How can I get rid of making mistakes in the selection of employees and thus obtain the best work performance from them? It is one of the most frequently asked questions by businessmen because it has happened to us all over and over again that we were wrong. We keep a worker, who we know is mediocre; but to whom do we give an opportunity, then another and many more. Naively we think that for having been in the company for so many years, he is a loyal worker, perhaps he has shown us loyalty with his verbiage or perhaps he shows some interest in overcoming himself when we have caught his attention.
Finally, the worker ends up leaving the company and we say " What happiness he left… he was a bad worker."
A few days we realized that this person, really was not as necessary as we thought, was not as essential as we thought. With pain and in silence we must accept that he was incompetent.
Why don't we fire him earlier? For the reasons I mentioned, but also because there are some trades where it is now difficult to find good workers or skilled workers.
Ironically that happens, because while the universities bring thousands of "degrees" to the streets in various professions, I say "degrees" because many of them leave without being professionals; there are trades such as "accountant", "secretary", "baker", "reporter", "mechanic", "cabinetmaker", etc. They lack candidates and few institutes are interested in offering these careers or trades. Perhaps young people find it less glamorous than studying "international relations", "psychology", "advertising", "law", etc. Curiously, these trades now pay better wages than those professions, more socially attractive.
In short, the point is that we keep low-skilled workers in the company. Some very old, but also new workers and we allow the "trial period" to pass, which in many countries is three months and then a layoff will have a higher cost.
How to avoid falling into that error or oversight and obtain a better work performance from your collaborators? I want to offer you several tips.
You must be clear about the profile of the position you want to fill when making the personnel selection and before hiring the person; you must clearly specify:
- What is the mission of the position ? In other words, what is the position for? You must clearly establish the main objectives and activities of the position.Set success indicators for the position, this means having clear the desired results of that position and the criteria that will be used to measure it. Those criteria must be units of measurement, they must be objective and quantitative, allowing you to establish whether the person holding the position is being efficient and effective. Clarify and specify the units of dependency, authority and responsibility that the position has. Now, describe the profile, competencies, characteristics, skills, talents and abilities that the candidate must gather to fill that position, as well as the level of experience, technical knowledge and studies to fill it, then carefully and diligently select and recruit the best candidate. Choose from three options. Interview with the candidates,Take note of the comments that person makes to you, of the relevant points you notice in the conversation. Check the references. Do not contract entry. Try to score each of the criteria with a score from one to ten. Then weigh those scores. If necessary, interview a second time. When choosing and hiring your candidate, they must go through a rigorous induction and training process. You should have a program or detail of activities that will be carried out during the first weeks, which will gradually take you to the position.Interview for a second time. When choosing and hiring your candidate, they must go through a rigorous induction and training process. You should have a program or detail of activities that will be carried out during the first weeks, which will gradually take you to the position.Interview for a second time. When choosing and hiring your candidate, they must go through a rigorous induction and training process. You should have a program or detail of activities that will be carried out during the first weeks, which will gradually take you to the position.Evaluate that person's performance and progress, once a month, for the first three months. Determine if the induction and training process is being effective, if the person is adapting to the company. Look for comments and opinions of other people within the company. In less than three months, you should be able to determine if the person is the candidate you need to fill the position.
This entire recruitment process does not guarantee that you have hired "the best"; But it does substantially decrease the margin of error and prevents you from falling into that common mistake of waiting for the employee to resign and leave to say to us, "What happiness he left…"
I suggest you read the following two articles:
Committed people for companies that want to grow and Three steps to implement a performance measurement program.
Remember the following: In order to grow, we need disciplined, capable, methodical, focused and committed people with the desired results in our company.
