According to testgorilla.com, hiring the wrong person can cost an organisation as much as $840,000 for a single wrong or bad hire. So, how do we ensure we don’t incur such costs while hiring?

Hiring errors are very expensive and can be debilitating for an organisation, especially in a thinning labour market that is also facing a major skills shortage. This means it has never been more pertinent for you to recruit wisely. 

Hiring a new employee is an arduous process that is usually not any employers dream but is very necessary for the future of the organisation.

Usually, to ensure the right person is going to be employed, you need to ensure that the person is coming to the right organisation. The process or ensuring the hire is right is broken down into 3, which are below.

1. The pre-screening stages.
2. The screening stage, and
3. The recruitment stages.

THE PRE-SCREENING STAGE

This is the stage where you set the stage for a possible job opening or a job opening that comes up.

• What is your company culture (defined and undefined)? Describe a person that represents your organisation. What stands them out? What will the recruit have to be a culture add and not just a culture fit? These key attributes are what you will be looking for in your candidates during recruitment.
• Prepare a job evaluation: this involves overview of the job itself; what is the job description, is it in line with current realities in terms of need, cost and productivity or is there a need for re-evaluation? Does that job position and reporting line still give value today or can it be eliminated or collapsed into another fully or partially? Is the pay and job cost competitive with the current realities especially in line with competition and cost of living index. What will be the Key performance indices (KPIs) for that job position, what is the Knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) required for that role, what will be the key success indicators (KSI) for that job position? Will the job now be remote, onsite or hybrid?
• Look inwards: is there anyone internally who would easily fill that post or would need a little upgrade to fit in? if there is, then it is that person’s position that needs filling while that person takes up the new role.
• Define your recruitment strategy: are you using external consultants? or will the recruitment be done inhouse? What mediums and where will the job adverts be placed? Are you using job tests and personality tests? How structured will the interview be? Will you be running individual interviews or group interviews? Will there be online screening or onsite for interviews and tests?
• After all the questions above, you will come up with a recruitment strategy that will guide the recruitment process and sometimes also, the onboarding process. Set and agree timelines between job advert and recruitment of the new employee. Agree on budget/cost efficiency for the process.
• An example is the opening for an accountant in X organisation. After reviewing the job role, it has been decided that an accounting ERP software will now be acquired and installed to automate the accounting system from its current manual system. Due to that, the new person to be hired will have to be a person with a skill set or work experience of being able to use this accounting software. From market intelligence, the average pay for such a role is 20% above the old pay and so the management has created a pay range between the current salary for that role and 25% above that pay subject to qualification, experience, and negotiation. The job description for the role has been upgraded to include use of the new accounting ERP and minimum qualifications required for the new role. Because the role requires a person that is IT savvy and online, the job will be hybrid and adverts will be via online platforms with screening done by external consultants before the 2^nd level screening done by the company for the top selected candidates.

 

 THE SCREENING STAGE

• This is the core or heart of the screening process, at this stage, you go about applying the recruitment strategy defined in stage 1 (the pre-screening stage).
• The job advert and application process should be done unambiguously unless it is by referral.
• Ensure initial screening is based on primary qualifications like educational qualifications, skill set, work experience and personality traits. You can be creative with both the test and interview sessions as it suits your organisation.
• Let your team members that will be working with this employee be in the first interview with the potential candidates and take their opinions on who (amongst the candidates) stays and who goes.
• Do not be in a hurry to hire, ensure you make your own pick in line with all the processes listed above.
• Conduct a final interview with the top 2 or 3 candidates that have come through all the screening above to take a final decision on who is recruited and who is the alternative in case the selected candidate drops out last minute.

 

THE RECRUITMENT STAGE

• This is the last stage of the recruitment process which is after the selection stage.
• This is the point at which a final candidate is selected based on set out criteria like culture fit, culture add, knowledge, skills, and abilities, and future fit of the organisation.
• Conduct background checks and reference checks
• Formalize the recruitment by issuing employment offer letters.
• Activate the onboarding process.

The above process does not ensure a perfect candidate is recruited, but it minimizes the instances of a wrong employee being hired.

Coinbox Limited is an expert in recruitment, job evaluation, interviews, culture evaluation, and staff onboarding. Engage us today to take the recruitment burden off you.

 

Ayo Emakhiomhe.