Written by: Anne Swenson – HR Coordinator, and Charmaine Hollaway – Managing Director of HR & Benefits
As your company begins to grow, you will need to add staff to help with the increased workload of your business. Sometimes you end up with the wrong people for the job. You hire out of urgency and frustration or simply have bad luck in your selection. So, how can you avoid a wrong hire and make sure you select the right employees? Consider these helpful tips:
Be clear with your expectations: Write your job ad to be clear on what you are looking for in an employee and what the job duties are, and be upfront about the compensation and benefits package.
Review resumes: It can be tedious and time consuming, but screen all of the applications or resumes that have come in before you even consider interviews. Only interview those who meet your requirements.
Interview more than once: Especially when you are interviewing for a management role, either interview the candidate on two separate occasions or have someone else in your organization conduct an interview. It’s surprising how impressions can change with a second meeting.
Profile test: It is recommended to have candidates for key positions complete a profile test. These test for culture and personality fit with the organization and job. If you are hiring for a technical position, it would be a good idea to test for competency or skills prior to making that hire.
Double check. Be sure to perform all the checks prior to making that job offer:
- Reference Check: Ask for references and then call them! Verify the job duties performed, places worked and even salary. But before you do so, have a candidate sign an authorization allowing you to check and also indicate if contacting their current employer is okay.
- Background Check: This can be important depending on the nature of the position. Roles that manage others, work with finances or have access to confidential information should include a check for a criminal record of violence or theft.
- National Sexual Offender Registry: This check is extremely important especially if new hires will be working with children, the disabled or the elderly. This also can be a requirement if your office is located near a school. NSOF is usually included in most background check services, but ask if you are unsure.
- Motor Vehicle Record: A driving record report should be run if your employee will be driving a company vehicle or is issued a company car. Check with your insurance company on what their requirements are as well.
- Credit Check: This type of check can only be run on individuals hired for a financial job (including access to the corporate bank accounts or handling cash). But beware, with all the financial hardships of the past few years, some individuals might have a few late payments on their file which doesn’t automatically mean they aren’t good with finances; they could have just hit a string of bad luck. Instead, look for bankruptcies, collection activities, foreclosures or the like as red flags.
If it turns out that you didn’t complete the steps above, or just hired a good actor, it’s time to say goodbye. Your state might be “at will” which means that at any time, you can tell an employee that his/her services are no longer needed. You are not required to warn them, work with them or give them any further reason for the separation. If you terminate an employee before the completion of 30 days of work, it will usually prevent you from being charged with the unemployment claim. If you wait until after 30 days of employment, you may be on the hook for unemployment, so recognizing a bad hire and doing something about it early on is important.
Please contact us to see if MidwestHR, a Chicago PEO, is the right partner for your growing company.
MidwestHR supports growing companies by helping them simplify their business through HR Outsourcing. MidwestHR is a Certified Professional Employer Organization (CPEO) headquartered in the Chicago land area. As a CPEO, we provide business owners, CEO and CFO leaders with relief from dozens of time-consuming HR & employment related functions, while helping protect the business from ever-increasing HR demands and liabilities. In addition, our clients have the ability to offer “Fortune 500 type” benefits, while being able to better control their premiums in the process.
MidwestHR regularly works with all types of businesses, including medical practices, surgery centers, non-profits, professional service firms, technology companies, printing companies, religious organizations, start-ups, manufacturing businesses, trucking companies and financial institutions.