How to Hire Long Term Employees
Part 2: Before the interview
The Two-Way Interview
One of the most important concepts in hiring that managers tend to forget is that the interview is a two-way process. Interviews are often reduced to a set of one-way questions from the managers to confirm resume info and judge personal or technical abilities. But there remains a great opportunity for the managers and candidate to meaningfully engage and understand one other before moving forward in the hiring process. While candidates need to prepare themselves to impress the managers, managers also need to be prepared to present their business and values as impressive to the candidates. This requires strategical preparation on the manager’s end and is not an easy task to do.
While often unspoken, or even unconscious, there is an underlying tendency to think every candidate is dying to work for your organization. It would come as a surprise to no one to learn this is not always the case. In todays work climate candidates have become more selective on where they choose to work. Job seekers take the overall employee experience, job satisfaction, and their employers’ social responsibility into heavy consideration. In preparation for the interview, it is helpful to consider the items outlined below.
Deconstruct your business. Pitch your values.
Before jumping into an interview, managers need to deconstruct their company structure and values in detail. It may seem obvious that managers would know their company structure and values, however, it comes to question if managers are accurately delivering this information to the candidate.
Repeated survey analysis indicate that the number one reason people quit their job is due to a poor relationship with their boss/manager. It stands to reason that if most people leave a job because of poor relationship with management, they will place high value on finding a job that promises the opposite. This stresses the importance of the hiring manager taking time to demonstrate what the candidate can expect from management and coworkers, as well as the emphasis they place on their values and work culture. These items are significant factors that play into the right hire wanting to work for your organization in the first place. When you start there, longevity and long-term hiring will follow.
Here are some questions on company culture and values that managers should ask themselves prior to holding the interview:
- Are employees’ voices equally reaching to the decision-makers?
- How often do the executives/management communicate with the employees?
- Are employees put in an individual environment or a team-cooperative environment?
- How do our core values show up in day to day routine?
- What efforts are taken to create a work environment open to feedback and discussion?
- How does our organization take social responsibility seriously?
Taking the extra time to consider these questions prior to the interview will help provide an opportunity to address them head-on with the candidate. Answering questions on culture and values before they are asked helps ensure the exceptional candidate accepts your offer and not your competitor’s.
Part 3 of the “Long-term Hiring” series, will discuss the interview itself and how it related to long term hiring.
For questions on how you can make improvements to your long-term hiring, reach out to us here, or send an e-mail to justin@platinumrecruiting.ca
