Could Your Hiring System Use This Valuable Component?
People are the most important component of your entire business system.
Jim Collins, author of Good to Great said, “Those who build great companies understand that the ultimate throttle on growth for any great company is not markets, or technology, or competition, or products. It is one thing above all others: the ability to get and keep enough of the right people.”
Mis-hires are Expensive
In recent years, studies have provided shocking information about the high cost of hiring the wrong person. Mis-hires are every expensive! Some analysts estimate a cost of three to six times a person’s base salary, and double or triple that for managers and executives. The right or wrong hire can make or break a small business!
So, if you don’t have time to create an effective hiring system, expect to waste far more time overcoming the effects of a mis-hire!
In my experience, few small business owners actually have a formal system in place to ensure they attract, select, promote and retain the best and the brightest. Your hiring system should have several subsystems, each leading you closer to the perfect candidate.
- Do you have an advertising system that attracts the right people?
- Do you have a screening system for quickly eliminating all but the most qualified candidates?
- Do you have an interviewing system that reveals insightful and crucial information?
- Do you have an evaluation system for grading and comparing candidates?
You can find best practices for hiring in books and articles on the Internet. If you do much hiring, this system will have a significant financial impact on your business. Remember: The full cost of a mis-hire is not always apparent, but it is real, and it is expensive!
Try This Component
Let me share with you a nifty component of a hiring process that can get you better results.
One savvy business owner created a step-by-step hiring system that includes a “Hiring Packet.” The red 9”x12” envelope contains all the forms—component documents—necessary for a candidate to go through the company’s entire hiring process.
The packet includes an employment application, a telephone interview form for a secretary/receptionist to screen applicants, a job description, two manager questionnaire/evaluation forms for interviews, W-4 and I-9 government forms, an employment agreement, and a 30-day after-hire evaluation form. The envelope also includes information about the company and a copy of employee policies that are given to the candidate to read. The person’s resume and references are added to the packet along the way.
Once a Hiring Packet is started for a person, it travels through the process and remains active until the 30-day evaluation is complete. Documents are then put in the employee’s permanent file.
This Hiring Packet is the central piece of an outstanding hiring system. You can, of course, alter what is in the packet to suit your needs. This component standardizes the hiring process, saves a great deal of management time, and helps ensure that the best candidates are hired.
Could your hiring system be improved? Would a Hiring Packet be helpful? Get a secretary or someone to create and gather necessary documents, and assemble a few packets. A little innovation to get the right people onboard can pay big dividends!
Wishing You Prosperous Time,
Ron Carroll
P.S. – Box Theory™ software makes it a snap to create a hiring system that will get you the right people at the lowest cost. Check it out at: www.BoxTheoryGold.com.