Hiring is easy:
- Advertise a job
- Screen applications
- Interview
- Hire
So hiring is easy yet this is one of the most difficult parts of leading a team, department, or company. What happens when you keep hiring and the people you hire keep leaving? We have a few clients (and ourselves at times) when we just cannot find a suitable candidate who we hire and who stays for a number of years! Why is this? Find our top 5 hiring mistakes:
1. Start with the end in mind
We so often say this but when your job description is copied from somewhere and not created by you (the line manager), you will not get the right candidate. If you know the role is tough then say so – else you will get someone who was not looking for tough. If there are long hours, mention this. You will be amazed when you are honest with yourself and the candidate what you get!
2. Share your culture
Your team has a culture, a way of getting the job done and a ‘why’ you get out of bed each day and go so passionately to work. Do you not want people who join you with the same why? In your job advert speak clearly on why you do what you do. It will then resonate with the right people and you can then continue to build your team with the right culture. If you do not do this the people you hire will not have the same passion and leave for a company who shares their values.
3. Training
We see this so often, a candidate starts, gets basic training, and is expected to know everything! When the candidate resigns due to being overwhelmed as they were expected to know how to do everything – the penny does not always drop. We then hear from the company that they did not want to put too much effort into training their team because ‘what if they left’?
4. Induction, Induction, Induction
I did this badly at first, I would hire staff give them a quick 30 minute run down and expect them to know the ins and outs. Why did I think this? Because I had hired someone experienced! We often forget that every company has their own jargon, culture, ways of doing things and procedures. We need to share this with new employees (and no do not just send the hand book and hope they read it). I repeated this 3 times on purpose in the heading – Induction should be done consistently not just on the first day. Most candidates leave in the first 6 months because they do not feel like they ‘fit in’ or ‘belong’. It is your job to make them feel like they are part of the team.
5. Start with Why
Yes, this is a Simon Sinek phrase! But if you read the book ‘Start with Why’ you will understand what he means. Starting with why you do what you do rather than starting with what you do, makes the right people stand up and listen! Listen to Simon on www.youtube.com for ideas on how to talk about your why rather than your what.
Conclusion
If we learnt anything from this pandemic, it was to be human. Be human and treat people like you would want to be treated. You would want an honest job description before you joined the company, an induction and training when you started (and that is continued), with a clear purpose on why the company exists! All in all be human!
Finally ask your staff by doing an employee survey (allow them to be anonymous) at least every quarter to see how they feeling so you know what to change or fix. Do not assume – ask! (easy to create surveys on Google forms). And check to see if you are paying market related salaries, use salary benchmark tools (they FREE) like https://jobcrystal.co.za/salary-survey/
*Written by Sasha Knott, MD of Job Crystal
