Hiring the wrong person is one of the most costly mistakes an organization can make. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, a bad hire can cost up to 30 percent of the employee’s annual salary. Not only will a bad hire have an effect on your bottom line, but you’ll also lose time and productivity correcting your mistake. So how can you avoid hiring the wrong person? Here are some tips.

Write In-Depth Job Postings

Hiring the right person starts with a thorough, detailed job posting. If your job posting omits vital skills needed for the position or fails to describe all the responsibilities of the role, you will end up with unqualified candidates. That’s why an in-depth job posting is so important — so you can eliminate those who aren’t right for the role before they apply. 

Start by determining who your ideal candidate is and write the job posting with them in mind. Make sure to include complete descriptions of everything this person will be responsible for. Also, list required and preferred skills along with any soft-skills you think are needed for the role. To make sure you haven’t missed anything, have others in your organization review your job posting, adding anything they think will help you attract the right candidates. 

Recruit Passive Candidates 

You can’t wait for the perfect person to apply. To find your ideal candidate, you need to proactively recruit top candidates for your open position. The problem is, it’s likely the best people for your role are already employed. The good news is, many are still willing to learn about new opportunities. We call these people passive candidates. While they are open to a new job, chances are they aren’t actively looking and applying for roles. That’s why it’s so important for you to reach out to them.

Realistically, many employers are simply too busy to go after passive candidates. That’s why many choose to work with a recruiting firm. While you focus on your day-to-day, recruiters are focused on finding your ideal candidate, reaching out to passive candidates to recruit them for your available position. 

Look for Culture Fit

When looking to fill your open position, you obviously want someone who has the skills and experience to excel at the job. But too often, employers forget an important aspect of making a successful hire: ensuring your new hire fits your company culture. 

Finding the right culture fit starts with defining your company’s culture. What are your organization’s core beliefs and values? Is your work environment buttoned up and professional, or more laid back? Once you have your company’s culture defined, ask culture fit questions when interviewing candidates so you can eliminate those who don’t fit your culture from consideration. 

Conduct Multiple Interviews

It’s hard to get to know someone based on one interview. To avoid a bad hire, you need to conduct multiple interviews with your favorite candidates to determine not only who has the skills to do the job, but who will fit in best with your team. Most experts suggest conducting an initial phone interview to narrow down your list of candidates, then bringing in your finalists for a few in-person interviews. 

One word of caution — be careful not to conduct too many interviews. Take Google as an example. The search engine giant used to conduct upwards of a dozen interviews, which led to a lot of time and money spent on hiring. They decided to analyze five years of hiring data to determine if they could streamline their hiring process. They discovered that conducting just four interviews “provided an accurate prediction of a new hire’s performance 86% of the time.”

Ask for Hiring Help

Hiring the right person takes time. And many employers don’t have the proper resources to dedicate to an in-depth hiring process. That’s why employers are increasingly working with recruiting firms for their hiring needs. 

If you need help finding the best candidates possible for your accounting and finance roles, contact Burchard & Associates. We’ve helped countless employers in St. Louis and beyond avoid bad hires using proven recruiting techniques perfected throughout our 30 years in the industry. If you’d like more information on how we can help you hire the best people possible, contact us today.