3 Indicators of Healthy Hiring Practices

The hiring process is responsible for sourcing a company’s most valuable assets – its people. As such, it should be a major point of emphasis for strategic planning.

Companies need a healthy hiring process to survive, and there are countless decisions to be made when hiring for any given position. Where should the job be posted? How much is budgeted for the position? What kind of interview questions need to be asked?

However, there are also some basic tenets that are common to every healthy hiring practice.

Consider the following.

Clearly defined jobs and their requirements

Believe it or not, some hiring managers take an ad lib approach to writing job descriptions. They find themselves in a situation where they need to hire someone, so they quickly write up a job description and post it to the internet as soon as possible. Then, that job description essentially becomes written in stone.

A healthy hiring process is founded squarely in a thoroughly-researched, well-written job description. A good job description will clearly outline requirements such as the necessary education, experience, knowledge and attitude. The listed requirements should be based partly on the qualifications of others in the same or similar jobs.

Once a good job description is written, it should become a kind of ‘roadmap’ for the rest of the process. For instance, if the position requires a highly-educated individual, it would be useful to post the job opening with universities and colleges.

Candidates are pushed out of their comfort zone

The job application process has become so structured and so ritualized, any job seeker who does a bit of research should be able to ace the most basic hiring process. Answers to standard questions can be rehearsed and a resume can be packed with key phrases to catch the eye of a human reviewer or a screening algorithm.

A good, healthy process, on the other hand, dispenses with standard questions and takes resumes with a grain of salt. Candidates should be asked ‘behavioral’ interview questions about how they handled past mistakes and challenges. Some companies will test applicants’ technical skills for certain jobs, knowing that skills and experience can easily be exaggerated on a resume.

Several people are in on the process

When a hiring process involves only one or two people, it becomes extremely subject to oversights, errors and personal biases. Incorporating other people at the company, including potential coworkers, mitigates these issues and provides added points of view that can provide useful insight.

Incorporating several other people also helps in assessing cultural fit and interpersonal skills. When candidates are introduced to people at different levels of the company, hiring personal can watch their interactions to see how they relate to those above them and below them on the corporate ladder.

Are you looking for top IT talent?

At SMCI, we work hand-in-glove with our clients to develop a talent acquisition process that best fits their individual needs. If your company is currently looking for a staffing partner, please contact us today to find out how we can be of assistance.