🔒Seven tips for better hiring

For many companies finding, interviewing, hiring and on-boarding great employees is among their biggest challenges. But finding great employees can mean the difference between your business stagnating or successfully growing. Unfortunately, hiring is not a skill we are taught in high school or college. You must actively seek out information on how to hire well and endure the school of experience.

Here are seven tips for better hiring:

1. Define the role: You can't hire effectively, if you don't define the role clearly. You should develop a job description that defines the professional you are looking to hire. The closer you can come to defining the ideal candidate, the easier it will be to fill the role. Take the time to develop a job description that specifically details the skills and attributes you are seeking in the ideal candidate and what they will do for the organization. You may never find the perfect candidate, but a well-written job description is a major step in helping you to choose the candidate that is the closest match.

2. Don't over-hire: While it may be tempting, be cautious of hiring an over-qualified applicant. Someone who is overqualified may get bored easily, or just want something until they find a better role at another company. Hiring someone who meets 80 percent of your requirements, but is trainable, may be a better way to keep your new employee motivated and engaged.

3. Use the telephone: Utilizing a telephone interview for initial screening can be very efficient and save you a lot of time. Your goal with the phone interview is not to decide if you will hire the person; the goal is to see if an in-person meeting is justified. Use open-ended questions to get and keep the interviewee talking.

4. Implement structure: You should make sure you have a process and structure in place for your in-person interview. This assures that interviews will be efficient and effective, and allow you to make the best possible decisions. Another benefit of being organized and efficient is that you make a positive impression on the candidate.

5. Watch body language: Body language and how the candidate interfaces with others can speak volumes about the character of the candidate. Watch closely how the candidate handles interactions, both internally and externally if a meal at a restaurant is part of the interview process. Also remember, the candidate is observing you.

6. Check references: You should not only check references, you should carefully check them and never outsource this process to a third party. My experience also indicates that the only references that are truly useful are those of the candidate's past supervisors. If a candidate cannot supply past supervisors as references, this may speak volumes about their potential for future success at your organization. Proceed with caution when there is a lack of proper references.

7. Get training: No one is born to interview and there is little to no training on the subject at the high school or college level. Seek out a good training course on how to hire for anyone on your team that will be involved with the interview process.

Also consider your on-boarding process. I'm amazed at the number of companies we work with that have never implemented a solid on-boarding process. In addition, you should also make your HR manual and processes meet the requirements of the federal government and your state.

Only an experienced HR attorney can provide this type of legal guidance.

Andy Singer is the president of Singer Executive Development, a professional training and development company that helps optimize business performance.