Hiring top talent is essential for the growth of your business. However, finding the right people with the right skills is easier said than done. After over 20 years in the staffing industry, FootBridge has picked up valuable insight to help your organization put the right people in the right positions. Below are essential steps, and items to avoid, to get you the talent you need.
- Interview Techniques
- Using a Staffing Agency
- Common Hiring Mistakes
Interview Techniques
Your company is looking to add talent, and not just any talent, your team deserves the best. So, where do you start? Opening a position is easy, but finding the right candidate? Not so much. Research shows that 52% of applicants that apply for a position are underqualified. However, underqualified candidates can also be some of your best performers. Too many options can be a detractor from taking action, and that’s why we’re here to help.
Where Do I Start?
The best place to start is identifying the candidate that you’re looking for. Ask yourself: What does the ideal candidate need to be successful within this organization? Once you feel you’re ready, the next step is posting your position online through a site such as Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn. Glassdoor alone has 67 million unique monthly visitors to its website and app. Be specific about what you’re looking for with personality, experience, and other traits that may be important to you in a candidate. You can also check out our article on recruiting top talent.
I’ve Found Candidates, What’s Next?
The next step is interviewing, the most important part of the hiring process. This is your opportunity to speak with candidates and separate the good from the bad. The average interview lasts approximately 3 hours and on average employers interview 2.5 candidates per opening. The best thing you can do is be prepared with a lot of questions and think about what’s important to note during the interview. Things such as
- attire,
- attitude, and
- body language
are all very important to make note of when interviewing a candidate. You should also be ready for them to ask you questions, so prepare to explain what separates your company from its competitors. Also, it’s a great idea to take notes on the interview as a whole for review following the conclusion of all the interviews.
Using Behavioral Interview Questions
One of the best ways to learn about a prospective employee during an interview is through behavioral interview questions. If you’re not sure what that is, here’s what they are and how you can leverage them to find the right employee for your company.
According to Businessdictionary.com behavioral interview questions are
A job interviewing technique whereby the applicant is asked to describe past behavior in order to determine whether they are suitable for the position.
An example of this would be you asking a candidate to describe a time in which they had to react quickly to an emergency. This generally will get the candidate to think on their feet and give you insight into a valuable trait that you may be looking for in a candidate. Behavioral interview questions are a verifiable way to use a candidate’s past to predict their future success within your company.
What Should I Ask?
The best questions to ask a candidate are dependant on the type of position you’re hiring. If you need an employee to be a leader, ask about a time in which they had to lead a team and how they handled it. If you need them to work well in a team, ask about their specific experience working with colleagues. The better the questions, the more likely you are to catch candidates off guard and get honest answers. If you’re struggling to think of questions, here’s some inspiration.
The Final Countdown
Decision time. Using your notes from the interview, the experience of the candidates, any test results, and your intuition, you should have everything necessary to make your decision. Take the time to sit down and think about the pros of each candidate. What can their personality, work ethic, or knowledge bring to your business and how valuable is each asset to you? If there are multiple great candidates you truly believe can bring a lot of value to your company, consider creating another position and adding both to your team. The most important part of the hiring process is adding employees that you believe have an opportunity to improve your business and make your life easier — there’s no such thing as too many good team members!
Using a Staffing Agency
What Can a Staffing Agency Do for Me?
Staffing and recruitment agencies are able to supply employees around the U.S. with approximately 17 million positions each year. 62% of small businesses reported making a wrong hire at some point, and 24% believe a wrong hire led to a loss in customers. If you’re looking to hire top talent, and don’t want to miss out on a hire who will increase profits, then a staffing agency is just what you’re looking for. Staffing Agencies (like FootBridge) will take the position you’re looking to fill and recruit the top talent you need to fill the role.
But, Do They Service My Industry?
Staffing agencies specialize in many different fields including
- industrial,
- technical,
- managerial,
- electrical, and many more.
Generally, you can find a staffing agency for just about any company. Depending on the industries that they serve, these agencies may also specialize in long-term employment matching or contract employees. When evaluating a staffing agency, it’s important to do research and ask questions. Make sure you understand how they charge fees and ask if they have any data on their success rate with clients. If you’re not sure that a staffing agency is right for you, here’s an article for signs that you may need help with the hiring process.
Common Hiring Mistakes
Hiring can be a tricky process, but one you definitely don’t want to mess up. It reportedly costs $4,129 on average for a company to hire a new employee, and on average it takes 42 days to fill a position. So not hiring the right person is a costly mistake right off the bat, and that’s why we’re here to help you avoid the common pitfalls of hiring.
Lack of Transparency
In the U.S. only about one in three employees say their employer shares information about their compensation levels. This creates dissatisfaction within employees, as 72% believe pay transparency is good for business. Providing your employees with pay transparency establishes a strong relationship right from the start and can create both a happy and loyal employee.
Lack of Research
Employers may believe that it is up to the candidate to do research on their company and come to an interview prepared; however, it is also important that employers do their own research on candidate’s social media. This is to ensure that candidates are professional and going to represent their company in a positive light.
Making Desperation Hires
The talent shortage has been a big issue recently, with 73% of employers stating they are having a difficult time finding qualified candidates.
This could be one of two things:
- Your qualifications are set too high for the type of position you are hiring. You may not be paying the right amount or offering enough benefits for a position in which you are in search of a highly qualified candidate. This can be resolved by lowering your qualifications, or following what many other employers are doing and offer more benefits to your employees.
- You are focused too much on the measurables of candidates, and not enough on important factors such as teachability and cultural fit. If you’re looking for the best candidate to fill a position then a coachable and passionate employee that fits your culture is a slam dunk every time.
If you are having trouble finding qualified candidates for your position, the worst thing you can do is to desperately hire the person that is the closest to your qualifications simply due to their experience. Be sure that whoever you choose is passionate about your company and mission, this will lead you to successful hiring. If you’re looking for even more tips on hiring, here’s our article on interviewing secrets.