By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
I talk about a few of the mistakes both HR professionals and hiring managers make WAY too often.
Hi, I’m Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter. I’m referred to as The Big Game Hunter because I coach people and organizations to play their professional and personal games big. Now, this is a video that’s designed to speak to hiring organizations, both HR and hiring managers.
Neither of you is immune to making these mistakes. I want you to hear that loud and clear. Don’t point fingers at the other.
I’m telling you, I’ve seen it out of both sides. So, here’s a couple of things that I have run into pretty regularly that organizations do way too often. So, the first one, and this one is particularly grievous, especially in this time of social media, is making a promise you can’t keep.
Now, you know there are sites where people can be critical and have an audience. Like when I started recruiting in the 1970s, yes, 1970s, there was no venue, no public forum other than complaining to friends about what’s happened. But now there is.
And if you don’t think that people share stuff like this, when people are burned, you are sadly mistaken. As a hiring manager, I know you’re desperate to fill a slot. You need some help.
As an HR professional, I know you’ve got some metrics and you have a hiring manager and your boss breathing down your neck to fill the job. Don’t make a promise you can’t keep, that you have no control over, because eventually, it’s going to come back to hurt you and your organization. Another mistake that I see happen, and this one tends to be more about the hiring manager, is hiring someone for the wrong reason.
Now, you know, the classic example is aunt so-and-so has called you up about their niece or nephew who’s a wonderful human being. That’s a classic example. But here’s another one.
That colleague of yours who has someone that they networked with, that they’ve known for a long time, who really could do this job, and you don’t interview them as thoroughly as you do someone in off the street. As a result, you trust their social proof without putting them through a ringer to evaluate them as thoroughly as you might a stranger. You can’t do that.
Just because someone else provides a testimonial doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re right for you and your particular needs. So, get in there and really assess this person hard and fast and deep and then make a decision about it. And if you decide not to go with this person, very simply explain to your colleague where the deficiency was.
Let’s see if they can speak to it because sometimes they’ll say, you know, you’re right. It doesn’t really have that kind of a backroom. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
Avoiding a Bad Hire
And they’ll appreciate your honesty for coming to them directly. And that, of course, leads to the not conducting a thorough interview by not being prepared. So, I know you’re multitasking and you’re coming out of a meeting and there are four people at your door and there’s someone in the reception who’s waiting to talk to you.
So, recognize that you need to just take a minute or two to settle yourself. Focus in on this person and focus in on the resume. Get clear about the standard questions that you want to ask and based upon what you hear, the atypical questions, the follow-up questions might want to be to make sure you cover those points based upon what you see in the resume and the little things that may give you hesitation.
Lastly, a mistake that people make is expecting way too much out of their staff. A person comes on board and you expected an individual to come in. They’ve got great qualifications, but they’ve got an emotional side, as well.
And they’re not machines and they’re not going to work 90 hours a week to make you look good. Recognize that sometimes, just like you’re exaggerating the job a wee bit, they’re exaggerating themselves a wee bit, too. And if you’re going to demand superhuman effort from them and pay them average money, you’re barking up the wrong tree and you’re going to be disappointed.
There’s a lot more variances on that, but you get the idea. At the end of the day, if you expect way too much out of your people, all you’re going to do is burn them out, piss them off and make them leave. You don’t want to do that.
I’m Jeff Altman. Hope you found this helpful. My website is TheBigGameHunter.us. There’s a lot more there to watch, listen to and read to help you find work quickly.
And if we are connected on LinkedIn, send a connection request at LinkedIn.com/in/TheBigGameHunter.
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS job search coaching and career advice globally because he makes job search and succeeding in your career easier.
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