Never Underestimate the Importance of Good Hiring Procedures

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Hiring is stressful. Often, the process is rushed due to pressure from above and the ticking of the two weeks’ notice time bomb. But hiring is not unlike the setting of a foundation upon which you plan to build. If you sacrifice diligence for speed, you heighten the risk that your foundation won’t sustain necessary growth and success. Hiring the wrong person will end up costing your organization more in the long run.

Mike Del Ponte, founder of walter filtration company Soma, offered several tips for avoiding hiring headaches in an interview with Jacquelyn Smith of Business Insider. Some of his points are really worth going over.

What’s the Big Idea?

Del Ponte’s advice can be best summed up as a plea for hiring managers to slow down, breathe, and create a drawn-out plan for hiring the right person. Like every difficult business task, a breakdown and analysis of goals will help specify the needs of the organization. This allows for better communication with candidates as well as with the other members of the hiring committee.

Interestingly, one of Del Ponte’s tips echoes a sentiment from an article poster earlier this week about the future of IT. Basically, hiring managers need to remember that their number one imperative is to hire the person best suited for the specific tasks detailed in the job description. Other factors — notably team chemistry and whether a new hire is likeable — should always be kept on the back burner.

Baseball Hall-of-Famers Reggie Jackson and Joe Torre share the opinion that winning creates chemistry, not vice-versa. The same sentiment should be taken into consideration when hiring. Workplace success and corresponding rewards will smooth out all wrinkles.