Eight habits for effective hiring

Consider the amount of time spent in recruiting, hiring, and training a new employee. Consider your lost productivity in conducting the search and interviewing. Consider the lost productivity of having a vacant job that is not being performed.

Some estimates put the cost of hiring at about three quarters of the annual pay for an employee.

As a hiring employer, you need to minimize mistakes. The stakes are just too high.

Here are the 8 habits of effective hiring:
1. Have a strong mission statement and vision for your company. Share these with job candidates. If you know where you are today and where you are going, you can excite candidates about you and your organization.
2. Develop a job requirements document for the position to be filled. Know exactly what capabilities you are looking for.
3. Develop a thorough job description for the position. be able to tell a candidate exactly what is expected.
4. If possible, subject the job candidate to personality and skills test to help assure that the individual can do the job and fit in with your style of organization and management.
5. Develop good interviewing techniques in order to conduct effective job interviews.
6. Check all references, and do background checks.
7. Research prevailing wages and benefits for the type of job being offered to assure competitiveness in the market.
8. Welcome new employees and make them at home, comfortable, and productive from the day they are hired. Train them. Monitor and provide feedback on their performance.

Oh, and if a mistake is made in hiring and the employee does not work out, terminate the relationship sooner rather than later. This will be best for both you and the employee.