Hiring a manager that will be successful is vital to your business’ success. The stakes are high, and you shouldn’t leave any room for error. Here are five best practices to make sure you find and hire the best manager.
Know what you’re looking for
It is important that you clearly define what you need in a manager to ensure that your new hire is successful. That is, operationally speaking, you must make clear to yourself exactly what tasks your new hire will be responsible for. This will allow you to create a specific job description that clearly communicates your needs. This communication will allow you to correctly present the employment opportunity to applicants — making sure that candidates are applying for the position you want to fill.
Don’t hire based on experience alone
Experience alone cannot predict the success of a job applicant. What if they weren’t successful in their last position? What if they can’t adapt to the unique needs of your work environment?
Experience must be measured alongside personality and motivation to predict success.
Look for these five personality traits
Dr. Jerry Kehoe, industrial-organization PhD, found that this combination of five character traits correlates with management success: taking leadership, team orientation, service orientation, self-regulation, and problem-solving. When hiring a manager, you should look for these traits.
Know where to find successful managers
Where do managers in your industry look for work? If you can answer this question, you will be much closer to finding the applicants you seek. Asking around within your industry will be very helpful in solving this problem. Also, trying industry associations and niche job boards might be a good idea.
Eliminate personal bias
Too often, employers hire applicants under the influence of subjective personal bias. How an applicant looks, their interests, or whether or not you find them “likable” does not affect how well they will perform the job.
This potential roadblock can be overcome by using a systematic and objective approach to hiring. That is, you should create a structured process that will determine which candidate you will select.
Define Clear Job Roles and Requirements
Ensure each role directly contributes to your company’s overarching objectives. When defining roles with this in mind, it goes beyond merely listing tasks or skills; it’s about identifying how a new hire’s impact will resonate throughout the organization and contribute meaningfully to its mission and vision. Ask yourself: How will this position contribute to our objectives? What measurable outcomes do we expect from this role? How will this position interact with other roles and departments? What core skills or attributes are needed to fulfill this purpose? How does this role contribute to our culture and values?
Involve stakeholders in refining job descriptions
Hiring decisions are most effective when they’re collaborative. Engaging department heads, direct team members, and key stakeholders allows you to create job descriptions that genuinely reflect the role’s demands and team dynamics. This collective approach also helps establish clear expectations and ensures alignment across departments right from the start.
Use competency-based frameworks to identify critical skills and attributes:
Focus on essential skills, behaviors, and attitudes rather than just technical qualifications. In traditional hiring, job descriptions often include a list of required skills or qualifications. While this can filter for candidates with the right technical abilities, it may miss out on evaluating critical qualities that influence a candidate’s overall effectiveness in the role. That’s where competency-based hiring comes in—it’s a method that goes beyond basic skill listings to consider a broader range of qualities that can predict long-term success.
By implementing a competency-based framework, you identify core attributes, skills, and behaviors that align with both the position and the organization’s values and goals.
Implement a Structured Hiring Process
Standardized Procedures:
Defining and documenting every step of the hiring process helps create a transparent and repeatable approach, reducing ambiguity and ensuring that everyone knows their role. Here’s what to include in your standard operating procedures (SOPs):
- Outline Roles and Responsibilities
- Detail Each Stage of the Process
- Set Timelines and Decision-Making Criteria
Data-Driven Decision Making:
Data-driven hiring is an objective approach that helps remove biases and guesswork from decision-making. By using structured data to evaluate candidates, hiring teams can focus on facts over intuition, which improves the accuracy and fairness of hiring decisions. Here’s how to integrate data effectively:
- Assess Candidates Through Pre-Defined Criteria
- Utilize Screening and Assessment Tools
- Track and Analyze Hiring Metrics
Incorporate technology (e.g., ATS, AI-based tools) for efficiency:
Employ applicant tracking systems (ATS) and AI-powered tools to streamline the process and enhance efficiency.
- Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
- AI-Powered Screening Tools
- Automated Interview Scheduling and Communication
Evaluate and Continuously Improve Hiring Strategies
Gather Feedback: Feedback from candidates and hiring managers is a valuable source of insight into the strengths and weaknesses of your recruitment process. This information allows you to identify areas where improvements can create a better experience and lead to better hiring outcomes.
- Candidate Feedback
- Hiring Manager Feedback
Analyze Key Metrics: Metrics offer a quantitative approach to evaluate the effectiveness of your hiring process. Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) allows you to understand what’s working and where adjustments are needed. Here are some essential metrics to monitor:
- Time-to-Hire
- Quality of Hire
- Candidate Drop-Off Rates
- Cost-per-Hire
Stay Updated on Industry Trends: Stay informed about the latest hiring trends and best practices to adapt your strategies. The hiring landscape is constantly evolving, driven by new technology, shifts in candidate expectations, and changes in the job market. Attract top talent by focusing on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), using VR tools for skill assessments etc.
By following these best practices, you can streamline your hiring process, attract top talent, and build a high-performing workforce that drives your organization’s success.
| What specific challenges are you currently facing in your hiring process that you’d like to address or improve? Reach out to us! |
Ongoing evaluation and improvement are essential for a hiring process that consistently attracts and retains top talent. By collecting feedback, tracking key metrics, and keeping up with industry trends, you can build a responsive hiring strategy that aligns with your organization’s needs and elevates the candidate experience.
SmoothHiring continues to evolve to match the pace and ever-changing needs of the market, and I would be happy to hear your ideas/requirements. Please reach us at (877) 8767) or email us at help@smoothhiring.com
