Trump wins US Presidency: What happens when you hire the wrong candidate

Like many, I awoke today completely shocked by the news Donald Trump was actually hired by the American public! He made it! His new boardroom is now The Oval Office and he is officially America’s 45th President. So, not wanting to cast doubt upon Trump’s ability to get it right, (although sorely tempting) I immediately decided to write about ‘What happens when you hire the wrong candidate?’

It happens time and time again, this isn’t a problem unique to the USA presidential campaign. With current skills shortages, strong candidates are in short supply, sometimes the choices available to you are slim to say the least. When faced with what feels like Hobson’s choice, it can quite often turn into hiring the ‘best of a bad bunch’ rather than the super rock star hire you initially set out to hire.

So although you are less than enamoured with your best of the worst, you are simply desperate for more team members and you make your job offer. When the inevitable happens; the new hire does not pass their 3-month probation and you sadly part ways, the actual cost to your business is SIGNIFICANT! So, you only paid them for three months, right? At least you cut ties sooner rather than later. True, but when you factor in the recruitment costs, the induction time, those early days of zero to slow productivity whilst learning the ropes, management time and effort, training and don’t forget those missed opportunity costs and negative impact on performance of the rest of the team etc. the actual cost to your business is closer to a full year’s salary for the new hire.

A whole year’s salary! For a short term, poor hire, who potentially caused devastation to the productivity of your team and negatively impacted morale. What’s more, you now need to restart your engine and kick off the whole recruitment process again, you are back to square one.

So how do you ensure this time you find that rock star hire you have been secretly hankering for. Unlike the USA presidential election, we do have a choice! With a little planning and proactive campaigning you can attract stronger candidates and be more effective at selecting the right candidate for you. You decide to recruit smarter!

Identify, up front, what you are looking for

Before you advertise the job, take the time to plan your rock star profile. What skills sets and personality traits are you looking for? What does it take to be a rock star in this role? Thinking this through now will ensure you ask better questions during interviews, and be less swayed by gut instinct. Don’t get me wrong, your gut instinct stands for a lot, as long as you can back up your intuition with a fair assessment on actual skills and personality traits required to do the job.

Do not accept weak talent pools

If you are not receiving good quality applications, halt the process and rethink how and where you promote your jobs. Have you fully defined and promoted your employer brand? You need to be honest with yourself here, the brand needs to be based on reality not fantasy, or your new hire will quickly work it out and be out of the door before you can say "Trump Towers". Ask your employees, what keeps them working for your business? Ask your customers for input, they know your culture too! List the pro points and make sure you promote them in the job ad, during each interview and during the job offer process. Seal that deal to bag yourself a rock star.

Strong induction for your new hire

So you found your rock star, they immediatly connected to your employer brand and they quickly agree to the job offer and simply cannot wait to start working with you. Whilst they serve their notice in their current employer, do not go silent on them. Start the induction process straightaway. Build on the excitement as early as possible, send good quality information and company swag as early as possible and involve your new hire in team communications and events before they even start with you. This will ensure they are fired up and good to go day 1, reducing the lead time for productivity significantly and ensuring early success for your business and your new hire.

So do yourself a favour, don’t settle for average applicants, aim high and boost your team with the rock star hires you deserve.

Good luck with your hew hire America! The future’s bright, the future’s orange?

HR Connected would love to work with you and your business to recruit smarter and can advise on the best ways to secure quality hires. For more information visit www.hrconnected.co.uk