Managing the employee hiring process, to help source the very best candidates for your company, can be complex and challenging. Consequently, hiring mistakes are not uncommon.

According to research by Robert Half, 10% of employee turnover is a result of a poor hiring decision.

Employee turnover can cause a huge amount of wasted time and money to a business already struggling to fill a position. It can also lead to lost productivity and may even impact morale for the rest of your team.

Where possible, it’s crucial to avoid making key mistakes in the employee hiring process. This article outlines five key mistakes you need to avoid, to ensure you fill your job vacancy with the right candidate.

1. You misunderstand the requirements

Failure to spend time at the beginning understanding the role you are recruiting for will jeopardise the whole employee hiring process.

Every person involved in the recruitment process needs to understand why the company is recruiting for the role, what value the role adds to the company, what skills and experience is needed, what persona the position suits and who the candidate will be reporting to and working with.

Once these facts have been established, a detailed job description should be prepared. This can then be used when advertising the position, as well as during the interview process.

It can even be referred to during any performance reviews, once the candidate has been hired.

2. You don’t understand the recruitment market

The days of only candidates having to pitch themselves to employers are long gone.

Skill shortages across various industries, such as in accounting, means there is strong competition for top talent.

Savvy candidates set higher expectations, meaning businesses need to “sell” themselves as the best place to work. If a candidate doesn’t immediately see the benefits of a new role, they will quickly look elsewhere.

Consider what employee package will be offered at your company. This is where understanding the candidate persona will really pay off, as you can build a package based on what will motivate the particular type of person you want to attract. The company culture, job description and package should then be understood by everyone in your team, so it can be “pitched” at every stage of the employee hiring process.

3. You ignore the employee hiring process

How you manage the complete hiring process will provide the candidate with a valuable insight into your business.

From the very first time a candidate views the job advert, through to the first time they meet someone face-to-face, the company should be shown in a professional and organised manner.

First impressions of the company they hope to work for really do count. Here are some things you should consider:

• Will interviews be via telephone, face-to-face, or something else?
• Who will be responsible for screening candidates?
• How will you benchmark candidates?
• What questions will be asked at each phase of the employee hiring process?
• What are your next steps after the interviews have been conducted?
• At what point should you check a candidate’s references?
• Who will make the final job offer, how and when?
• Have you planned the induction process in advance?

4. Training isn’t provided to interviewers

If you’ve never conducted an interview before, it can be a daunting experience.

There are lots of things to remember, from asking the right questions to reveal whether the candidate can carry out the role, to figuring out whether they will fit in with the team and the organisational culture.

You must also be aware of employment laws governing the recruitment process and the repercussions of unlawful actions during the interview process.

It’s important that everyone involved in this interview process has some basic training. This will help to empower them to make the right hiring decision, rather than a bad and costly one.

5. The employee hiring process takes too long

In a talent-short market, not securing a candidate in a timely manner could see you lose them to a competitor.

If you are coordinating the employee hiring process, a key factor is to keep it moving forward in a timely fashion (whilst avoiding rushing).

This means chasing everyone involved in the process, to ensure they can attend the interviews, provide feedback and make a final decision.

Making an offer quickly will ensure that the right talent is secured for the company, in the most cost-effective way.

With the help of this article, you should be able to create a fool-proof employee hiring process that helps you find top talent for your company quickly and seamlessly.