The perfect employee is an elusive creature. An ideal candidate knows their stuff, works brilliantly with others, and gels right into the workplace culture. Sounds like an impossible dream, doesn’t it? Luckily, there are some things you can do to improve your hiring process and more efficiently discover the best individual for the job. Whether you’re using a recruitment agency like Chandler Macleod or doing it independently, these three tips will help you end up with the right person filling your vacant position.
1. Attitude Is Everything
Even the most talented and experienced individual can turn out to be a detriment to your workplace if their attitude is a bad match for your organisation. For most companies, success depends on the team’s ability to work together seamlessly and utilise each member’s strengths. If a potential employee shows signs of not being a team player in their interview, this could be a sign that they won’t be able to collaborate well with your existing workers. Other aspects of attitude to consider include their punctuality and work ethic; if these don’t line up with what you expect from your staff, you need to keep looking.
2. Dig Deep Into Prior Roles
A position title on a resume might look great, but what really matters is what the candidate did in that prior role. Ask for details about their work experience to discover if the tasks they have previously practised and the skills they have developed are really relevant to the job you are wanting to fill. Sometimes two positions that seem similar on the surface can actually differ quite wildly in terms of actual job descriptions. Fleshing out specifics can reveal that someone’s limited experience is actually exactly what you need – or that someone’s vast experience doesn’t even touch on the sorts of things you would need them to work on.
3. Be Attractive
It’s a simple rule of nature: you need to be attractive to draw in attractive people. If your workplace culture is enjoyable and the work your people do is meaningful and well respected in your industry, you will attract the best people to apply for your vacant role. A great idea when wanting to determine whether a candidate is a good fit for your organisation is to show them exactly why they would enjoy working for you. This might mean taking them on a tour through the office after the interview or discussing the employee benefits your company offers. If they seem instantly at home in your workplace environment or are genuinely excited about the opportunity you are describing, this could well be a positive indication.
With the right strategy and approach to hiring, finding the perfect employee may not be as impossible as you think. If your recruitment team struggles with intuitively recognising whether a candidate would fit well with your company’s culture, consider investing in psychometric testing or a similar tool to assist with this.
What are your best tips for finding the hidden gems when looking for a new employee? Share your advice in the comments below.
