YC.com: Common Hiring Mistakes

Hiring employees is a difficult task, and there are some common mistakes that are avoidable.

Common Mistake #1--Lacking Key Employment Documents.
Sharp, desirable candidates tend to look for a workplace with structure, fairness and consistency. Developing documents such as Employee Handbooks, Job Descriptions, Job Applications and Performance Evaluations are the types of documents that these candidates look for in potential employers. Employees who tend to bend the rules, do minimal work or have a poor work ethic are attracted to a workplace without written guidelines for behavior or no method for tracking performance.

Common Mistake #2--Inadequate Recruiting.
Too many times we fall into a habit of using the same methods for locating potential employees, even if we haven't been happy with our past results. Be creative. Look for new sources of candidates. Put a job notice on the bulletin board in the public library, courthouse, grocery store or other offices and businesses that people frequent. Use the Internet. There are many free sites that have local, state and national listings and allow ample room for full descriptions of the business and openings available.

Common Mistake #3--Poor Interviewing
The most common mistake in interviewing is from not asking the best types of questions. We commonly ask too many "skill based" questions, and not enough "behavior based" questions. Skill based questions ask for a candidate's experiences and the types of production procedures they are familiar with, whereas behavior based questions focus on how the candidate would respond in a certain situation.

Sample behavior based questions would be, "If you saw an employee stealing tools from the shop, what would you do?", or, "If you had a difference of opinion with your supervisor, how would you handle it?", or, "If you had a conflict with another employee, how would you resolve the situation?" There are usually a variety of "acceptable" answers to behavior based questions, but the real value is in seeing how the candidate responds to being put into the situation that the questions suggests.

Common Mistake #4--Not Calling References.
When reviewing a poor hiring decision with my clients, we normally discover that the entire situation could have been avoided if the employer had called more of the references. Poor employees leave a trail. The challenge is in finding evidence of their poor past performance and following that evidence until a clear pattern is discovered. Good employees leave a trail as well, and a pattern of exceptional performance will be discovered in the process of calling all references.

Always call all of the references given, and ask these references if they know of anyone else that could provide a reference for this candidate.

As you speak with references, focus on verifying the information provided by the candidate on their job application. Ask the reference about any inconsistencies. Remember that listening very closely during reference calls is essential to getting accurate information. In many cases, referrals are only allowed to give out limited information, but the tone of their voice or a slight hesitation in their responses will tell you more than their chosen words.

Over time, we should begin to develop a consistent pattern to our hiring process. As we strive to improve the quality of our employees, the best place to begin the process is in how we hire new employees as turnover occurs. Think of it this way, if we want to continually improve the genetic base of our herd, we need to be certain that the replacements have performance above the average of our current animals. We should have the same philosophy in hiring new employees. ©

"The Complete Guide To Managing Agricultural Employees"© includes more detailed information on the hiring process, sample interview questions, sample forms mentioned above, and many other topics. It is available through Don Tyler, Tyler & Associates, at 765-523-3259 or at www.dontyler.com.