Where employees are going wrong when hiring
Hiring a new team member is never an easy process- nor should it be. It’s a serious process that deserves a lot of effort and attention. Hiring the perfect person can help earn your company money and success. Hiring the wrong person can do the opposite. Here are some areas where our recruiters have seen companies go wrong when making hiring decisions.
Interview process too long or too short
Companies often take for granted that candidates don’t have months to wait to find out if they’ve got the job. Often the candidate will have accepted another offer before the companies have even made a decision. On the other hand, companies sometimes don’t take enough time when hiring and rush the process. They can end up hiring someone who seems alright or good enough and settling for someone who may end up being a dud.
Offering an unrealistic salary
Paying a junior salary for a senior position? You know what they say, pay peanuts, get monkeys. Companies need to realise the value of good people and pay accordingly. “If you’re not sure what the role is worth, just ask”, says recruitment consultant Padraig Leddy. Sales recruitment consultants will have great insight and help set a salary that is appropriate for the role and quality of candidates required.
Overlooking personality fit
On paper, they look great- good numbers, right experience. But in person, they just don’t fit with the culture. While it’s important to have a good mix, it’s important for people to fit. Perhaps one of your company’s values is being eco-friendly. You wouldn’t hire someone who thinks recycling is a conspiracy theory, would you?
Hiring clones
Everyone you hire has done the exact same degree, all sold the same product and all dress in grey suits. Variety is the spice of life, but also vital to any team and company. If everyone thinks the same, how will you get new ideas or innovations? If everyone does what everyone else does, you’ll only ever get the same results, and in a world of steep competition, it’s important to stay innovative for a company to succeed.
Overvaluing a shiny degree compared to real life experience
Two candidates, both great people and culture fit. One has a degree from a fancy school, the other, 5 years’ experience in that field- who do you choose? Every role is different, as is each candidate, but it would be short-sighted to hire one over the other based solely on if they have or don’t have a degree. Each candidate will bring something different but not necessarily more or less valuable to the table. This decision should be factored on more than just a degree or no degree. Does the role require someone with an existing network, connections? Or do you want someone who you can train to work in your style?
Hiring friends
Just because someone is great at being your friend does not mean they’ll be great at being your colleague, or staff. People are often different in a work environment, and although they’re a great laugh down at the pub, it might not translate to the boardroom. It can often lead to awkwardness later if they a) don't perform well, as this could reflect poorly on you for vouching for them, b) the lines between personal and business life can get blurred and c) your friendship could be jeopardised.
Not reference checking
Rushing to make a hire, sometimes companies just skip the reference checking process. The candidate seems great- they interview well and they’ve got all the numbers you want to hear, but you actually don’t know what they’re like to work with, and by the time you find out it might be too late.
“A horror from a client who decided not to reference check someone had it backfire in a huge way: turns out the guy was an alcoholic, and the reason he hadn’t shown up to work one day was because he was in jail for assault. If they had done a reference check, they would have found out he had been fired because of his drinking. Not reference checking cost them the on-boarding cost, more hiring costs for a replacement and a lot of damage to the company’s reputation.”-Ben, Saleslogic recruiter.
It’s very easy for someone to say they’re great, but it’s important to make sure your judgement is not just on what they say, but what they do- do they walk the walk or just talk the talk? A reference check is a great way of making sure.
Not providing good onboarding support
Too many companies let themselves down by not providing good onboarding support. This can seriously taint the new employee’s view of the company and affect their ability to do their work. Failing to have a plan for bringing people on board could leave a new starter without a desk, logins, training, or equipment they need to do the job, like a laptop or phone. Failing to even show them around, or introduce them to the team can prevent the new employee hitting the ground the running.
Not letting the experts do what they do best
There is a reason people use recruitment agents. Recruitment is what they do, day in and day out. While they can’t guarantee to ensure it will all be perfect 100% of the time, they can be a huge help in mitigating some of the above issues. They are a great source of insight, and if you’ve found the last few companies hires haven’t gone so well, perhaps it’s time you could use their advice.
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Saleslogic is a leading sales recruitment agency in London. We specialise in digital sales jobs, SaaS sales jobs, software sales jobs and more. Click here to view sales jobs we are currently recruiting for