As many as 88% of companies have regretted hiring someone in the last 12 months: 47% landed themselves with someone who didn’t have the right skills and 35% got someone whose performance fell below standard. And this includes companies who used recruitment agencies. (Study by talent management company SHL)
Considering that many of them were still willing to spend up to £4,000 on recruitment agency commission, it’s an expensive and time-wasting procedure all round.
Maybe the first question is “Do we definitely need to take someone on?” Could the job’s responsibilities be parcelled out among existing employees? Could it be outsourced?
Next is “Do we understand exactly who we’re looking for?” Has someone competent analysed the position to discover what skills and attributes are essential? Has anyone asked the people who’ll be working with/for the appointee what they think?
Does the advert/brief to the recruiters explain clearly what’s required? It could also be useful to tell them what you don’t want.
Has the interviewer prepared thoroughly for the interview? It’s frightening how many don’t. There’s no excuse for not having read the relevant CVs at the very least. And preferably they will have come up with questions that will bring out the candidate’s abilities and character or lack of. (You might like to look at www.businessballs.com for some ideas.)
And if you can manage to find time to send the unsuccessful candidates some constructive feedback, you might be able to help future interviewers and you’ll have left a positive impression that can only be good for the company.
Tip: It may be helpful to do part of the interview in an informal setting and to see what others in the company (e.g. the receptionist) thought of the candidate since they will have seen them not necessarily on their best behaviour.
