Recruiting Mistakes That Waste Time and Money
Having a high turnover of staff —replacing someone who has just been hired—can be very costly. Recruiting mistakes can be real killers to a company because it requires a lot of time, effort, and money to recover from them.
Familiarize yourself with the common recruiting mistakes to avoid them in your next recruitment process so you don’t have to go back to square one. Avoiding these mistakes will lead you to hiring the best person for the job and your company.
Vague Job Description
When your job description is not accurate and honest, you will less likely attract candidates with the qualities and abilities that you are looking for. Good job descriptions have the following details:
- Clear and concise job title
- A short and engaging overview of the job
- Key responsibilities that lead to growth and development
- The urgency for the position
Overselling the Role
Do not promise more opportunities than there actually are nor exaggerate advancement and bonuses. A mismatch in expectations can cause a sharp loss of focus and motivation, making your new hire look for work elsewhere. This will lead to you spending time and energy to rehire.
Define the job that will clarify what you need from a candidate and what exactly you can offer them when they fill in the position you are looking for.
Relying Too Much on the Interview
Potential candidates are evaluated through interviews but it doesn’t mean that it’s the best method since interviewers can spend most of their time trying to confirm the impression they formed of applicants.
Take note that a candidate applying for the job can say or do anything to get the job that you’re offering. A better way to know how a candidate can perform “on the job” is to give her a test or exercise that will reveal how she might be good at planning, organizing, and communicating.
Not Hiring Someone More Confident and Talented
Some companies hire below their skills to make themselves look good. They are afraid of having someone more confident and more talented than them in the team because they take them as a “threat” to their position.
If you are smarter than this recruiting mistake, you will hire people who are better than you because they can help you improve your skills and help move the business forward. Take the advice of Lee Iacocca, an executive of a renowned U.S. automotive who said, “I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way.”
Waiting for the Ideal Candidate
You will be jeopardizing your team’s productivity by keeping it understaffed because you want to wait for the perfect fit for the job vacancy. Your team members will have to make up for the load and time while you wait, and this can affect their morale. Stick to the candidate who meets most of your key requirements, fits the culture of your company, and excels in soft skills.
Overlooking Existing Team Members
Plenty of companies overlook the potential of existing team members who can fill the vacancy. Filling roles internally can save time and money as the individual already understands the culture, processes, and mission of the company.
You can also protect important knowledge that could be lost when people leave your company. Furthermore, it can increase motivation, morale, and productivity when people from your team are hired to fill a higher position.
Poor Quality Interviews
Interviewing is a crucial part of the recruiting process but it can sometimes end up vague, variable, or overbearing and you end up hiring the wrong person. For a quality interview that will help you get the best fit for the job, follow these tips to make the candidate speak 80% of the interview:
- Avoid basic, simple, or boilerplate questions that will result in canned or predictable and rehearsed answers.
- Ask questions that will knock the candidate out of their comfort zone and will actually force them to actually think about the answer quickly.
- Ask questions that will actually reveal something about who they are.
Do Not Ignore These Recruiting Mistakes
Keep your business moving forward by hiring the best candidate fit for your job opening. The hiring will not happen though if you have not gone through a quality recruiting process. A quality recruiting process takes real effort and makes sure that recruiting mistakes are not made to save time, effort, and money.
