5 Common Myths of Hiring (That Need to Die Now)
1) Someone’s work history is jumpy, therefore it means they will not stay with your organization long term.
a. This is not even remotely close to always being the case. People leave jobs because of 4 main reasons; managers, money, work environment, and overall opportunity. People are smart and do what is in THEIR best interests. If they feel they have a good manager, are fairly compensated, have a supportive/healthy work environment, and see an opportunity for them to grow (financially, with skills, title, or otherwise), they will not leave. Not even for a little bit more money. If you are short changing them on one of these areas, you leave yourself open to them finding it elsewhere.
2) The person with experience within your industry will work out better than the person without experience in your industry.
a. This is true for about a month. After that, it becomes a complete wash. You need to find someone with the right skill set. It is much easier to train someone who is willingly open to learning new techniques and practices than it is to train someone that has been doing it completely different at your competitor for 10 years. Often times, this causes more issues than benefits. Logistics is logistics. Manufacturing is manufacturing. Purchasing is purchasing. You should be looking for the foundation of knowledge and passion for working with your team. You can show them the ropes of your industry. You can’t teach them to be passionate about the opportunity.
3) Finding another candidate to compare to is a good idea
a. Unless you have the interviews lined up within the same week and are ready to make a hiring decision, it is a horrible idea. All it does is draw out the process and potentially lead to you losing a good candidate to another offer. You need to make a decision on the candidates in front of you. You know what you said you wanted. Either the person has it, or they do not. Let them know and be consistent. I’ve seen countless managers going on this wild goose chase for a candidate to replace a 30 year employee that retired. Guess what, YOU WILL NOT FIND A CANDIDATE THAT CAN DO WHAT THAT 30 YEAR EMPLOYEE DID. They took 30 years to get those skills, specifically with your company. No one will walk in and contribute the same way, EVER. Their position has evolved over time and they likely took on more responsibility. Do not try to find a cutout of the person you lost. IT DOES NOT EXIST.
4) If we hire them, we are locked in if they don’t work out and we wasted money by them not working out
a. Most places are “At Will” states. Which means if they are absolutely terrible, you can cut ties whenever and for any reason that doesn’t violate their protected classes (race, nationality, gender, age, etc.)
b. You need to think about the “soft cost” of not hiring someone. If you don’t hire a machinist, you can’t run that machine. You lose x dollars of productivity a day. You don’t hire a purchaser so someone else has to pick up that task. You lose however many hours of productivity in another area because they weren’t focused on their primary role or you get costly mistakes in purchasing. The cost of training someone and them not working out is definitely expensive. But training someone is an action designed to get you to profitability. Not hiring someone is a lack of any action and will never produce the results you seek.
5) The more people we have involved in the hiring process, the better and the more hoops you make people jump through, the more committed they are to the role.
a. COMPLETELY FALSE. People want speedy interview processes and studies show that you gain nothing in the way of quality candidates or commitment by drawing out the interview/offer process. If you want to increase commitment and retention, you need to focus on developing your work environment, opportunity for advancement, compensation, and management team. Again, those are the main reasons people leave organizations. Not because you had them sit through a phone screen, 2 half day interviews, and meet with 14 managers.