Are You Guilty of Making These 10 Hiring Mistakes?

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By Megan Lacombe

Topics: Hiring

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Are-You-Guilty-of-Making-These-10-Hiring-Mistakes.jpgHiring decisions are some of the most important decisions your company will make. Your hiring decisions will have an impact on the corporate culture, the progress you make, as well as your financial stability. Hiring mistakes are expensive, which is why you want to be sure you aren’t making any of the ten biggest ones.

1. Not Understanding the Vacancy

Before you begin the process of filling a vacant position, you need to take some time to contemplate why the previous employee left. While there can be many practical reasons for quitting, reasons that point to a problem with the job itself need to be addressed before you bring someone else in.

2. Lack of Clarity in Listing

If the job listing you post includes any vague language, you likely won’t attract the right candidates. Clear and precise qualifications mean less work, and stress, for you.

3. Relying on a Small Candidate Pool

Throwing your net wide when it comes to hiring can be a great advantage. The more candidates you are looking at, the better your chances you’ll get someone who is right for the position. Smaller candidate pools lead to compromise, which isn’t good in the long run.

4. Not Having a Structured Hiring Process

Rash hiring decisions are one of the worst hiring mistakes you can make, and rash decisions almost always come about because hiring managers don’t have a structured process in place for how they will approach hiring.

5. Putting Too Much Emphasis on the Interview

While the interview is undoubtedly an important part of the process, relying solely on the interview can lead to disaster. Just because someone is naturally affable or charismatic doesn’t mean he or she is more suited for the position. When likable personalities distract you, you can forget to hire on suitability. This is one of the most common interview mistakes hiring managers make.

6. Not Drawing on Past Experience

During the interview process, and the hiring process more generally, the experience held by the candidate should be prioritized. While it can be easy to be dazzled by formal education, experience shows you the candidate knows how to actually do the practical work. Asking questions that encourage the candidates to expand on their experience is a great idea too.

7. Not Testing Candidates

On paper, a candidate can look great, but until you’ve put those qualifications to task you can’t be entirely sure that you’re getting just what’s being advertised. More and more companies are opting to test employees before making employment offers. Simple testing in the hiring process can help avoid hiring mistakes.

8. Forgetting to Emphasize Soft Benefits

Soft benefits can be an incentive to employees who are deciding between multiple job offers or career paths. When we say soft benefits we mean those that fall outside the purview of salary and health benefits; things like complimentary gym memberships or flexible hours. 

9. Overlooking Cultural Fit

One of the big hiring mistakes that companies make is not hiring for cultural fit. Corporate culture plays a huge role in employee retention and satisfaction. Assessing early if someone would fit into your work culture can help you make better hiring decisions.

10. Not Having a Solid Onboarding Process

The onboarding process is crucial when it comes to hiring. With the proper onboarding process, you give your employee the tools necessary to excel in the role and make a positive contribution to the company. On the other hand, if you don’t have a solid onboarding process in place, you’re likely to see highturnover rates and employee dissatisfaction.

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Megan Lacombe

Megan is a Media Communications professional at Liberty Staffing. She has experience working as a Freelance Writer for a variety of companies online. In her free time, she enjoys crafting, photography, running, and kayaking. An avid reader, she reads anything, anywhere. She puts creativity and passion into everything that she does. Her favourite quote is “Create the things you wish existed” by Anonymous.

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