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Want to learn more? Take a deep dive…

Barker, E. (2011, July 19). Scientific, time-tested methods for hiring the best people. Business
Insider.
Haun, L. (2013, January 14). Don’t hire the perfect candidate. Harvard Business Review Blog
Network.
Moore, D. (2012, February 7). Stop being deceived by interviews when you’re hiring. Forbes.

12. Always wait for a vacancy? Recruit ahead of the curve. Finding the right people can be difficult
when it is done on an “as needed” basis. When recruitment is vacancy led. A more successful
strategy involves continually searching for talent—succession planning. Identifying the talent needed
for long-term success and finding it before you need it. Creating an internal pipeline of people ready
and willing to take on the next opportunity. An external pipeline of people waiting to join. What talent
do you need to line up for the future? Where will it come from? Do you have a replacement plan for
yourself? Who has, or will have, the ability to take your job or another key role? Who are you
sponsoring for promotion? It’s OK to state up front, “We’re not currently hiring, but I’m always on the
lookout for great people.” Keep in touch with people; keep them interested. Maximize opportunities to
onboard people early to prepare them for a future role. This strategy not only builds a database of
resumes, it increases your own personal network of contacts (providing referrals will generally be
reciprocated). Never stop looking for talent.

13. Hire too quickly or too slowly? Slow down or speed up. Either tendency will probably get you and
the organization in trouble. Do you hire too quickly? Think anyone can learn the job? Worry you won’t
fill the vacancy, so you hire the first candidate that comes along? Slow down. Don’t be afraid to let a
mediocre candidate go in order to search for a better one. It might take more time now, but it will save
you time later. Maybe you take too long? Fear making a bad hire? Wait for the perfect candidate?
Learn to moderate yourself. Always try to wait long enough to have choices but not so long that you
lose a very good candidate while waiting for perfection. There’s a risk that your idea of perfection
doesn’t exist. But you can hire someone who comes pretty close.

14. Overly reliant on a single source of talent? Cast the net far and wide. Prefer to fish for talent in
the internal pond? Or do you only look outside to bring in new talent? Either way, you’re limiting the
pool of talent you have exposure to. And limiting the diversity of culture and strengths and
weaknesses you have to choose from. Widen your search. Give equal consideration to internal and
external talent pools. Involve others who can cast the net wider—in-house recruiters, headhunters,
temporary staffing agencies. Make the most of employee referral programs, campus recruiting.
Advertise—use the web and appropriate professional social media. Working in a global context? Look
outside your own backyard. Embrace the concept of a global talent pool. Best-in-class companies
scour the world in search of the best and the brightest.

15. Made a mistake? Act quickly. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you’ll hire the wrong person. It
usually shows up in the first 90 days. But before you think about letting them go, be sure the problem
isn’t fixable. Maybe they have not been onboarded effectively? Perhaps they were given too much
responsibility too soon. Or was it that they weren’t given enough and have gone off the boil? Have
interpersonal issues with certain team members hampered their progress? Look beneath the surface
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