Archive for Employers
Not Doing a Thorough Enough Interview
Common Hiring Mistakes: Part 13
Your accounting manager, Sharon, is getting married and moving to another city. You are faced with the daunting task of having to replace her. Sharon is the backbone of your company and you know it will be a huge challenge to find someone close to her skill level and character.
»» Not Doing a Thorough Enough Interview
3 Steps to Writing a Good Job Description
Common Hiring Mistakes: Part 12
One big mistake many hiring managers make, and number 12 on our list of Hiring Mistakes, is to not really know what they want (hard and soft skills). To help you from falling victim to this potentially expensive mistake, we have put together the following strategy for you to follow the next time you need to hire a new employee.
»» 3 Steps to Writing a Good Job Description
Wishing a Guy Into a Position
Common Hiring Mistakes: Part 11
He Really Isn’t Qualified, But You Like Him.
Joe Taylor needed a program manager for a key development project. He started searching for candidates, but was unsatisfied with what he was finding. Later that day he saw his old friend Steve Morgan. Steve had just been laid off and was looking for a new job. Joe only knew Steve socially, but thought he was a good, solid guy and always enjoyed seeing him.
»» Wishing a Guy Into a Position
Not Paying a Competitive Wage (Too High or Too Low)
Common Hiring Mistakes: Part 10
It is tricky business to set a proper starting salary for a position. Pay too much and you will hurt the company. Pay too little and you risk losing key employees to better paying firms. When setting a wage, it is important to look at the following four factors:
1. Prevailing wages in your market: This is by far the most important criteria in setting a wage. In 1970 an accounting clerk made around $6.00/hour. In 1990 the same clerk probably made around $9.00/hour. The 1990 clerk wasn’t necessarily 50% better, but inflation and economic conditions had caused the wage to be 50% higher.
»» Not Paying a Competitive Wage (Too High or Too Low)
Mislabeling “Sub-Contractors” Who Are Actually Employees
Common Hiring Mistakes: Part 9
»» Mislabeling “Sub-Contractors” Who Are Actually Employees
Hiring Too Many Relatives of Employees
17 Common Hiring Mistakes: Part 8
Recently Harry Wilson, a seasoned executive, was helping a company with a major expansion. Things were going along well until the company owner reconciled with his estranged son, Sam, and decided to bring the son into the business. The father had much remorse over the estrangement and to make things up to Sam, he was promoted to a top level position.
»» Hiring Too Many Relatives of Employees
3 Keys to Hiring Relatives
At some point in your career you will run into the question of whether you should hire a relative or not. We know it is tempting to hire relatives for key positions, but this can be a tricky situation. On the one hand they are family and you trust them. You feel that your family has your best interest in mind and a vested interest in your company. But on the other hand most experts warn that combining work and family relationships almost always causes the personal relationship to suffer.
Keeping Staff That Do Not Excel During Their Probationary Period
17 Common Hiring Mistakes: Part 7
Often, we hold back some salary during the probationary phase with a promise of an automatic raise after the probationary period is over. From long experience with employees, I can unequivocally say that if you are not totally delighted to give the employee the raise, you need to terminate them. There is no gray area here. Either they performed admirably or they didn’t. If they didn’t perform well during the first 90 days, THEY WILL NEVER GET ANY BETTER.
»» Keeping Staff That Do Not Excel During Their Probationary Period
Not Establishing a Probationary Period
17 Common Hiring Mistakes: Part 6
Even with sufficient interviewing, testing and background checks, you truly do not know what you have with a new employee until they have been on the job a while and the “new job honeymoon” has worn off. I always think that you truly know the measure of a person when you see how they handle adversity or problems. Do they fold up or rise to the challenge.
»» Not Establishing a Probationary Period
Not Testing for Skills, IQ or Personality
17 Common Hiring Mistakes: Part 5
There are a number of good tests on the market to evaluate your hires. Tests are one tool that allow you to probe deeper into the candidate’s personality and skills and really know what you are “buying” when you hire.
»» Not Testing for Skills, IQ or Personality