The hiring process can be tough to master, but did you know that more than 60% of employers say it's harder to keep employees than to hire them to begin with? And it's definitely more expensive to replace an employee than it is to keep them around—assuming they're doing a good job and you’re happy with their work.
So, how can you hire people that will:
- stick around long-term?
- not drive off existing employees?
- be able to handle the tasks laid before them?
The answer to all these questions is simple: take time to ensure employee fit when making hiring decisions.
what does employee fit mean?
- the person has the right skills and experience to do the job.
- the candidate wants to do the job—they're passionate about the work they’ll be doing and engaged with and interested in your brand.
- the applicant is a good fit for your company culture and team dynamic.
how do you verify employee fit?
Validating candidates before you hire them is a multi-step process. It actually starts before you interview people or even review applications.
write a good job description
You start by writing job descriptions that do some of the work for you. A good job description:
- Tells candidates the most important skills, experience and education you're looking for. This helps them self-select—and could cut down on how many applications you receive that don't really fit the job at all.
- Provides some information about the company culture. Candidates who can already see they're not a good fit personally may not apply or may let you know this is the case in the interview after reading your job description.
- Gives you something to compare candidates to. When you're reviewing dozens or hundreds of applications, it's easy to get lost in the weeds. Holding the job description up against resumes and interview responses can help you keep an objective view.
engage in strong interview tactics
Don't just fire questions at the candidate and record the answers, and never rely solely on old-school textbook advice on how to interview people. Most job seekers today have done the research and have prepared answers for the types of questions found in textbooks.
Those types of interviews won't provide a lot of insight into the personality of a candidate and whether they might be a good cultural fit for your teams. Instead, use conversational interview tactics to find out more about the applicant.
validate a candidate before making an offer
If you know how to interview employees or potential employees, you can usually find out a lot about their skill sets and experience by talking with them. But you should also do the work to follow-up on references and verify credentials, experience and education.
download the randstad guide to hiring the right people
Do you want in-depth tips to hire people that fit your company culture? The tips above are just the beginning. Check out our complete step-by-step guide to ensure you’re following smart processes to hire the right people. In it you’ll find tips for interview questions, how to validate skills, how to make an attractive job offer and much more.
