The HR executive is always going to be a central part of the hiring process. If you're running a company, you need to make sure they're able to hire the right people. One of the biggest problems is 89% of failed hires not meshing with the company culture. Little things like this are a big deal and you don't want to accidentally hire a talented superstar who doesn't get along with everyone else in the office.
This guide is going to go into some of the background checks and major errors HR executives often make during the hiring process.
They Don't Know What They Want
You should have a firm idea of what you want before you go into the hiring process. During the interview you should know what you want to see from your ideal candidate. Too many HR executives will waste their time correcting their course based on a candidate they vaguely like.
This is a clumsy mistake during the hiring process because you could come out of the process with a completely different candidate from the one you originally wanted. This is about being a disciplined professional so you can accomplish your goal. It's one of the biggest small business HR mistakes you can make.
They Don't Check the Company Culture
The company culture is a big deal. It wasn't a few years ago. Only now have CEOs begun to realize how critical it is. Your HR executive should be looking at more than how qualified the person is. You can have the best worker in the world, but if they don't fit in with the company's culture they're never going to thrive.
Business in the 21st century is very much a team effort. Without it you can never hope to achieve anything. You should be asking about their soft skills and the way they meshed in their last company.
That's the point of an interview. You have their qualifications and skills already on paper.
They Hire Because They're Trying to Tick Arbitrary Boxes
There's a big drive to hire more women and ethnic minorities these days. You'll notice that a lot of the time this only happens in smaller companies. Bigger corporations ignore such calls. And it's not because everyone who works for them is prejudiced. They're hiring based on the needs of their company. They're not trying to tick any arbitrary boxes.
Adopt this same mindset yourself and don't try to tick arbitrary boxes. It's nice to bring in other groups to make your company more diverse, but skills and fitting in comes first. Don't trade in a better candidate because of their gender or the color of their skin.
They Don't Take References Seriously
References have lost some of their relevancy purely because most people already know what they're going to say. You're already going to get a positive reference otherwise the candidate wouldn't have given you the name of that employer in the first place.
Don't call and ask the same questions as everyone else. One of the top mistakes hiring managers make when hiring software developers, for example, is to ask about their work and how good they were. You already know the answer, thus seeking out references will only act as a form of rubber stamp.
Change things around by asking questions revolving around how they fitted into the company culture and the main challenges they faced. Don't be afraid to ask someone about their weaknesses. HR executives must make sure the answers match up with what was said during the interview.
You have to be prepared to reject someone based on their references.
They Don't Give them a Chance to Let Someone Go Later
Every HR executive should make it clear there's a probationary period. It shouldn't matter whether they happen to be the best worker in the world or not. Everyone should be subject to a period of probation. This will give you a chance to see how they gel with the rest of your team.
Without that you don't have a chance to get out of a hire. It's more difficult to fire someone after you've taken them on full-time. Don't leave yourself with a nasty headache because you didn't give yourself a chance to get out.
Conclusion - A Good Hire is a Collaborative Effort
Your HR executive should be regularly liaising with other authority figures within your company. This will enable you to make the right hiring decisions. No HR executive should be handling the whole process by themselves.
What are the biggest hiring mistakes you have made?