Avoiding costly mis-hires

There is a growing demand for new employees as businesses open their doors again. However, a bad hire can damage the reputation of your business, impact the work environment and may force you to restart the recruitment process. Small businesses can be especially impacted by the significant expenses involved in hiring new employees. Business owners may want to consider using the following tips to avoid employing a bad hire.

Developing a culture fit
You may find that your business has a unique corporate culture that your employees thrive in. The best way to assess this is to have your team members meet the potential hire to allow both parties to understand the kind of culture that exists in your workspace.

Using this information to screen potential employees during interview stages improves your chances of finding a candidate who is likely to fit well into your team.

Role definition
While a culture fit is more likely to screen candidates who fit within your business’ values, it is key that your new hire is able to succeed in their actual responsibilities. Consider reviewing your job posting to make it more specific, relevant and gives the candidate a clear idea of what they can expect from this role. The job description should ideally include more specific key technical competencies, necessary soft skills, expected deliverables and revenue targets that the hire is expected to meet in that role. Detailed job expectations can also help in evaluating the employee’s performance in the future.

Effective on-boarding
If a new hire seemed like a good fit, but is not performing well, employers may want to examine the on-boarding process within the company. Failures in the on-boarding stages can include a lack of communication or expectations from the employee to work independently and without guidance within the first few weeks of employment. Consider communicating clear deliverables and establishing a point of contact for the employee for any support. Your new hires can also be a valuable source of feedback on your on-boarding process and help you identify gaps in your hiring stages.

Handling mis-hires
Finally, some businesses may still find that they ended up with the wrong person for the job. Hiring managers often have a large responsibility in hiring the wrong person, so treat termination as your last resort. Before immediately removing a poor fit from your business, consider having a conversation with the employee about their issues with meeting their deliverables. Some issues can be solved with appropriate skill training and workshop sessions, or simply moving them to a more suited role within your company.