Few things are as precious as hiring new employees. Hiring represents the chance to help the new person, improve the team and grow the organization. However, even though hiring is so important and special, we're not terribly good at it, and we certainly we don't spend enough time training people to be great hiring managers. To be clear, at many mid-sized or large firms there are thoughtful hiring processes in place, designed to gather tons of data through different activities, and tools so that hiring decisions can be as informed as possible.
Having said that, that's a minority of companies, and even in those cases the process can still be improved. And it's not that hard. Let me push you in the right direction with two value-added but inexpensive tactics that address common hiring mistakes. Let's start with one of the most important common mistakes in hiring, which is meeting candidates face-to-face too quickly. While it's true that face-to-face communication is typically the best option, here's an exception. What happens with most humans is that when we meet someone in an interview, we make snap judgments within seconds or minutes.
Due to cognitive biases and our own nerves, we often fail to effectively analyze the person and instead hone in on a few less than vital characteristics. The solution is simple. Save the in-person or even the Skype interviews for the final two to three candidates. Not the final ten or 20. And before you bring them in, screen them with a telephone call. On the phone, both people will experience significantly lower nerves. Have them elaborate at length about what's listed on their resume.
What you learn about them as communicators and what you learn about their real experience, will strongly inform your decision to bring them in. And it will make it easier to dive into a productive face-to-face interview, since you're merely continuing the conversation. Another odd problem with hiring is an over reliance on structure. For legal reasons, we need to follow a repeatable and legally defensible process. For decision making we need to deal with candidates consistently, right? kind of, what you really want is good data and when we put ourselves and a candidate through a highly structured, contrived process, what we're really seeing is an act.
Good candidates know this, and prepare for interviews, and deliver a great act. The solution is to use at least of a third of the interview for unstructured, problem-solving oriented conversations. If they're an engineer, gather three engineers and throw them around a table to get the candidate's views on an actual challenge they're facing. If you're hiring an HR professional, sit them down with a handful of other HR staffers, and chat about trends and talent management. Or maybe what it will take for HR to finally become a strategy-level player in the company.
Watch them interact and listen to the quality of their comments. You'll learn a lot about how they might fit in with the team in a short period of time. Hiring is vitally important, but we don't always get it right. Improve your hit rate by remembering this advice. Bring back the use of a good telephone interview and remove a little structure so you can watch your candidates interact with real people and real issues.
Author
Updated
6/20/2018Released
8/21/2013Skill Level Intermediate
Duration
Views
Q: Why can't I earn a Certificate of Completion for this course?
A: We publish a new tutorial or tutorials for this course on a regular basis. We are unable to offer a Certificate of Completion because it is an ever-evolving course that is not designed to be completed. Check back often for new movies.
Related Courses
-
Excel 2013 Essential Training
with Dennis Taylor6h 32m Intermediate
-
Introduction
-
Management Tips
-
Managing your manager2m 35s
-
Managing millennials2m 18s
-
Avoiding burnout at work2m 30s
-
Learning how to say no2m 18s
-
Managing poor performance2m 45s
-
Delivering employee feedback2m 53s
-
Cultivating future leaders2m 46s
-
Retaining top performers2m 31s
-
Getting your team unstuck2m 48s
-
Coaching your team2m 41s
-
Offering a needed apology2m 25s
-
Fixing mistakes2m 29s
-
Reading body language2m 51s
-
Becoming a change agent2m 59s
-
Earning your next promotion2m 33s
-
Making work fun2m 43s
-
Finding purpose in your work2m 40s
-
Becoming a better listener2m 44s
-
Communicating with candor2m 16s
-
Building trust2m 32s
-
Avoiding blame2m 34s
-
Embracing failure2m 33s
-
Motivating team members2m 35s
-
Empowering through BHAGs3m 7s
-
Storytelling at work2m 39s
-
Using persuasion at work2m 50s
-
5 Phrases to Avoid2m 39s
-
Surviving a bad boss3m 1s
-
Managing creative talent3m 2s
-
Managing technical talent2m 57s
-
Leading as an introvert3m 13s
-
Are leaders born or bred?2m 34s
-
Fighting bureaucracy3m 6s
-
Selling your ideas2m 30s
-
Restarting a stalled project3m 15s
-
Building a better meeting2m 41s
-
Making tough decisions2m 34s
-
Diversity’s real power2m 6s
-
Creative onboarding3m 31s
-
Pushing your limits2m 57s
-
Hiring a few originals2m 41s
-
Earning respect2m 26s
-
Speaking to be heard3m 8s
-
Embracing personal evolution3m 25s
-
Rethinking productivity2m 59s
-
Creating needed debate3m 2s
-
So you want to be a leader?2m 39s
-
Inspiration is a choice2m 35s
-
Predicting challenges2m 23s
-
Office etiquette2m 56s
-
Using phone etiquette2m 23s
-
The successful contrarian2m 14s
-
Myth of creative genius2m 44s
-
Managing emotions at work2m 35s
-
People don't hate change2m 47s
-
Avoiding the Peter Principle2m 52s
-
Signs of team dysfunction3m 12s
-
Leading with questions2m 31s
-
Using the trial balloon2m 32s
-
The personal thank you2m 36s
-
Let them teach you2m 25s
-
Effective ways to grab input2m 43s
-
Providing purpose2m 48s
-
Why liking is overrated2m 53s
-
Progress not perfection3m 8s
-
Overcoming unconscious bias3m 15s
-
Stimulating group learning2m 40s
-
Advocating for the unpopular2m 20s
-
Using a work diary2m 42s
-
The three strikes rule2m 56s
-
The leadership oath2m 48s
-
Signs of a toxic workplace2m 58s
-
How to show respect2m 43s
-
Psychology tips for managers2m 56s
-
Start, stop, change2m 44s
-
Dewett’s Rules3m 14s
- Mark as unwatched
- Mark all as unwatched
Are you sure you want to mark all the videos in this course as unwatched?
This will not affect your course history, your reports, or your certificates of completion for this course.
CancelTake notes with your new membership!
Type in the entry box, then click Enter to save your note.
1:30Press on any video thumbnail to jump immediately to the timecode shown.
Notes are saved with you account but can also be exported as plain text, MS Word, PDF, Google Doc, or Evernote.
Share this video
Embed this video
Video: Thinking about hiring in a new way