Hiring Decisions - How much effort do you put into the hiring process these days? (7/2020)

[Mike S.]

I am curious how much effort various companies put into the hiring process these days. Does your company just seek to quickly fill open positions with whatever "warm bodies" they can find, or do they put a great deal of time and effort into finding just the right candidate -- preferring to leave a position open longer than they would like if it takes longer to find the right person? Or somewhere in between?

Does the effort put into the hiring process differ substantially for management types vs. production workers?

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[Jim Wynne]

My experience has always been that no matter how much effort is put into finding the ideal candidate, you have no way of knowing what you've got until they're hired and on the job.

 

[Scanton]

I agree with Jim Wynne 100%. When it comes to hiring new people it is always a gamble.

I have seen people go through 3 interviews with top management (genuinely intelligent people) and wow them to the extent that they are absolutely sure they have the right person for the job, only to find they are letting them go a few months later (during the probation period) because they clearly incapable of doing the job.

I have also seen a person go through a series of interviews and the end result was that the same management were still unsure about hiring them, only to find when they took the chance that this person was exceptional at their job and clearly just struggled to present themselves well in interviews.

To answer your question, were I work now has a very limited local talent pool to pick from, and anyone from further afield that is already qualified is just too expensive for us to hire.

 

[Mike S.]

So is there no value added to carefully screening several candidates and trying to pick the best one out of, say 3-5 that are interviewed? Are you just as likely to get a good candidate by hiring the first warm body that seems to meet minimal criteria?

I gotta tell you that I agree, in hiring like in picking a spouse, there is no known foolproof method to always ensuring you pick "the right one", but I believe there are ways to increase the odds of doing so, and that the effort is worth it. IMO hiring good-great people is one of the most important things we as managers can do. But I think I am in the minority.

 

[Jim Wynne]

I'm not saying that you shouldn't do your due diligence. I'm just saying that the best-laid plans go to hell sometimes. The important thing, I think, is to have a plan, and to act decisively if it looks like the Chosen One isn't going to work out.

 

[Tidge]

I am curious how much effort various companies put into the hiring process these days. Does your company just seek to quickly fill open positions with whatever "warm bodies" they can find, or do they put a great deal of time and effort into finding just the right candidate -- preferring to leave a position open longer than they would like if it takes longer to find the right person? Or somewhere in between?

I have seen the "hiring process" lead to outcomes that did not meet expectations. Where I have some measure of control, I have changed my thinking about the 'hiring' as the process; instead I think of 'hiring' as one step in an 'employment process'. For my direct reports, this means that I have more than just a job description to offer, but also planned tasks with enough specifics that both I and the potential hire are aware of what they will be asked to do. In the post-hire period, I have an (internal, unvocalized) set of metrics that I am using to evaluate the new hire as they are mentored through the tasks. Later, as I have an assessment of their capabilities we'll collaborate on future activities... as allowed by business needs.

When I'm not the direct supervisor, if I am to collaborate with a new hire I will adopt a peer-mentorship approach. Such new hires are under no obligation to pay attention to me, of course! My experience has been that new hires that don't look for peer-partners are more prone to have 'issues' at work which can impact everyone's performance.

 

[Golfman25]

We try to hire to our core values. Up until recently, almost impossible. (not sure now with unemployment so high) We are looser with production workers. Workers are just different these days.