A couple of days ago, I was talking with a friend of mine and she mentioned that she had just hired 2 new employees recently, after having interviewed 10 candidates. She also said that the entire interview process was a tiring and energy sapping process, especially having to interview 10 candidates. She also said that she believed that the 2 persons she hired were the right ones.
I responded by saying that interviewing candidates is never an easy task and that if we wanted to ensure we hired the right people, we must invest sufficient time, effort and energy into preparing and executing the entire interviewing and selection process. The reason is that hiring the wrong people into your organization could be detrimental to your organization. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com once said that he would “rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong person.??? However the sad truth is that many hirers do not invest sufficient time, effort and energy into preparing for and executing the interview and selection process.
Because the interviewing and selection process is a tedious one, many hirers tend to end the interview and selection process after interviewing a dozen candidates. To make matters worse, many take the easy way out by selecting the “best??? candidate out of the dozen candidates interviewed, even if that candidate isn’t exactly the right fit for the organization. Many do this due to time pressures, interview-fatigue or just plain laziness.
By taking the easy way out, hirers deny themselves the chance to truly find the right candidate for their organization. As Jeff Bezos said: “A mis-hire at the outset of your company can irreversibly alter the trajectory of your corporate culture. If you hire sharks, you cannot expect them to act like dolphins.??? Hiring the wrong candidate could spell trouble for your organization in the long run.
So if you want to ensure you hire the right people for your organization, do not take the easy way out. Invest sufficient time, energy and effort into the preparation and execution of the interviewing and selection process.
Hiring people is a risk just like a marriage. You will only find out once you entered into it. And most of the time you make the best out of it and if things get way out of hand , you just have to end it. Interviewing and references helps to identify and minimise the “uncertainties” but does not eradicate the risk of hiring the “wrong people”