If you are hiring your first or your 100^th employee, this information is for you. This guide is designed for

• entrepreneurs
• corporate managers
• anyone who participates in hiring decisions

It tells you what to expect from an employment agency counselor or a recruiter. If you find the hiring of an employee – especially the right employee – challenging, this manual shows you how to make successful hires.   

Many companies recognize their employees are their most valuable resources. They realize their employees enable them to maintain their reputation and ability to deliver their products and services. Many managers know they need the right people but are unsure how to define, find, attract, or retain them. Some companies have written, structured hiring procedures while others make it up as they go along. Both methods produce successes and both fail.  

Before you can create a process that will ensure you hire people who will be company resources, you must be able to define and recognize those people. 

The first step in a successful hire is the decision that the hire must be made. “Well, duh,” you’re thinking. But until a company is convinced beyond a doubt that a vacancy needs to be filled, it will search but never hire. Unless everyone involved agrees an expansion of staff is necessary, offers will not be extended. Only when everyone believes it’s time to bring talent onto the team rather than continuing to outsource a task, will the “right person” be found.  

Searching without hiring is a waste of resources (time, energy, and reputation) and an exercise in futility for all parties concerned – human resources administrators, managers, candidates, employment counselors, and recruiters.  But the person most harmed is the person responsible for making the hiring decision, the hiring authority.  

The second step is to determine the hiring requirements. Personality traits and characteristics are primary decision factors because they are innate and unchanging. You cannot train them into or out of a person. Skills can be taught. Experience can be beneficial and can shorten the time between making a hire and having a true resource. Educational background can provide the basis for future training or a basic understanding of the industry.  

If, however, you have a person with all the skills you want, great experience, and a complete educational background, who does not fit into either your corporate culture or the role of the position, you will have a failed hire. Online assessment tools can be used to establish benchmarks for a particular set of job duties and objectively define the mental aptitudes and personality traits that will most impact job performance. 

The assigned job duties and education and experience requirements are used to identify the position’s compensation range according to its value and the pay rates within the range.  Combined, this information enables you to develop a job description that accurately defines the kind of candidate you need to find. 

The third step is to define a hiring strategy that identifies:

• how to develop an applicant pool
• how to identify candidates from among the applicants
• how to attract the best candidates
• how to select the right candidate

Such a strategy enables a company to conduct a focused search that maximizes results and reduces effort. The company is then able to recognize – and thus need talk only with – qualified candidates. This leads to quickly identifying those with the strongest matches for their needs. It also provides insight into what the candidates will find attractive about the organization. An increase in the number of accepted offers and the percentage of successful hires will result.

Automation of the process saves time and money while eliminating discrimination from the hiring process. Advanced systems that provide more than traditional applicant tracking services are now available for all employers whether they employ 5 or 5000 employees. 

The final step in the process is extending an offer, negotiating the offer, and getting it accepted. When an offer satisfies the needs of both the company and the candidate, it will be accepted. Some of those needs are identified and resolved during the interview process but some become apparent only when an initial offer is under consideration.  

Be prepared to negotiate compensation when you feel certain the candidate will be a strong asset for your organization or team. Although compensation is not a satisfier, it can cause dissatisfaction.  

If an offer has been extended, getting an acceptance is obviously the goal. Explore any areas of flexibility in an initial offer’s terms and conditions before extending it. This ensures that regardless of the emotions of the negotiations (i.e. you really want to hire this candidate), the counter and final offers will be fair and beneficial for the company.  

Organizing the process into these major steps creates a manageable process. Rather than relying on your ability to “know what I want when I see it,” these steps enable you to share your insight and vision with others. Successful hires result in enthusiastic employees, smoothly operating teams, and growing companies that generate more revenues for owners and / or stockholders.  

To explore in more detail how you can make better hiring decisions faster, visit How to Hire an Employee and download the full guide.