Development 4 Managers.com

Hiring Practices

Are You Hiring Bob or B-O-B?

Are you hiring who you really want, or are you scraping desperately the Bottom Of the Barrel?

Unfortunately, many organizations feel forced to hire the first applicant they can get their hands on out of desperation.

Managers, particularly new ones, hope that snatching whoever they can from a shrinking pool of qualified candidates will be as good a strategy as any other. The approach can be costly and has potential to harm indefinitely your organization.

Resist the temptation to hire in desperation. Instead, try to pin-point what aspect of your recruiting strategy is not working.

Is the job posting clear enough? Are you doing a good job at selling your organization to potential candidates? Are you marketing the position in all the right places? Are you targeting the right groups?

Before you give in and hire the first body with a pulse that shows at your door, examine carefully if your recruiting strategy is the most appropriate given your needs. You may need to consider using recruiting agencies or you may need to post the job in a different publication.

You might also want to consider internal resources. Is there someone internally who can do the job you are trying to fill and whose current position may be easier to replace?