By Tom Borg
May 23, 2013
Your business is only as good as the people you employ. It has been said that when your customers or clients come into contact with your employees, they represent your business. In fact in the customer’s mind, they are the business. As far as the customer’s purchase of your product or service is concerned, your team provides the most important part of the transaction. The business relationship your team has with the people they serve can literally make or break the desire for them to be a loyal client.
In other words, your business will be only as profitable as the people you employ.
With that said, it makes excellent business sense to hire the very best people. Unfortunately in many businesses and organizations today, the process of hiring is not as well thought out or executed as it should be. The Harvard Business Review points out that as much as 80 percent of employee turnover is due to bad hiring decisions. In the long run it can cost you plenty.
Fred Yager, reports that “Recruiters I spoke with said that if you make a mistake in hiring and you recognize and rectify the mistake within six months, the cost of replacing that employee is still going to cost you two and one-half times the person’s salary. That means a poor hiring decision for a candidate earning $100,000 per year could cost, on average, $250,000, and that expense comes right off the bottom line.”
In this article I will discuss the first part of a process that is designed to help you make better decisions when it comes to hiring the right people to represent your company or organization. These tips can help you make smarter hiring decisions.
The first place to begin is creating the ad that describes the job qualifications and competencies of the individual you want to hire. This description should be worded in such a way that it clearly describes the job requirements. The job ad should be designed in such a way that it actually eliminates people who would not be a good fit. The more detailed the job ad is, the more clear it makes it to potential job applicants that they would be a good candidate.
The next step is to make sure you have a clear, detailed description of the ideal candidate for the
position. If you don’t have one, it would be wise to list the personal and job related qualities the ideal person for this position should possess. Check with some of your other employees and get their feedback on what qualities they think this person should have. Once you have that, you are ready to go to the next step: the places to look for excellent potential job applicants
There are many places to look for new job applicants who can fill your empty position. One good place to begin is by asking your outstanding employees who else they know that might be interested in applying for the position. Typically, people associate with other people much like them. So, it stands to reason that they would have friends who could be perfect for the job. It helps if you could provide some kind of incentive or bonus to the employee, if the person they recommend actually gets hired.
Another place to look for new applicants is to use your personal and business contacts. Many times they know of someone who could be perfect for the job you are looking to fill.
Another place that is proving to be a good source for potential job applicants is online. Use Internet ads, through sources like, Craig’s List, Monster.com, Careerbuilder.com and other specialized websites for specialized jobs.
So in summary:
- Hiring the right people will save you lots of money and prevent you from experiencing the headaches of hiring the wrong kind of employees.
- Create job ads that accurately describe the requirements of the position.
- Have a detailed description of the ideal job candidate.
- Look for employees in the right places.
Tom Borg is a marketing, sales and business development expert and popular Small Business Association of Michigan radio show guest. To reach Borg, call (734) 404-5909 or visit www.tomborgconsulting.com.
