Have you as a hiring manager ever considered the cost of getting it wrong? Well, over one-third of UK businesses believe that a bad-hire costs their business absolutely nothing, according to a report from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC).
The reality is, of course, that a bad hire can cost far more than you think. It’s been estimated that a failed mid-level management hire can cost a business over £130,000 due to costs such as training, wasted salary, lost productivity, etc.
So, how can you avoid a costly mistake and give your business the best chance to get it right first time?
Here are FIVE of my best tips:
- Do your research!
When was the last time you benchmarked the salaries and benefits you are offering to make sure they are competitive? And have you reviewed the job specification to ensure it’s still relevant since you last hired all those years ago?
This is absolutely paramount in today’s market and something I recommend that all of our clients do before they decide to press the ‘GO’ button on a new hire. Did you know that here at the Liberty Recruitment Group, we can help you with salary benchmarking, across Commercial, Finance or HR sector roles? And it’s free of charge too!
- Be consistent with your interview process!
Don’t just let your Sales Manager get the candidate in the room and ask them to sell a pen! It’s outdated and really gives a bad impression. Competency questions are, in my opinion, essential to a consistent hiring process – it gives you the ability to compare candidates objectively and protects your business. Set the questions beforehand, review with the Hiring Manager and be consistent!
- Work together!
It is almost a given that the successful candidate will at some point, work with or collaborate with other departments. We all know the old adage, “two-heads-are-better-than-one” don’t we? Well, it’s true here as a bit of input from another manager can help avoid any unintentional bias. It will also help to provide more well-rounded interview questions. This way, when making your final deliberations on suitability for the role, you can ask a trusted colleague their opinion as they should know the candidates better than anyone else.
- Hire for culture fit too!
Did you know that some companies report that as many as three fifths of employees would leave their job if their organisation’s culture was not a good fit to their staff’s needs? So, what is your company culture? A lot of businesses don’t really know the answer to this question but it should be a priority of yours to find out. Then you can keep this foremost in your mind when hiring and find candidates who suit it. At the Liberty Recruitment Group, we’ll always try our best to establish what your culture is, prior to working on your roles. We visit you, meet hiring managers and really get down to brass tacks by seeing for ourselves what makes you tick – so we can find the perfect solution to your staffing needs!
- Good onboarding!
A good onboarding process will give the candidate a lot of confidence, even before they start in their new role. This should involve getting them up to speed on what their first few weeks will look like, any likely changes and developments within the business they should be aware of, and of course all the practical things- where and when they’ll be starting, who they will work with and who to seek out when they need answers to their inevitable queries. It can go a long way towards ensuring new recruits feel well-supported in their early days with you.
And there you have it! If you’re a hiring manager who wants to avoid making these simple mistakes, get in touch with the Liberty Recruitment Group today by calling 023 9387 6666 or by completing the ‘Contact’ form on our website. It really IS that easy to learn more about how we can help you find the right candidates for you, first time. We’ll even offer a three-month guarantee!
Lewis Jaffa – August 2023
