In today’s Internet savvy world, everything has changed from the way we buy and research products and services to how we find a mate and when, where and how we look for new career opportunities. Let’s take a quick look at the job search changes and how a few strategic decisions can make or break your ability to find and hire the best talent.
Bad hiring decisions happen
If you’ve ever been involved in the hiring, you know full well that vetting candidates based on a resume and their interview stories isn’t a fail safe. People are there to get the job and some of them will say or do what it takes, even if it means lying. Access to LinkedIn can help in that it gives more information about job histories, who the person is connected with and recommendations from those connections. However, if they aren’t forthright with information in person – are they going to be online? Probably not.
Don’t be quick to hire
In 2014, the CEO of Zappos admitted that bad hiring decision cost them over $100 million. That’s a lot – and if you think about scaling that down or up depending on the business size, it’s still more money than any company wants to waste. Part of the problem is hiring too quickly and rushing the interview process and part of the problem is putting bad hires into management positions where they hire more people. And some of the problem is human tendencies – specifically – dragging feet on firing because it’s uncomfortable or you feel sorry for them. Think carefully and plan your interview questions and processes accordingly.
Peer reviews as a hiring magnet
With job search apps such as Glassdoor, prospective employees can see ratings and feedback from present and past employees that help inform their decision to apply. These reviews from peers are huge influencers. If you’re not yet on Glassdoor, you might want to claim your listing now because it gives you an opportunity to respond to reviews, and add information that might assist high caliber talent in choosing you.
Company culture matters
Many people spend more time working and commuting than doing anything else including sleeping and spending time with family. If that’s the case then it becomes critical to your health and happiness to like your job, co-workers, and the environment. It’s important to the company too since unhappy employees are 20% – 30% less productive, which adds up to a lot of money across all employees over the year.
What company culture is?
It’s the water cooler and cool lampshades plus the values, ethics, goals and perks. It’s basically the personality of the workplace, which is either set by happenstance or in today’s paradigm done intentionally and as a selling point for hiring and retaining talent.
Interview questions
When interviewing for your next open position, think about asking these types of questions to narrow the chances of hiring someone who won’t jive with your company culture:
- Describe yourself or tell me a little about yourself
- Which do you prefer – working on a team or independently?
- Describe your ideal work environment
- When was the last time you offered to help a co-worker and what was the offer?
- Describe your typical workweek or ideal work schedule
- What do you know about our company?
- Describe your best (or worst) boss
Asking good questions, displaying your company culture on the website, making sure your reviews are current and appropriate and selecting candidates based (in part) on a culture fit will impact your whole team’s productivity level. Choose carefully and the whole company wins – choose poorly and the cost will be great.
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