Why your current hiring process doesn’t work
Let’s face it, hiring people is a challenge for most organisations, even the behemoths of industry struggle to attract the best talent at times so what chance have the small guys got?
Around 8 years ago I discovered a process that changed the way that I recruited – not just as a recruiter but as an employer too.
For many years I figured that when hiring people, with all of their peculiarities, foibles and needs I would only get it right 7 or 8 times out of 10 and losing a couple of employees in their first few months of their employment was par for the course.
I recall reviewing my hiring retention rates (as an employer) and patted myself on my back and said well done! Then, my eureka moment, I had the chart below explained to me:
Let me try and explain this to you.
We spend about a third of our working years at work and as you hopefully appreciate when you are happy at work, in an environment where you feel comfortable, you are more likely going to be able to perform at or near your peak.
That makes for a highly valuable employee, and a happy one too. They type of person that employers crave.
So, how does this chart help you get yours?
Well, most hiring processes are based on Levels 1 and 2 in the above chart. We meet people and form a subjective viewpoint of them (Level 1 – Appear To…), we assess and evaluate their Knowledge, Skills and Experience through multiple interviews, skills tests and comparing their CV to your carefully prepared Job Description (Level 2 – Can Do...).
The most important level is Level 3 because this is where happiness is found. The “Will Do” level is when an employee will do the work you require of them the way that you want them to do it – not because you’ve told them, but because that’s the way they like to work. It’s a question of aligning beliefs, attitude and temperament and when there is alignment there is a collision of shared beliefs that results in high performance.
You know what this is because, if you are anything like I was, you see it 70-80% of the time, great employees that are a joy to work with and that you are glad work for you rather than your competition.
But, and here’s the point that is generally overlooked, it’s the 20-30% of the time that it isn’t working that causes you stress and angst – if you even bother to give it a thought?
It’s actually a financial drain on your business and resources.
It’s time to fix it!
The people in your team, albeit briefly, that just don’t fit in, just don’t perform, are obstructive or awkward are those that hold you and your business back.
I used to ignore them too, shrug my shoulders and write it off as “just the way it is”.
That’s when I finally understood how to recruit at Level 3 and not stop at Level 2 and hope that it would all work out.
You see, most employers hire at Level 2 and fire at Level 3 – that doesn’t make you a hire and fire organisation. It makes you pragmatic, not holding on too long to the ones that “just aren’t right”, but that means you are back searching again.
Imagine if you could virtually eliminate the FAILURE rate you currently have (sorry about the use of the word failure, but it’s true) and improve your hiring process without too much extra effort – there has to be a little bit of effort to change the habits of a corporate lifetime.
That’s what I discovered and in a very short time period, I’d transformed the way I hired, forever.
I’m always looking for further improvements, but we now have a 96% retention rate, measured by new employees still being in employment 12 months later.
Having learned this process, we now share this as part of our methodology when working with franchisors hiring new members to their team, and for the 4% where we don’t get it quite right we will run the search again, FREE of further cost.
This is 21st Century Recruitment, isn’t it about time you brought your hiring processes up to date?
I am happy to be challenged by your thoughts if they are not congruent with mine, please do get in touch.
T: Book a call
E: libertatum@ft10.co.uk