By Gregg Goodmanson
What’s the cost of a bad hire? Each company I work with quantifies that differently. I would encourage you to calculate this for your company. Some studies suggest the certain positions cost anywhere from 1 – 1.5 times the annual salary. That’s painful.
Having a good hiring and onboarding/retention process won’t eliminate every bad hire. But without it, you are more likely to fail. As we work with companies to maximize their return on human capital, there are 5 vital pieces elements for success.
Pre-Hire
1. Clearly Defined Role. Without clarity, you will not be able to identify if your candidates fit the ideal. Define the following to build your Ideal New Hire Profile:
- Purpose of the role – In a paragraph, define the role in objective terms.
- Key results – For someone to be successful in that role what 4-6 results do you need them to achieve?
- Job Values – Define what someone would need to value to fill that role. Fast paced and complex or something more linear; be clear.
- Skills and Abilities – What skills have they demonstrated in past positions? Do they align with your needs?
- Culture – What are we looking for culturally and do they meet cultural expectations?
2. Hire From Want, Not Need – Don’t scramble in an emergency. This can lead to desperation and bad decisions.
Build an Ongoing Pipeline – The best organizations treat hiring like a sales pipeline. They are always looking. Having a bullpen of prospective employees always a good thing.
3. Clear and Consistent Process – Organizations that struggle with hiring top talent lack a consistent interview process. What should consistency look like?
- Same Interview Process – interviewing differently makes it very difficult to compare and contrast candidates. Develop a clear process and make it consistent.
Retaining After the Hire
4. Formalized Onboarding Process – Gallup’s research shows that the average employee becomes disengaged after 60 days. Here is what should be included in the on-boarding process:
- Organizational values – Knowing the values of the organization will equip the new hire to make better decisions
- Beliefs and behaviors of the organization – Knowing this will allow for alignment of beliefs and behaviors to improve culture
- Resources available to the new hire – The right resources make all the difference is employee success.
- Formalize mentorship – One of the things we hear the most is, I’m not sure who to go to for help.
5. Ongoing Engagement Strategy – Don’t lose the employees you have.
- Create Clear performance objectives with key metrics for success
- Ongoing training and development to help the individual
- Regular feedback
In the work that I do with organizations, we help them maximize their return on human capital in numerous ways. If you like to understand this more fully, contact me at 239-281-6358.
