Professional Documents
Culture Documents
"If workers are carefully selected, the problems of employee discipline will be negligible." —Johnson
Organizations today are beset with high rates of employee turnover, wrongful hiring claims, sexual
harassment allegations, workplace violence, employee theft ... the list goes on and on. Such risks
are magnified when you hire the wrong person! The wrong person is underqualified, litigious,
controlling, insubordinate, and detrimental to an entire firm. Indeed, the seeds of many failed
Within the pages of Hiring Smart (reviewed in the Winter 2000 EPLiC), Dr. Pierre Mornell offers a
hiring effective, productive employees. In this issue, we examine the opposite perspective and
share with you some of the most common mistakes—10 "don'ts"—for the hiring process.
an executive. For example, we've seen a convalescent home unknowingly employ a violent felon: a
janitor who kidnapped, raped, and then killed one of its patients. At the other end of the spectrum,
we've seen companies hire multimillion-dollar executives; that's not what they cost the company in
salary, but how much long-term strategic damage they caused. By avoiding the 10 pitfalls examined
in this article, you will be in a better position to prevent the costly mistakes that victimized these
organizations.
When seeking to fill a position, your company must clearly define its goals in terms of skills,
experience, character, and competency. Determine the actual, objective standards a candidate must
meet, and the requisite educational background, exact work experience, and specific technical skills
they must possess. In addition, it is important to evaluate the organization's short-and long-term
needs and the effect this particular hiring decision will have upon those needs. Many times,
strategic partnering. Don't automatically assume you need a certain type of employee. Test those
Skill testing is a must. Every job has some form of measurable, objective performance standard.
Identify it and test for it. A secretary who types 60 words per minute with mistakes will be less
effective than a secretary who types 90 words per minute without mistakes. However, if a company
fails to test for typing skills, it will have no way of evaluating a prospective employee's ability to
perform a specific task. Under these circumstances, a supervisor may criticize the first secretary for
lack of productivity, when she is in fact giving her best effort. Unless you test an applicant's skills,
you are taking a gamble that they can perform. It's a bet you just may lose.
Too many hiring decisions are made out of desperation. The following scenarios occur repeatedly: a
key manager quits and must be replaced NOW; rapid growth forces a company to fill positions
without enough forethought; programmers are so scarce that anyone will do. We've all, in pure
desperation, brought someone into an employment relationship only to find out later that they were
not trustworthy or competent. Don't fall prey to such fear-based thinking. Rather, consider the
alternatives. If you are unable to conduct a thorough, timely hiring process, hire a temporary or
leased employee or borrow an employee from another company. But don't hire in haste—you may
Despite the high stakes associated with hiring, we often get lazy. Managers who are lazy hire the
first remotely suitable person who walks through the door. Often, we simply want to avoid the
hiring process altogether. After all, we have jobs to do. Companies and managers must fight this
very human tendency to do less rather than more. Alternatively, if you don't want to endure the
rigors of the hiring process, then contract with someone else to do it for you. Consider engaging the
services of an executive recruiter or search firm. Or delegate this task to a trusted individual within
your company.
A series of surveys has revealed that during the hiring process, most interviewers made their
decision—up or down—within the first 10 minutes of the interview. They then spent the next 50
minutes internally justifying that decision. We buy cars the same way. First, we choose the car we
want to buy—from an emotional standpoint—and then search for objective data to justify that
emotional decision. We all know that "facts tell, but emotions sell." Remember, the best con artists
attract infatuation. In studies where professional actors are interviewed for jobs for which they have
no experience, they are hired at a higher rate than those who have actual qualifications for such
positions! Simply because someone "looks" right for the role does not mean they will be. You can
guard against infatuation by having coworkers interview prospects, having group interviews, and by
Everyone carries some baggage. Sometimes, it is the belief that a woman can't operate a forklift,
that a man can't be a nurse, or that a minority cannot function as an executive. But baggage is not
reality.
Men once dominated orchestras, until they began to conduct "blind auditions" where a curtain was
placed in front of the performers. The quality of their sound, not their gender, became the sole
evaluation criterion. The preconception about what makes a better musician was removed, and
thereafter women were hired at twice the previous rate. It is a fact the best and brightest are not
always going to look and act the way you think they should! Seeking diversity is not important
simply to placate the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Rather, it has become an
Just because someone recommends a person they think would be highly capable for a particular
position doesn't mean that person is qualified. We have seen many occasions where someone was
hired without going through the usual evaluation process simply because they were recommended
by another employee or colleague. Don't let someone else make your hiring decisions for you.
