It seems intu­itive that we should hire the best pos­si­ble peo­ple for every posi­tion in our com­pany. But in real­ity, this hap­pens less often than we may care to believe. The hir­ing process is crit­i­cally impor­tant, and it needs to be exe­cuted well. If you are truly look­ing to hire the best tal­ent, then you will be com­pet­ing against other com­pa­nies, so putting your best foot for­ward could make all the difference.

Obstacles in Hiring

Lack of Clarity

The prob­lem often starts with a lack of clar­ity about the skills required for the posi­tion. Job descrip­tions may be poorly writ­ten, and per­for­mance expec­ta­tions may be ill-defined. Prospec­tive employ­ees may fail to get a good overview of the com­pany — where it’s going and the rea­sons why some­one would want to join the team.

Low Expectations

When hir­ing for “low-level” posi­tions, some man­agers may believe that any­body with a pulse will suf­fice, espe­cially when they see that role as non-critical. They fail to con­sider the company’s cul­ture and the impor­tance of hav­ing every­one work well together. Every indi­vid­ual on the team has an impor­tant role to play. All employ­ees must be will­ing to pull in the same direc­tion and be able to pro­vide the exper­tise and ser­vice lev­els that the team needs to succeed.

Reluctance and Fear

There is also the real­ity that some man­agers are afraid to hire the best peo­ple. They may be cau­tious about being replaced them­selves. These man­agers are often reluc­tant to give exist­ing employ­ees the oppor­tu­nity to shine or give them the credit they deserve for the con­tri­bu­tions they make.

How To Find the Best People

Clearly, there are some obsta­cles to effec­tive hir­ing and recruit­ing. So what do we do about them?

Create a Rigorous Hiring Process

First, we must be thought­ful in defin­ing and com­mu­ni­cat­ing the require­ments and spe­cific skills nec­es­sary to per­form well in that role. The hir­ing process should be rig­or­ous. Hav­ing more than one per­son inter­view job appli­cants can ensure there is bal­ance in the hir­ing process. Every­one involved should under­stand the goal of hir­ing the most skilled appli­cant who will fit well into the com­pany culture.

Develop Your Management Team

Lead­ers must pay close atten­tion to man­agers who con­sis­tently strug­gle with hir­ing the best peo­ple. Low per­for­mance mea­sures and high employee turnover rates may point to man­agers that need help. These strug­gling man­agers need devel­op­ment and encour­age­ment to feel more com­fort­able with their hir­ing role. As their respon­si­bil­i­ties became more com­pli­cated, they may not have kept pace with the new demands and skills required. Extra train­ing may be necessary.

We need to con­vince man­agers that the stronger the team, the bet­ter they look. When they sur­round them­selves with the best pos­si­ble peo­ple and encour­age them to shine, it reflects favor­ably on their effec­tive­ness as man­agers. Most impor­tantly, the work pro­duced by a strong team is notice­ably bet­ter than any­thing the man­ager could do on their own. It’s a win for the man­ager, their team and the company.

Foster a Culture of Excellence

Lead­ers must fos­ter a work cul­ture where every­one believes they both need and deserve to hire the very best peo­ple. It’s a cul­ture that rec­og­nizes and cel­e­brates achieve­ment. As man­agers praise team mem­bers, and are praised for the team’s suc­cess, it will lessen their per­sonal con­cerns about hav­ing the best peo­ple on their team.

Long-term suc­cess is built on a foun­da­tion of ener­gized and engaged employ­ees. Once you’ve found the best peo­ple, then you can fur­ther develop their tal­ent. Being on the team is all about con­tribut­ing great per­for­mance, and being rec­og­nized and rewarded for it.