HR TIPS
HIRE SLOW FIRE FAST – 10 HR TIPS
1. Can you afford a new hire?
Hiring a new employee require a benefit vs. risk evaluation. If you are to select an
employee for a permanent position you need to know what the real costs are for such a
hire. You also need to know your cash flow. Employees are dependent on regular
payment. You need to know what salary you can afford to pay. What other costs are
involved. For example a w2 employee requires tax withholding, social security Fica,
unemployment, workers compensation, nys disability and possibly medical benefits.
Vacations, sick pay and personal leave under the FMLA family medical leave act.
Bonuses, raises, and other incentives are needed to be considered. Do you have a line
of credit from a bank to back you up if cash is short when payroll is due. Consider what
this new hire will bring to the table. Will your company profit from the hire. It must make
financial sense.
2. Can you afford not to hire? Figuring your ROI.
If you don’t add an employee what part of your business will be impacted. Will
customer service be negatively impacted. Will you lose business or lose business
opportunity. If you add all the costs involved in a proper hire and subtract the benefit
the position and individual will bring to the company whats your ROI.
Its been my experience the ROI should average about 400% of your actual cost.
With the payoff that great the selection process needs to be comprehensive.
3. What is the position being offered. Do you have a clear idea of what the job tasks
are? Do you have a clearly written job description. Do you know whether the jobs
require independent thinking or can the individual follow a protocol or process and
obtain the same result time and time again.
4. Who in your organization previously held the position being offered. How would you
rate that individuals overall performance during his/her tenure at that position.
Using a scale 1-10, 10 being the highest level. What was the previous workers
rating? If not a 10 what additional attributes need be added to the position to
enable this hire to achieve a 10 rating?
5. What are the job duties and characteristics of the position?
For example is this a customer service position. Do your customers need
answers or hand holding? Does the job require immediate responses or investigation
and call back. Is it a high pressure position or is it a thinking position. Does the job
require high energy or intelligence. Try to break down the personality that can best
serve the position.
6. What is the learning curve of the position? How will the new hire get there?
Will their be training? Will it be formal or on the job? Who will do the training
and is the trainer equipped and trusted to be the new hire’s mentor? Note the
learning curve to full productivity is part of your investment (see #1).
7. Do you know what your corporate culture is? Do you know what it means to have a
corporate culture? Every business has its own style. Some businesses are based
mainly on results and productivity and customer service is secondary to most of its
employees. There is no time to waste with customer questions we just follow our
process and the results speak for themselves. Some companies want their clients
to understand the process and appreciate the service being provided. They want
the client to talk favorably about the experience and the business. These are two
separate cultures both can be successful. When you hire a new person you
need to ask do they fit our companies culture. A great exercise is to survey your
current employees to see what they perceive is their company culture.
8. How do you evaluate personality and behavior of your employees?
Do you hire strictly on experience or education? How many of you hire on behavior?
If you hire strictly on experience and education you risk a wrong hire. Evidence
shows most turnover of employees is based on behavioral alignment. Many
workers are qualified on paper but do not adjust well to their environment. There are
various profiles available to access an individuals personality, motivation, and
thinking. I highly suggest you use a behavioral tool to obtain a good feel for the
new hires communication style. (see Myers Briggs, Disc, Kolbe, Calipher and my
personal favorite What color is your personality)
9. How long should the hiring process take and how should it be conducted?
Their is a saying in Human Resources that you should hire slow.
Any crucial position requires an appropriate study of:
the position and its requirements.
the skills needed to perform.
the behaviors needed to work well within the business’s environment
the corporate culture
the applicants fit with the above evaluation.
Checking references but really checking references!
REMEMBER: HIRE SLOW! TAKE YOUR TIME! EVALUATE!
10. How long should a termination take and what is do you need to consider as a
consequence if it does not work out?
Terminating an employee has many dangers to look out for. As a general rule you
need to fire fast. Many employers have difficulty terminating employees. Generally
most employers realize they made a mistake in hiring fairly early in the relationship.
The termination should be quick in those instances. If you follow your gut you
you will know it feels right or it feels wrong . If you are afraid to fire or have wishful
thinking that does not register with your observation the situation will probably
result in the employee will leave but do it to their advantage and to the business’s
detriment. When you hire slow you reduce the risk of termination.
Termination produces all kinds of potential problems:
increase of unemployment claims
age discrimination
sex discrimination
religious discrimination
sexual orientation discrimination
workers compensation claims
social media bad mouthing of the company etc.
In summary HIRE SLOW AND FIRE FAST.
This article has been written by Edward R. Scheine a managing partner of several
professional firms. Mr. Scheine is a published author, business coach and attorney.
His firms have represented thousands of workers in almost every industry.
