Hiring Out of Desperation – Don’t Do It!

All managers have been there: an employee has given his or her notice, and your first instinct is to hire, and quickly. No sooner has the employee left your office than you jump into your recruiting process and start to review resumes as they fly in, hoping to get the perfect candidate in the door before your departing employee has the chance to escape and productivity has the chance to dip.

Rushing through the recruiting process can lead to a bad hire, and a bad hire can be costly – both in time and money that is invested– and would absolutely not be better than no hire at all. Before hitting the “Post Job” icon on Monster or calling your friendly recruiter to get the ball rolling, it may be a good idea to take a step back and take a few additional steps.

Find out why.

Why did the employee give notice?  If the answer is “for a new opportunity,” are there any clues there for you as the soon-to-be-former-employer?  Try to get as much information as they are willing to give.  Was he or she so overworked that a new job was necessary just to have a normal workload?  Was the employee confused by conflicting directions by management?  Is he or she leaving for a similar job but a much higher salary and/or more perks?   Or is she leaving her boss, not the company?

Review the job.

Having a newly vacant position is a great time to reevaluate its duties, especially if it hasn’t seen turnover in a long time.  Has the job changed in the last couple of years?  Is the company moving in a direction that might require the new candidates to have enhanced skills or additional certifications? You may want to consider checking the market to ensure your pay scale is aligned with other similar positions – you may find that the job has changed so much that a higher salary point should be entertained.  It may also be time to revamp the job description.

Look internally.

Promoting from within might be an option and employees will appreciate your consideration.  Is there anyone in the pipeline who may be ready to step up to fill the role with a little grooming?  A great plus side of hiring from within is that your current employees are already familiar with the culture, procedures, resources and staff and only need to familiarize themselves with a new role.

Fix the bugs.

Assuming the position is still needed, has not changed and that there is not a viable internal candidate, it may be a good idea to try to solve any internal issues that may exist before starting your interviews.  If there is a broken process or management team that affected the former employee’s ability to do the job, the last thing you will want to do is subject a new employee to the same issue.  If problems continue to be ignored, you may be back in the same position – an empty desk – in a very short time.

Screen carefully.

Once the resumes come in, it can be easy when in hurry, to whip through them and dismiss any quickly that seem unsuitable at first glance.  A few large gaps in employment history?  Those may be explained by company closures or layoffs, raising children, caring for an elderly family member or a stab at starting a business, none of which should disqualify a candidate if they have the right mix of skills and experience and could bring a fresh perspective to the role.

Ask the right questions and weigh all factors.

Interviews can be invaluable tools to find the right candidates – IF the process works.  Each job opening is a great opportunity to look at the interviewing process to ensure the right questions are being asked, the right people are involved and that the decision process is fair.  Candidates graduating from a certain school may be given an advantage if the leadership team are all alumni.  The friend of a manager with less experience may be given more consideration than others with the required skills and background simply because of a connection.

A bad hire is expensive. Taking a few steps to try to secure a good hire for the right role however, is time and money well spent.

Click the link to view the recent blog Putting Job Descriptions to Good Use or check back for more on human resources, payroll, insurance and benefits.