When it comes to running a business, one of the most difficult parts of the job has to do with finding and hiring new talent. It can be stressful, and if not done correctly can actually end up costing you a lot of time and money.
Rushing to Post Your Job Listing
Many owners will wait till the very last minute to post a job listing. You may have been short staffed for weeks or even months, and you finally reach your breaking point and decide to hire a new team member. You pull another job listing off the job boards, change a few key points, and then turn around and post your job listing an hour later. All without giving a lot of thought to whom you actually want to hire and what you want them to do within your own business. This rookie mistake can cause you to go into the hiring decision unprepared. You don’t have a clear idea of what you are actually hiring for, and may find yourself hiring the wrong person now and having to do it all over again in a few months.
Rushing Into Your Interview Unprepared
For many managers and business owners, you don’t spend a whole lot of time doing interviews, so your skills are rusty. You pull up a generic set of questions off the internet and show up for the interview with little or no plan. Doing this will lead you to asking questions that have no relevance to your industry or the position at hand, and can again cause you to make the wrong hiring decision. Or, worse yet, lead the job candidate to think that you aren’t a good manager and they may turn down your job offer to work for a company that was more prepared for their interview and the hiring process.
Rushing Into Making a Decision
What happens if the candidates who apply aren’t a great fit? What if you only get a handful of résumés and none of them fill the bill? If you are in a hurry to backfill a position, you may find yourself picking the best one at the time, which may lead you to have to do the hiring process (and training!) all over again in three to six months.
Rushing Your New Hire Through Their Onboarding
Let’s say for the sake of argument that despite all your trouble you manage to find a good hire that fits your company’s needs. You offer them the position and then two weeks later they walk through your doors ready to work. What you do next will play a huge part in whether they do a good job in their position. Rushing through their job training and onboarding can leave them confused and make it almost impossible for them to meet your expectations for the role.
Hiring is difficult, but with a little bit of planning and foresight, it doesn’t have to be so hard. Spend some time thinking through the role and your job listing, and take your time making a hiring decision and onboarding and you will be much happier with the end result.