5 Hiring Mistakes Every Manager Should Avoid

Hiring a new employee, especially the right one, could be a complicated process, so many managers miss it.

Bad hires can be very expensive. They cost your business in many ways. According to the U.S. Department of Labour, a bad hire can cost your company 30% of the individual’s yearly salary. From slowing production, infighting, and legal issues to market share loss, hiring the wrong candidate is a big liability and managers must avoid it. 

A leader must devise and implement an effective hiring strategy that will help her avoid common pitfalls of staff recruitment that may impact her bottom line negatively. 

Here are 5 hiring mistakes managers should avoid.

You look for you

Many managers are inherently not comfortable with diversity so they wittingly or unwittingly end up seeking someone exactly like them. This is a trap you should avoid. The ideal applicant to look for is a candidate that complements your personal or team's weaknesses. A candidate who is equipped to bring what is lacking in your team. Someone that will provide a  different perspective and challenges the norm. Diversity creates the balance needed to drive growth while making the team more competitive

Valuing certificate over capabilities.

A lot of managers still struggle with the fact that academic qualifications are not a sign of competence nor does it translate to workplace performance. Being fixated on academic qualifications as an indicator of capacity may mislead you into making a wrong hire. There are some crucial workplace skills an impressive academic grade or degree cannot give you. For the avoidance of doubt, a good grade is a great thing to have. But it cannot make you a creative person or instill humility, and tolerance in you. How well can the candidate you are considering able to work with other people, and what are his or her problem-solving capabilities? Those are examples of some of the critical things to look for other than certificates. 

Neglecting to do a background check

Impressive interview responses could make you conclude a candidate is the right person for the job but an extensive background check may reveal otherwise. There is more to what meets the eye. Don't rely on interview performance alone to pass your judgment. You need to dig deeper to either establish or review your convictions. Where is the candidate coming from? What impact will it have on your brand and the candidate's performance in your organization?  What is his reputation like in  his last organization? Why does he want to leave his former place to work in your organization? There will always be one or two useful things to pick from a background check of candidates. Apart from revealing the career history of the candidate, you could also learn how best to optimize the talent you are gunning for. However, keep it at the back of your mind that applicants are imperfect human beings, so don't be unrealistic in your expectations

Unclear job requirements

What is the job exactly? Is there a list of the corresponding responsibilities? Have you itemized all the necessary skills, knowledge, experience, and talent needed to execute it to expectations? An unclear job requirement could constrain your expectations and may result in the hiring of the wrong hand. When you have a clear idea of the role, its responsibilities, and the exact set of skills needed, it becomes much easier to weed off the wrong candidates and arrive at  the right person

You are not upfront about the organization's culture.

If your vision mission statement and your company culture are not clear, every Tom,  Dick, and Harry will apply thus complicating your hiring attempt and making it way more difficult to achieve your aim.  You should be upfront about what your organization stands for and where you are going so that the people who feel they have what you want can come on board while unsuitable candidates are kept away.  People who don't align with your corporate culture and mission will ruin your organization if they find their way in. The best way to avoid it is to be upfront about your culture by taking advantage of all your communication routes to announce it. You as the leader must ensure that only people whose values align with your company’s values get hired. 

The above tips will most likely improve your hiring process if keenly implemented.