Follow the usual channels and requirements when anyone—no matter how highly recommended—
We are firm believers in promoting from within an organization. However, your best performers
aren't necessarily always the most qualified candidates for a specific job. This is especially true
when promoting to the management level. Simply because someone is particularly adept at
handling a certain function doesn't mean they are capable of managing others. Many a career has
Remember the Peter Principle: organizations frequently promote otherwise capable workers until
they reach their own level of incompetence! Make sure your company follows a thorough hiring
analysis when promoting from within. Promoting solely from within can create inbreeding and
stagnate creativity. To guard against these pitfalls, companies should consider filling at least one-
third of all positions involving promotions with people from outside the organization.
workplace misconduct. As part of our investigation, we always review the involved employee's file
and evaluate the extent to which a background investigation was conducted. Much more often than
not, little or no background information was obtained. Employees with drug problems were never
tested prior to hire. Security guards who conspired against their employers were never checked for
criminal records. The employers of employees who engaged in wrongful conduct at other companies
had never been contacted. Yet, many companies are afraid of engaging in extensive background
investigations out of concern for EEOC and legislative privacy mandates. Don't be. Potential
problems can be avoided by securing releases from job candidates and/or their previous employers.
Refer to Figure 1, a form that authorizes a potential employer to conduct a background check on a
job candidate and releases the potential employer from any liability associated with such
investigations.
Figure 1
Investigations
the Company, and/or any designated agent including any consumer reporting agency in the
allowed by law, and to obtain and review any criminal and civil court findings, consumer credit
report, to investigate any action related to employment, and/or any investigative consumer report
I understand the nature and scope of said inquiries may include, but are not limited to, verification,
inspection, and/or reporting of any lawfully available records or information pertaining to work
history; education; workers compensation claims, criminal and civil court-related actions; driving
history (including traffic-related offenses); personal financial status including consumer credit
reports; and any other information available from any public or otherwise documented record,
and/or from any past or present business, professional, or personal associates, pertaining to, but
not limited to, my work history, character, ethics, mode of living, and general reputation.
It is my understanding the information being obtained will not be used in violation of any federal or
state equal opportunity law or regulation, and that before any adverse action is taken based upon
review of any consumer credit report and/or investigative consumer report, I will be provided with a
and assigns, and any contributing parties or sources from whom any information is obtained, from
any and all claims, actions, or liability whatsoever that are in any way related to this or any
I hereby state that all information provided by me to the Company, in any form, is, to the best of
my knowledge, true, correct, and complete. I also understand that any known misrepresentation
made by me to the Company will exclude me from further consideration as a candidate for
employment or advancement, and may result in termination of my employment with the Company if
I understand that acceptance of any offer of employment does not create a contractual obligation to
the Company to continue to employ me in the future, and that my employment is "at-will," for no
definite period, and may be terminated at any time either by myself or the Company without
previous notice.
(Applicant)
Form 17
Alternatively, companies that have reservations about conducting such investigations should
consider delegating this task to outside service firms specializing in this work. Poor hiring decisions
are not the result of failing to ask EEOC-prohibited questions. Rather, neglecting to ask all of those
other important questions that can often alert a company to future difficulties causes them.
To their credit, many organizations quickly recognize when they have made a fatal hiring mistake,
often within the first 3 months of the employment relationship. But they don't terminate the
employee. You must overcome this very human tendency to admit a mistake and dismiss unsuitable
feet. This means doing what you can to put the person back to at least the same position in which
you found them. Assuming an employee's job-related conduct did not involve fraud or dishonesty,
severance package. This approach will often prevent an ex-employee's bitterness or, even worse, a
lawsuit.
Conclusion
When you have the opportunity, go back and analyze the departments within your company that
have experienced unusually high turnover or performance problems. Ask yourself, "How did we hire
the individuals who failed to perform up to our expectations?" "What process did we use?" "Did we
make any of the mistakes outlined above?" Remember, if you want to hire the right employee, you
have to follow a proven, systematic process that allows you to do so. When you hire the best, you
will have high productivity, loyalty, innovation, team players, a healthy bottom line—and a much-
To hire successfully, you need effective strategies and time-tested tools that can help you to
accurately evaluate a job candidate's skills and character. Refer to Figure 2 for a summary of
successful hiring approaches. You can access at www.donphin.com a wealth of forms, checklists,
and agreements that will further assist you in making more profitable hiring decisions.
Figure 2
Them
Hiring Mistake Preventive Measure
Failing to identify company Carefully analyze the job functions your business requires; consider
needs hiring on a temporary basis to confirm these needs.
Failing to test skills Develop and use an objective skill test for each specific position.
Hiring out of desperation Use temporary, leased, or borrowed employees.
Hiring out of laziness Engage the services of a recruiter or delegate the task to another
person within the company.
Avoid infatuation Have follow-up interviews; have peers/coworkers also interview the
candidate.
Avoid personal baggage Develop objective qualifications for each position and have other
persons review these criteria.
Avoid automatically hiring Make all candidates go through the normal hiring process.
someone recommended
Blindly promoting from within Objectively analyze internal candidates, preferably in conjunction
with other managers; make one-third of all promotions from outside
the company.
Failure to do extensive Obtain releases from candidates; engage the services of outside
background and reference agencies to check backgrounds.
checking
Failure to recognize you have Rectify mistakes quickly; assist terminated employees in securing
made a poor hiring decision new positions