Many businesses tend to make hiring mistakes, especially when they are just starting out. The need to hire should never be so desperate that you end up hiring the best of a bad bunch, for example. Your employees are going to help to drive your business to the top, so selecting the right ones is paramount. Here are hiring mistakes that most businesses make.
Hiring out of desperation
Hiring out of desperation is never a good thing, and could mean you end up hiring the wrong person just because you need somebody. The longer you have to hire somebody, the better. If you want to be able to make your business a success, you want only a team of the best people behind you.
Failing to look into their background
You should never just trust that a person is who they say they are. Always look into their background and speak with references so you get a good idea of whether they are suitable for your business or not. This is absolutely crucial if your staff work closely with customers. Find people who have a combination of great skill, awesome character and work better with people.
Going on personality alone
You shouldn’t go on personality alone. Neither should you go for skill alone too. Sure, getting along with a person and making sure they fit into your company culture is great. However, they’re going to need the right skills for the role and your industry. There might be exceptions.
For instance, if you’re willing to hire for an apprenticeship. It’s better to balance both personality and skill. Peter Schutz once said “Hire character, train skill”. If you want to hire people for the long term to grow with your business, then you are better off to hire character and train skill.
Going on skills and experience alone
Going on skills and experience alone could also be a mistake. You could miss out on the perfect candidate because they don’t have one small skill. Knowing how to prioritise the skills you really need, and which skills you can compromise on is important.
Maybe they could learn some skills on the job, or you could send them on a training course. This could very well be worth it with the right candidate. Investing in your employees and their development is another important thing to do if you want your business to succeed.
Hiring when you don’t need to hire
Many businesses hire when they don’t need to, and end up letting people go as a result. You have other options. HR outsourcing for international organisations is one option many large businesses are looking at. Outsourcing is becoming more and more popular, so look into that before making a permanent hire. Get the right people on board to do what is required of your business. Don’t force growth, it could hurt your business in the end.
Trying to save money
Trying to save money by hiring somebody fresh out of college or university could also be a mistake. It could definitely be worth hiring somebody with more experience and investing more in them if it’s going to be good for your business. That being said, sometimes employees with no experience are better for certain roles. It’s up to you to make a judgement call on this one.
These mistakes are commonly made by all kinds of businesses of all sizes. Make sure you don’t make the same mistakes. If you take the time to hire the right people for your business, you’ll thrive in the long run.