Whether you are a business owner or a person involved in the hiring process, are you convinced that the best candidate was selected for the position? According to managed IT and staffing services company Emonics, fifty percent of all hourly workers leave or are fired within the first six months. Around 40% to 60% of all new hires fail within 18 months and 50% of all new executive hires fail within 18 months.

The U.S Department of Labor estimates that the financial cost is approximately 30% of the person’s annual salary. That percentage can increase greatly depending on the person’s position in the company. The cost to a business for a wrong hire is not measured in dollars alone. A wrong hire affects the entire team (not just management) and impacts morale and productivity. Even your “best” employees will stop going one step further. 

Perhaps reading the literature on the hiring process will reduce the chance of hiring the wrong person. Some will tell you to screen social media platforms while others suggest that you should write better job descriptions or use a third party. Hiring the right person for your organization is not that difficult if people are willing to change the existing process. To increase the probability of hiring the right person, simply screen on competency and hire on values.

Competency is not measured by college degrees or resumes.  Focus on your expectations for the new hire. If you’re looking for a change, perhaps you might ask broad questions. For example, “Did you ever have the opportunity to make changes to your business processes? Explain your approach and what were the results.”

Competency implies that the person has the skills, knowledge and behaviors to train and organize the workforce and implement methods critical to successful outcomes. Values focus on being truthful and honest and define how a person shows respect for others even when they make mistakes. We learn through our mistakes and learning is a behavior change over time.

Keep in mind that people don’t fail, systems and processes fail. What are your expectations for new hires in working with individuals or teams? For some, change is complex and there will be some type of pushback. When that happens, don’t assume that your team doesn’t see the value in the effort.                                          

In the Jefferson City Plant that I managed, we changed our approach to hiring and created four teams of five people and each team focused on only one competency: innovation, right first time, costs, and team building. I focused on values. My typical questions were designed knowing the candidate would be a little uncomfortable in providing an answer. Making up your questions helps you to understand what is important to the candidate. Questions were simple yet unexpected and candidates didn’t quite know what to say and there was 10 seconds of silence.  

Understanding their values is fundamental to determining their fit into your organization. Focus on your critical business processes. The people in your business know what is working and what is not – get them to open up and let them participate in making changes. Don’t hesitate to include team members to be involved in the hiring process.  It’s well worth the investment of your time and money!