Businesses of all sizes often fail to realize that hiring the wrong person is one of the most expensive decisions you can make.

We help our Southwestern Consulting clients measure something we call COTO – Cost of Turnover. It’s easy to underestimate not only how much money you spend advertising for the position but also the MVOT (Money Value of Time) cost of interviewing all of the candidates and then training the person you select. Plus, you have to factor in all of the time that you lose on a person when they leave. All of those added up together equals the COTO.

Moral of the story: Hiring the wrong people is not only incredibly painful, it’s also ridiculously expensive – and potentially fatal for a company of any size.

Between 2012 and 2015 we’ve had over 75 new people join our team and have quadrupled the size of our company. We’ve been hiring like crazy and, while we haven’t done it perfectly, for the most part we’ve done a terrific job.

One reason why is because we hold our company culture as sacred. You have to work to be a part of our family. You have to want to be here. And you have to believe the things that we believe. The rest of our team deserves to be surrounded by people who exhibit those desires.

If you do not, chances are you will either eject yourself from our culture or the culture will eject you. And that’s a good thing for everyone, because while you may have the urge to hire quickly just to fill the position in the long term, it’s much better to have people who are the right fit.

Here is an insight into the process we’ve adapted and developed based on 150 years of experience from the Southwestern Family of Companies, learning from many of our coaching clients, and heavily influenced by the books Entreleadership and Start With Why:

1. Be Clear On What You Want

Spend time listing all of the very specific tasks you want this new position to do. Put this in the job description. Let people know exactly what they will be doing: the clearer you are about what you need, the more likely you are to find the perfect match.

2. Tell People What You Believe

We often say “we aren’t looking for people who can do what we do; we are looking for people who believe what we believe”. The very first thing that all of our potential candidates receive is a copy of our Creed, which clearly lists our values on how we do business. We also have lines in some of our job descriptions that say things such as: Our culture is one of traditional and conservative values. We pray before group meals. We have bible verses on the walls. We don’t cuss in the office. We don’t tolerate whining, gossip, immaturity, laziness, entitlement or ungratefulness. Your culture isn’t perfect for everyone, but if you are open about it you will find the people that it is perfect for. If they can’t fully commit to the principles on that page then this process is over now.

3. Request The Resume

Make sure the set of skills the person has matches the job description. Look also for any glaring discrepancies in their work history: the number-one red flag we look for is inconsistency. Is this person a job hopper? Do they seem to bounce around from industry to industry? Someone who is looking for a change is fine but someone who keeps changing jobs every year or two should be approached with extreme caution.

4. 10 to 30-Minute Screening Call

The first call (it can also be in person) should be nothing but you asking them questions about who they are. What have they done? What do they believe in? What type of job are they looking for? Why are they looking? [Note: If you are recruiting the person (which is different to hiring) you might have to do more of the talking because you are “selling” a bit. But, still, get them talking too.]

5. On-The-Hook Call

This is a call where you talk to them about the position and share with them some of the positives (although usually not compensation) of the company, the role, and the mission of what you do. Basically, this is an overview of the company and sharing the big picture about the position. Don’t overpromise; however, you should get them excited about what you do. Spend a bit of time asking them some tough questions about why they may want to join the team.

6. Put Them Through The Ringer ­

Have them take a personality test. Have them submit a questionnaire about themselves. Our candidates have to turn in a list of all the books they’ve read and all the awards they’ve received. Make them review all of your online websites. And make sure you review their online websites – i.e. look at all of their social media profiles. These things don’t all have to happen at once, but they should start now and then carry on throughout the rest of the process. (Important note: We don’t chase people. If they want the job, they will do what is asked. If they don’t want to be a part of our team, then they won’t do it. If they can’t complete a few simple assignments, then they certainly aren’t going to be successful in the job once they are here. Therefore, if they don’t want to be on our team that badly, then we don’t want them on our team – regardless of how skilled they might be.)

7. Details Call

Share a clear bird’s eye view of a day in the life of this position. Share the nitty gritty. The good, the bad and the ugly. You also typically start talking about compensation and any other bonuses/benefits in this call. Still be upbeat and positive and also still be selective and ask them tough questions about why they think they are tough enough to handle it.

Read part 2 of this article, where we take a look at another eight steps to hiring good people.

Visit Southwestern Consulting to find out more about Raksha’s work.

^{Edited by Nedda Chaplin
Image credit: Cheerful business people working with documents together - from Shutterstock}

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