How can you avoid making that disaster hire?

The hospitality industry is known to have a higher then average staff turn over. Obviously there are costs involved in replacing staff members, however, did you know that these costs can more then triple if you are unfortunate enough to make a bad hire during this recruitment process?

95% of large companies admit that they make a minimum of one bad hire per year, so the likely hood is that you have made a few in the past as well. No need to kick yourself, most times these “bad candidates” actually look perfect on paper, so what went wrong in the end?

Here is our list of 10 tips that can help you to avoid making a bad hire in the future.

1) Go beyond the CV.

Yes, the experience and qualifications of the individual will initially catch your attention, but don’t stop there. Try to assess if the candidate will be a good personality fit for your company as well. During the interview try to read the body language of the interviewee and assess their communication skills. Many interviewers like to conduct initial video chat interviews, this gives them a chance to assess things like personality fit and ability to communicate effectively, they are then able to decide then if it is necessary to escalate the interview to an on-site meeting.

2) Ask more than just generic interview questions.

Try to get the candidate to reveal insights about themselves. Of course, you want to respect the privacy and personal lives of the candidate to a certain extent, however questions like the ones below can be more revealing then most interviewers know.

– How do you feel you would fit into our organization? Why?

– What are your bigger career goals?

– What initially interested you in this position?

– Tell me more… (This is a great way to keep candidates talking to extract the most information)

3) Pay attention to what the candidate asks during the interview.

It is great if the interviewee asks questions during the interview, in fact, this should be encouraged as much as possible. However, pay attention to what questions they are asking. Are they only asking about benefits, leave days, and holidays? Or are they more interested in the company and the actual job that they have applied for?

4) Don’t rush the hiring process

This seems so obvious, doesn’t it? Yet I bet you have made this mistake at some point. One key point to remember here is; Do not hire out of desperation. Too often managers desperately need an employee to fill a vital role at the company and after a few weeks of searching with no good candidates turning up they hire a candidate that might not be best suited for the position. This is almost certainly going to turn into a bad hire. Remember, only hire when you have found the RIGHT candidate.

5) Do not use lackluster advertising channels.

There are many methods to advertise your vacancy thanks to the magic of the Internet, however many of these advertising channels are not going to bring you the highest quality candidates, this might lead you to sift through piles of candidates believing that there is no one suitable for the position and eventually hiring the best of the worst. Make sure you find high-quality advertising channels that are relevant to your industry.

6) Profile your ideal candidate.

You will know what experience and qualifications are required by referring to the job description. But try to go even deeper than this. Try to identify behavioral traits that help to predict who will excel at the job and will remain with the company. This might require evaluating the characteristics of your most successful staff members.

7) Always check references.

This is an absolutely vital step in the recruitment process. You need to try and read between the lines of a reference as people are often reluctant to give a negative reference. A great question to ask a person giving a reference is “Would you hire this person again if you had a vacancy in your organization” If there is any hesitation or talking around the question red flags should go up immediately and you should try to get some more information. Another great method of obtaining references is to use back-door references. These are acquaintances that you have contact with who might have worked with the candidate but were not listed on their CV as a reference. Sites like LinkedIn make it very easy to obtain back-door references if necessary.

8) Compare the candidates’ values against your companies values.

You are well aware of the core values of your company. During the interview try to determine if the candidate has similar values and if they will be compatible. Although often not immediately obvious, hiring someone with completely different values to your organization is a recipe for disaster a few months down the road.

9) Pay attention to the performance of the employee in the first few months?

If you have made a bad hire it will most likely become obvious in the first few months of employment. The sooner you can identify a bad hire and replace them the less expensive it will be for your company. Ask trusted employees in the company for feedback on the new staff members’ performance during these first few months, and keep an eye on their performance yourself of course. It is a tough call between whether the staff member is just adjusting to the new position or if they are not suited to the position, but when you have decided that they are not a good fit take action as soon as possible.

10) Use a recruitment agency specific to your industry.

Many hiring managers try to avoid the cost of using a recruitment agency due to the false belief that it saves them money. However, stats show that the time and energy a recruitment agency saves a company actually directly translate into financial savings at the end of the day. A recruitment company can also greatly lower your chances of making a bad hire. A good recruitment company will conduct the initial interview either via a video chat or a telephonic conversation. They will do detailed reference checks and check the credentials of each candidate. Most importantly they can assess if the candidate is suited to your companies culture. They also have numerous candidates on file and much wider advertising channels relevant to your industry, this will ensure that your vacancy is exposed to the best candidates on the market at this point in time.

Visit Bizcraft Recruitment to find out more about how a recruiter can help you with your hospitality staff placements.