Tips For Walking A Successful Hiring Journey

Finding the ideal candidate for a position is never an easy task. How should you approach a search to find the most qualified and best-fit employee?

Future-Thinking: Today’s tasks are important, but as you consider the candidates, keep in mind your desire to have them invest in your organization or the vision of your ministry for the long-haul. As you interview, communicate your organization’s goals with each candidate to see how they respond.

Know the Job: As the individual charged with making the hire, it can be impossible to know the minutia that each position that you are responsible for has. If you have the opportunity to talk to the person currently in the position for which you’ll be hiring, ask them to share with you the little-known nuances of his or her job. If they aren’t a high-performer or if they are unavailable, ask for input from the individuals that serve with that person person on a daily basis. It may sound basic, but knowing the details of a particular job can narrow the candidate field tremendously, saving you time and frustration.

Keep it Legal: Especially in the world of non-profits and faith-based organizations, what’s legal can be confusing at times. Make sure you know your rights as an employer, and also know what you can and can’t ask. (For more information, visit tne EEOC website).

Processes Save Time: Relationships are key in the hiring process, but they can also be a pitfall if not carefully navigated. Regardless of your relationship with a candidate, pay due diligence to standardized processes like background checks, assessments and formal documentation. It may seem unnecessary when you know someone personally before they’re an employee, but it will help your organization with consistency and provide a paper-trail should one become needed.

Be Willing to Pay: Most of the time, people who are worth something know their worth. If you offer a sub-par salary, expect sub-par employees. When you compensate someone for their experience and talent, it will actually cost you less than a mediocre employee with a smaller paycheck when you factor in the time lost when expectations are not being met.

Avoid Bad Hires: It seems obvious to avoid bad hires, but sometimes in the rush to fill a position we compromise on essentials to have a warm body producing anything. Keep in mind the cost of hiring someone is typically a third of their salary when it comes to your time and the process of getting someone hired. Slow down and take the time you need to find the perfect fit.

Be Multi-Faceted: The process of having a resume, scheduling an interview or two, and hiring someone rarely works for the best. If at all possible, conduct team interviews, ask if a candidate can shadow someone in your organization or have him work on a project (paid, of course) to see if the chemistry is right.

Analyze the Position and the Person: Take some time to deconstruct the available position – not only in job responsibilities but also in the areas of an employee’s knowledge and personality. Keep these analysis handy as you scour through resumes and interact with candidates. Finding a key fit is crucial to the success of your hire.

Put Candidates to the Test: Once you know a bit more about what qualifies someone as a successful candidate, discovering their aptitudes and personalities by using any one of a variety of tests could help you see potential problems or allow you to optimize any significant strengths. Some tests we recommend are the DISC, the Meyers-Briggs Temperament Assessment, and Gallup’s StrengthsFinder etc. While personality and aptitude tests can give some great insight on what makes an individual tick, we recommend that they never be used as a automatic disqualifier or qualifier for employment, rather a helpful hint on how to most effectively leverage an individual's gift set that you are already consider hiring.