10 Tips for Getting the Right Person for Your Vacancy – and Keeping Them.

1.     Don’t waste time looking for the perfect fit for your needs. They don’t exist – until you mold them to the way you need them to be.

Even if you find the ideal mix of skills and attitude, the way your business works will be different to anything they have experienced before.

It will take time for them to adapt to you. And vice versa.

2.     Accept that you are not the perfect interviewer. Don’t worry – neither is anyone else. But like driving and making love, we probably think we’re better at it than a neutral observer would grade us.

In any case, the interview should make up no more than 10% of the marks you give the candidate. There are two reasons for this. First, the interview is not the place to test skills and abilities. There are better ways to do that. Second, you almost never see the real person when you interview them.

·       Your preconceptions are triggered by how they dress, speak or behave and you lose the ability to be impartial.

·       An interview is a performance on both sides, where most of the energy is put into trying to guess what the ‘right’ answer is.

·       Nerves make everyone behave out of character.

3.     Change the way you think about the interview. See it as your chance to sell your business and the career opportunity to the interviewee.

See it less of a ‘test’ for the candidate and more as a first date. No complicated or trick questions. Rather an opportunity for two parties to get to know something about each other and decide whether they want the relationship to progress.

4.     Look at on-boarding as a steady progression, not a blitz of information in the first hour, day or even week.

Effective on-boarding takes longer than anyone thinks. Many see it as an uncomfortable process to be got through as quickly as possible. But little and often lets team members get to know each other, gives time for new procedures to bed down and gives lots of chances to review and adapt to each person’s learning style. Aim to finally sign the process off with your new hire after 6 – 12 weeks.

5.     If you have a staff handbook, don’t let the first three pages be about the punishments for underperformance.

No-one starts a new job determined to do it badly. Usually there is a mix of excitement and apprehension. Did anyone lecture you on the risk of being expelled on your first day at a new school?

Showing the big stick just gets your relationship off on the wrong foot. Of course, people need to know and understand your expectations. But telling them why you’ll fire them when they are still worrying where the toilet is smacks (sorry) of just ticking boxes.

6.     If you have made promises about conditions or benefits, don’t decide they are not available once the person starts.

if you have told them about review meetings, support arrangements or flexible working make sure they are in place. It builds trust and commitment. Miss out on the first thing you said would happen and they are already eying the exit.

7.     Find early and frequent opportunities to congratulate them on their progress.

Sincerely, appropriately - but consistently. Look out for them doing the little things well. Appreciation acts as an encouragement, makes people feel valued and speeds up their sense of belonging.

And the reverse? Avoid early criticism, but where necessary correct quickly and calmly. Ideally involving the person in discussing why the error happened, its implications and how to do things differently next time.

You should never leave it till later. With one exception. If you are at risk of an emotional outburst, walk away. Better to delay the conversation than sour a new relationship.

8.     Ask them for feedback on how you’ve all handled their first few days and weeks.

New eyes see things differently and it’s a waste to miss the opportunity of their perspective. More importantly, if you want your feedback to them to be taken seriously, it helps if they see you take feedback seriously and act on it.

And you’re encouraging independence of thought and building their sense of worth.

9.     Don’t start moaning to everyone else about how they are not the person you thought they would be.

Yes, you thought you’d found the perfect person. No, they have not hit the ground running and yes, they have made mistakes that seem so obvious to you that you’ve begun to see them as just another problem.

There’s no fault here, but there is responsibility. And it’s yours. Yours to put in the effort to develop them into the staff member you need. Yours to rally the team to share that work.

Moaning about them is an understandable but destructive way of venting your feelings. You picked them.

10.  Don’t fill vacancies in a panic because you didn’t expect to win some business, or someone left unexpectedly.

It’s now that you’re tempted to offer the job to someone you met socially or (worse) to a close friend or relative.

Recruiting the right person takes time. Probably a minimum of three months to do it effectively.

Any miraculous way you find to shortcut that process will almost always end up taking more time, costing you money, conflict and frustration. And may mean the end of a friendship.

And you’ll also then have to start recruiting all over again.

If you want ore guidance on how to help your new square peg into the square hole you need them to fit, please email us at information@thirdphasecoaching.co.uk