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Hiring Top Performers

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Published: 15Apr2009
Word count: 569
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Finding the right employee to do the job is the challenge all managers face in business. Strong talent is hard to find. Part of your role in managing employees is finding the great talent. If you manage to accomplish this, you are on your way to being a successful manager.

Talent comes in different forms and you need a hiring strategy in order to place the right person in the job. Be specific around what skills, knowledge and characteristics are important for the role(s) so you can find the very best talent.

In order to find the right talent for your company, you need to create a strong hiring process.

--Know what it costs to hire a new employee. Include in this mix: recruiting, new employee training, when you anticipate an employee will be fully functioning in the role and what it cost in lost opportunities because you had the wrong person in the job. When you review the cost to hire of a new employee, you focus all of your attention on finding the right talent for the role. Always know the cost to hire in each role.

--Evaluate your current job description or create a new one to indicate exactly what responsibilities are critical for the individual to succeed in this role. You can't match the appropriate talent unless you know what performance criteria you are expecting.

--Be specific around the type of talent you are looking for. Must they be experienced or raw talent that you are willing to train?

--Know where you are in the marketplace around compensation - low, medium or high salaries to get your talent. You can still get strong talent if you pay on the low end though you need to offer other benefits for the potential employee.

For example, you can't pay much but you offer lots of opportunity for the employee to develop their careers. You provide an environment where the person can increase their responsibilities and learn.

--Create a hiring committee - always have at least 3 people interview a candidate, and more for management or critical hires.

--Create a list of "open-ended" questions that you will ask all your candidates. Train your hiring managers and all people who participate in the hiring process on how to perform behavior-based interviewing.

--Listen carefully to the candidate's answers and keep asking the questions until you are satisfied with the thoroughness of the answers.

--Take notes on all candidates because you will not remember their answers. When you meet with the other interviewers, you can compare consistency of answers to support your hiring decisions.

--If you need to assess a candidate's skill level, have in place the appropriate assessment tools to insure the quality of their knowledge.

--Check references - always. Ask your candidate(s) to provide references that can speak directly around their performance. Even if you are interviewing entry-level employees, they have performed at something in the past. If you are considering a candidate for a position in your company, make sure you find out specifically what they did and how they did it.

You need to create a plan if you want to be successful in finding the right talent to build your department or company. This is your job in managing employees...you have to be skilled in the recruiting function of your management role. Take the time to learn how to find the high performers.

Pat Brill is the author of the blog "Managing Employees" http://www.ManagingEmployees.net . You can reach her at pat@managingemployees.net.

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