The Biggest Mistakes Companies Make When Hiring New Workers

Hiring new talent is an involved and expensive process. You have to source applicants, narrow down the prospective pool, conduct interviews, and then have a plan for the newly hired employee once they begin.

Avoiding these mistakes can help you save time and money- and a lot of headaches.

You aren’t keeping track.

You may have a lot of potential employees contacting you and going through the hiring process, which means a lot of paperwork will need to be kept in order.

Invest in onboarding software to keep track of potential hires and their interviewing process as they go through it. If they’re hired, the same software will help generate onboarding documentation they can fill out before they step foot into the office, making the process streamlined ahead of their first workday.

Your job description is unclear.

Writing an effective job description is a balance of enticing the right applicants while also being perfectly clear and honest about the job itself.

Your job listing should be well-written and enticing, highlighting the perks of the job and the company as a whole. It should also be direct in what you’re looking for for that position and what the responsibilities of the job include.

Inaccurate details in job descriptions can lead to higher turnover rates within the company.

Before posting the description, talk to employees who are in the same or similar position or department to get a feel for how accurate what you’re putting forth is, and if there’s anything you missed.

Your interviewers are not trained.

The person conducting the job interviews should be thorough and effective, and it takes some skill to know how to do that.

If multiple people are interviewing a candidate, work to avoid repetitive questions as that can be seen as a waste of time for both interviewer and interviewee.

Host a training session for everyone on the hiring committee to ensure a smooth process.

You aren’t evaluating cultural fit.

A prospective employee may look incredible on paper, and even do exceptionally well during an interview. However, the true test of seeing if they will fit within the company to put them in the thick of it. You can do this by conducting a peer interview.

Identify commonalities among the top performers in your company, and gauge if the candidate possesses those qualities. Can they uphold the company’s values while being an efficient employee?

You’re hiring the right person for the wrong role.

This is a common mistake to make when a candidate is loved by the hiring committee. They are a great person, though not exactly who you envision for the role you’re hiring for. Many think they can figure it out, or make it work with the candidate in the wrong role. They’re wrong.

Putting a good person in an ill-fitting role is frustrating for both the company and the employee. You are not filling in the type of resource you need in that role, leaving your new employee feeling lost and aggravated.

Don’t hire simply because you like someone. Do keep their information on hand in the event that a position comes up in the future they would be great for.