In order to function properly and be successful, companies need to rely on multiple factors. Naturally, the first thing that comes to mind is quality goods and/or services that are fundamental and irreplaceable. Next are structured management practices that will always be necessary, however, nothing is as critical to any company’s success as its employees and the hiring process.

Employees are the lifeforce of every business, and without their hard work, efforts, and commitment, no company could survive for long. This has been an undeniable fact since the idea of organized business came into existence, and it’s highly unlikely it will change any time soon. Keeping this in mind, you would think that most, if not all, companies are fully invested in their employees, especially when it comes to hiring new ones.

Unfortunately, however, a lot of companies have been focusing less and less on the proper selection process and much more on increasing their profits in other ways. What used to take a week or more is now squeezed into a couple of days, but the expectations stay the same. Before, the hiring process would involve a careful and detailed job analysis for the open position by the human resources experts in order to determine what tasks the position required and what attributes a suitable candidate should have. A job evaluation would follow to determine how this job fits into the organizational chart and how much it should pay. 

Next, ads would be posted and applicants would start pouring in. This would mark the beginning of phase two of the hiring process which would entail sorting through the applicants, performing skills tests, reference checks, IQ and personality tests, and extensive interviews to learn more about candidates.

Today, the selection process could not be more different. The recruiting and hiring process is often outsourced and depersonalized, done more for the sake of filling the recruiting funnel with as many candidates as possible, especially the ‘passive’ ones who aren’t looking for a new job. When they are not scouted while working in other companies, passive candidates are contacted on LinkedIn and other social media platforms. They are often contacted directly by outsourced recruiters whose goal is to persuade them to apply for the open position and accept the offered salary. Sometimes, companies will advertise positions that don’t even exist to find passive candidates who might be useful later.

As we can see, hiring has been boiled down to automation and algorithms, and that is not necessarily a good thing. As explained, hiring was an extensive process in the past, entailing multiple steps to determine who would be the perfect fit for the job. More often than not, the recruitment process allowed hiring managers to find the ideal candidate who would do their job well and would easily fit in the company culture. 

Nowadays, because of automation and other hiring innovations, the hiring process has lost the human aspect. As a result, companies are able to gain a lot in terms of time and money, but they often lose in the quality of hired employees. Although some companies may benefit from the automated approach, most of them need to reexamine their hiring process.

In this article, we will go through some modern hiring practices and why they may not be as effective as advertised. We will also discuss how to improve your hiring process to attract the right talent to your company rather than an employee who will fit the criteria created by an algorithm.

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1. Efficiency Shouldn’t Trump Quality

Modern times have made businesses focus almost solely on efficiency, and although some aspects of a company may benefit, other departments, such as HR, can suffer. Speed should never be the most important thing when it comes to hiring.

Rushing through the usual hiring process steps, such as analyzing the position, defining its parameters, and publishing a detailed job description, doesn’t allow for time and focus on quality. Rather than providing the HR department with the time to create a comprehensive job description or hiring a specialized recruiting company to seek out candidates, many companies opt to quickly post a haphazardly written ad, thinking this will be enough to attract the talent they need.

However, hiring is not just finding a potential candidate who has the technical skills for the job but also looking for the right person who has the social skills to properly fit into the company culture. This brings us to the second point.

2. Company Culture is Equally Important as Skills When Hiring

For every company, no matter the size, the culture is more important than many realize. Considering the fact that the vast majority of people spend most of their week at their jobs, they need to be comfortable and able to work well with the people around them. However, many employees often feel uncomfortable, underappreciated, or unable to work with their colleagues. 

This is often due to the lack of interaction during the recruitment process. Without a proper interview process, candidates cannot gauge company culture so easily, and without thorough background and reference checks, companies often don’t know anything about the actual person they are hiring. This means they can hire a perfect candidate on paper, only to discover they can’t work with the team and accept criticism for their work. If you overlook the fit into your company culture, you may end up with a team that can barely collaborate, making it much harder for your company to succeed.

If you’re looking to fill a remote work position, make sure not to use it as a selling point to potential candidates. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home has stopped being a unique perk as it once was. Too many companies are now practicing it, so better try to think of what you want to share about your company, the team, and the role that will make candidates choose you over other options. You can use the same selling tactics you normally would with work-on-site candidates, but see if you can also:

• Give a virtual tour of the facility.
• Explain growth opportunities.
• Share the company mission.
• Show how teams and colleagues work together toward common goals.

Aside from ensuring that your potential candidates have all the required skills for the role, you should also check if they have what it takes to efficiently work from home. A good candidate needs discipline and a strong focus to get the work done. You’ll need to double down on efforts to properly screen remote candidates for self-motivation, accountability, and communication style.

3. You Didn’t Have a Well-Rounded Hiring Plan

Many companies fail miserably in their efforts to hire the right talent because of one simple reason – they don’t have a plan. They spend most of their time preparing, so even when they find the qualified candidate they need, companies may lose them for avoidable reasons like someone making a better offer or a bad interview experience. The latter happens far more often than you’d imagine.

4. Don’t Make Hiring Exclusively Transactional

Yes, it’s always good to offer (and work) for a good salary, but this should not be the only benefit of working in your company. Why? It does nothing to elevate the value of your company. People don’t want to work just for money. They want purpose, good relationships, and an opportunity to build their careers, in addition to earning a fair wage. If you approach the hiring process like a transaction, don’t expect to attract top talent.

5. You Fail to Recognize the Existing Talent

So many companies tend to ignore internal talent as a source for filling their vacancies. In fact, only 28% of talent-acquisition leaders report internal talent is an important source for filling their open job positions in the US. Literally, all 66 million hires in the US every year come from back-filling vacancies, and most of them happen because employees leave for better opportunities somewhere else, especially when they can’t advance in the company. Therefore, make sure not to overlook your existing talent.

Conclusion

These hiring mistakes are as common as they are frequent, but they are not unavoidable. Your goal should always be finding a fully-engaged and productive member of your company, while not rushing through the process to save time and money. We hope these tips will help you streamline the hiring process to find the perfect talent. 

Hundreds of new candidates are looking for job openings every day, and CIBR Warriors is here to help you find the perfect match. For more help on advancing your career or finding the right candidate in IT and Cybersecurity, please  contact us. We’d be happy to answer your questions and provide you with the best advice for getting started.