Hiring is not easy in today’s competitive and fast paced environment. Decision of hiring a bad candidate or losing a great one can cost companies a lot. So, it is important for you to recognize the mistakes and work on not repeating them in future. Here are few of the mistakes organizations usually make in their hiring processes.
Not enough clarity and coordination from the start
In most of the cases, first mistake happens while getting the position requirement from the department. There is not enough clarity and coordination between the concerned parties, i.e., Department Head, Hiring Manager & Recruiter. It is very important for all of them to first discuss and clarify the requirement for the hiring position together. This should follow up to a crisp and easy to follow Job description, which should advertise the company culture.
Hiring too fast or too slow
Companies more often than not rush into hiring the only willing candidate to close the position, they do it to fill fulfill the position created due to an employee leaving the company or an increased workload etc. It is understandable to want to fill roles as quickly as possible to keep productivity on track. But, rushing the hiring process can leave your company in an even worse situation.
On the other side, the longer you take to complete your recruitment process, the greater the chances of them choosing the other offer leading towards the loss of your favorite candidate. The great way to maintain a perfect pace in a recruitment process is to have an agenda that is clear and exposed to the candidates: How many interviews? Who will conduct them? When do you want to achieve the whole process? It is important to keep the candidates engaged in the meanwhile.
Unconscious Biases
Unconscious Bias (or Implicit Bias) is the stereotypical opinion one forms based on their perception and judgment without even realizing it. Everyone has some unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, and the need to categorize the world and people accordingly leads to unconscious biases. It also depends on their background, experiences and cultural values.
Whether we realize it or not, our unconscious biases also plays a huge part in hiring.
Few of the examples are – hiring based on the appearance only (beauty bias), preferring male over female or vice versa (gender bias), Unconscious preference towards people who share qualities or viewpoints with us or with someone close to us (affinity bias) or making assumptions based on a single quality or stereotyping (perception bias). This can leads to hiring the wrong unsuitable candidates for the profile.
To know more about the unconscious biases, you can check our post on the topic here
Waiting for the Perfect Candidate
There is no such thing as perfect candidate, being too choosy on the criteria and waiting for this ‘Perfect’ hire to appear is a waste of time. So, it is important to find the right balance of flexibility in your position criteria and not be so black and white when it comes to ticking every single box.
There has to be some negotiable parts in the hiring criteria that you can compromise on with right kind of attitude.
Not Checking Background and References
Not giving enough emphasis on background and reference checking is another mistake that can be harmful for the organization. Investing the resources on doing the diligent checks on the references should be the next step after the selection. You can also consider EMS Employee Verification Services which offers you flexible and cost effective options. For details, you can get in touch with us at info@ems-pl.com
Not investing enough time on Employer Branding
Attracting Talent is a lot like marketing. To attract the best candidates, you must develop an effective employer brand that promotes your company as a great place to work. Most candidates will conduct research on a company before applying for a job there, so it is critical that you have a strong social media presence and a website that demonstrates all of your best qualities. The key to a great employer brand is engagement and transparency, so keep this in mind when you share brand messages.
For more such posts, check out our blog posts at https://ems-pl.com/blogs/