By Michalle Faulkner – Managing Director
EastCoast Human Resource Group

There are some people that say as a business owner you should “Hire Slow and Fire Fast”.

In today’s modern, inclusive and compliant world, this could pose quite the risk factor to the Employer if in their haste, they don’t happen to comply with legislative standards when adopting this stance (i.e. definitely in the case of the fire fast analogy) however I can see the merits of this type of style being adopted.

As a HR Professional, a lot of the work that we get engaged to do, is regrettably in the reactive space.  Cases such as Employee’s that are already engaged in significant conflict and dispute requiring mediation and or performance management or possibly Employers that are disappointed by what has been showcased and presented by a prospective new Employee at interview that’s significantly incongruent with what’s being delivered once they are engaged and employed actively in their role…..

Taking the time to recruit and select to your key role and responsibility criteria and completing due diligence in the early recruitment stages, certainly minimises, if not in most cases, eliminates some risk of reactive issues like a disconnect of expectations between the Employee and the Employer but also by taking a bit more care – it can ensure that you have suitably identified that the person that you are bringing into your team is there because they are aligned to both the skill level and expertise your business requires but they are also selected because they align with your workplace values or culture.

I know a very successful business woman (who I greatly admire by the way) who ensures that she incorporates some type of “social” element to her recruitment strategy.  She invites potential Employees to share a meal or social event and invites their spouse or significant other as an exercise in exploring and experiencing how they interact with others in a social setting.  I know the workplace and our social environment are very different but thinking outside the box, this type of strategy can be very telling (as Muhammad Ali said “I don’t trust someone who is nice to me but rude to the waiter because they would treat me the same way if I were in that position”).

This isn’t necessarily your first step of validation but I think could be valuable none the less.  I also heard of a company that specifically hires based on whether or not you take your used water cup or coffee mug to the kitchen at the end of your interview….

One thing I can be sure of is the person that is sitting before you in the interview, is supposed to be a representative of the best version of themselves that they can deliver!  It’s their opportunity to showcase to you why they should be your next ideal new team member and as such you should, and can, have a reasonable expectation that they can answer responsively and insightfully to your work related questions with merit based and factual responses, that they are presentable and that they engage with you but hopefully also show you their personal spark and point of difference.

We recommend several key considerations that can all contribute to you making an informed final selection decision and I believe that selecting that great new hire, is more successful by choosing to reflect on a combination of these validations before making a decision:-

• Pre Interview selection criteria (this could be either a written response to your respective questions or a video);
• Initial interview and possible second interview responses, demeanour and cultural fit;
• Possibly demonstrative exercise i.e. “provide me with a one page marketing plan for a new product line of xxxx that we are developing” or “if you were the successful new General Manager, outline for me what your first 90 days would look like”;
• Qualifications validation;
• Personality Profiling;
• Review of their LinkedIn Profile (including reviewing recommendations and endorsement of skills);
• Reference validations.

In terms of the second part of the equation – Fire Fast!

Be very clear and specific about your performance expectations for the role right from the start of employment and ensure that you are regularly assessing what is being delivered to these performance standards.

Make sure your performance expectations are reasonable and measurable and not subjective.  Keep detailed records of inductions, initial training delivered, assessments and meetings held.

If new team members are not meeting the minimum expectations of the role, and those expectations are reasonable and you have provided all the required induction and training, pre validated and assessed that their skill level and past experiences held them meritorious for the role that they were selected for, then make that tough decision to call it, sooner rather than later.