The thing that gets my goat with recruitment is the way people start behaving in a god-like manner, by insisting on a false veneer of due diligence for a useless exercise that has little merit.
Indulge me, friends.
When it comes to hiring people, I have seen it all.
- Hiring managers getting dozens of CVs – sifting through these to get a handful of candidates and then making the potential candidates go through rounds of interviews – as though they were applying for the most important job in the world.
- I have seen managers use spreadsheets to measure candidates against criteria, and then give them a weighted score – as though this pseudo-scientific approach will lead to the best candidate for the role.
- I have seen people going through multiple interview rounds – only to be told no. With no explanation.
What’s up with all this hero-posturing people? No matter what you do during the recruitment process, the right candidate will depend on the environment you have created to help them be successful.
It’s not about how many interviews potential candidates are tormented through or how they stack up against the other candidates. You won’t get your unicorn.
Uniforms exist in fantasy land. So unless yours is a fantasy environment where people are so happy they never want to leave, stop with the nonsense of the excruciating search for the right candidate.
Focus instead on creating an environment where anyone with the right background can come and excel.
Now I work with some of the smartest people in the country. Nearly all of them were previously rejected for a role. Yet here they are – flying. They could have been working for you.
So hiring managers – some tips:
- Sift through your CVs. Ensure diversity of experience, background gender etc
- Pick a handful of people with the right experience.
- Interview them. Check your biases.
- Then have the team interview them – because they will be working in the team and diversity of thinking is important and they will have perspectives that you don’t.
- Then choose one candidate.
- Ensure your environment is set up to guarantee this candidate is successful in the role.
Simples.
