Hiring the right people is crucial for every company to grow and scale successfully. While the interviewing process may seem straightforward, enacting the right hiring practices for the workplace in order to find the best candidate in the shortest amount of time is actually more complicated than it seems on the surface. There are many factors to consider when selecting the right employees to become part of your work family, and the correct methods used for doing so differs based on industry, company culture, personality type, position hiring for, and more. Having efficient hiring practices for the workplace can be linked to your company’s future success and should not be taken lightly. 

First off, hiring and training can be expensive. Yes there is the cost of placing advertisements or using outside recruiting companies, but a cost that can often be far greater is the loss of output and time spent trying to fill an empty position. In fact, the Department of Labor estimates that replacing employees that did not work out can cost up to one-third of their annual salary! Even once the right candidate is selected, the onboarding process takes time, and training costs for new employees can vary depending on various internal factors. 

Minimizing Time Spent Finding the Best Candidates

According to recent recruiting statistics, the average applicant-to-hire ratio for companies with under 100 employees is 1 out of every 94 candidates and the median time to hire is 34 days. That’s an enormous effort just to find the right man or woman for the job! A great way to shorten the hiring process is to be as specific as possible about the nature of the position before an applicant even comes in for an interview. The job description should of course explain the nature of the position and the skill sets needed, but also go into the current company culture, daily schedules and routines, common challenges that may arise on a daily basis, personality types of current employees, and other nuances specific to the position and company.

What personality-type would get along best in the existing culture? Is there a great degree of teamwork involved, or do employees more or less stick to themselves?  What type of office environment does the company exist in? These are just a few of many important questions to ask yourself as an employer before interviewing applicants, as the most productive staff are those whose personalities align most with the existing company culture. Ability of an interviewee to express themselves as well as listening skills can also tell you how a potential applicant will perform in the workplace on a daily basis. It’s possible to learn a great deal about an applicant’s ability to express him or herself by asking them to talk about something that is meaningful to them.

Experience Vs. Creativity

Prior experience is definitely an important factor to consider when hiring, but certainly not the only one. It may even be overrated in some cases. Hiring someone with less experience but who can be easily trained, who also has an ability to think outside the box and to offer new ideas and creative ways to approach problems may actually be a better choice than someone with just more experience alone. Personality goes a long way, and people from diverse and creative backgrounds can bring new ways to attack an issue or solve a problem. When adding a team member to an established department, remember that experience is one thing, but creativity is another! 

Asking cultural questions may be difficult but is also an important part of the interviewing process. Typically, when you agree to the interview, there is already a basic understanding of skills and experience as indicated on the resume. However, it’s important to know if the applicant will fit well into the company environment. You may ask them to describe the culture at their last job, and what type of work environment they best thrive in. Do they prefer to work independently or within a group? What types of people do they best get along with?   

Good resumes are great, but they don’t tell everything. Vetting personality, temperament experience and creativity through conversation is integral to an efficient hiring process. The more you know about a potential employee, the better chance of hiring the best person for the job. 

All in all, a team member that you believe will fit into the culture can have a positive impact on the success of your company. It’s possible to select the best candidate for the job while at the same time shortening what is often a lengthy hiring process simply by vetting candidates beforehand and by asking the right questions during the interview. Having a solid understanding as the employer of the type of person that would be the best fit for the job before even beginning the hiring process also will go a long way toward finding the right person quickly and efficiently.