cause a delay.

This process should be defined clearly, and at every time, the same should be followed as it will avoid any discrepancy and provide consistency in the standard protocols.

Plan The Strategy:

This strategic planning phase involves developing and finalizing a budget to provide a pay scale range to find talent in. Similarly, this budget can determine how and at which medium the position should be advertised.

Evaluate and Screen Candidates:

Objectivity is the primary virtue in this process. Evaluate every candidate on the same criteria in the same way, e.g., employability skills, technical experience, professional qualification, etc. Similar practices should be followed when resumes are screened, as any discrimination can be a severe dent to the integrity of the company and hiring manager.

Next, conduct a preliminary phone interview with the prospective candidates. This can provide an excellent chance to gauge the communication skills and general understanding of the business, and it can give you insights on whether to go in the interview phase with the candidate or not.

Additionally, preliminary phone interviews are easy to conduct as there is no need to arrange interview venue and logistics, and you can screen 10 to 15 people in a day quickly.

Interview:

This is the chance to evaluate the competence and attitude of a candidate jointly. You can prepare technical questions or queries to test the knowledge of the candidate. A lot of companies these days are conducting behavioral interviewing, which gauges behavioral ambit. Similarly, there are many formats of gamified recruitment that are emerging, in which candidates are assessed based on real-time responses to the simulated situations of the business.

Finalize:

Once the candidate is finalized, you need to create an offer letter for the candidate. It can be of any format, but typically it must include a request for candidate and hiring manager’s signature along with position, working terms, salary information, and other contractual elements.

Pre-Employment Background Checks:

It is not mandatory, but some employers conduct background checks with the previous employers about the conduct, performance, and history of the candidate. This can provide a further check on the credibility of the candidate, and the company can ensure that the person is not involved in any fraudulent or criminal activity previously.

Onboarding:

It is essential to make a practical orientation and onboarding system for the new hires. Settling in a new environment is already daunting for a candidate, therefore do not throw a candidate into the working mode without providing ease. Typically, managers provide 30-60 day coaching to make them familiar and get the hold of the work. Likewise, hiring managers are also responsible for bridging the gap between the new hire and other employees.

Conclusion:

As discussed, there is no secret formula or scientific method to nail the process of hiring the best employees, but the understanding of the business and effectiveness of the right procedures. Therefore, the hiring managers need to evolve with time, the demand of the company, and talent supply available.