5 common hiring mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Don't think you need a hiring system? What if you had to hire 30 people at a time? What if you had to have somebody else in your organization do the hiring for you? How can you be sure that you'll end up with the best possible person for the position?

An example we use with our clients is that of Olympic judges. Olympic judges have pre-defined scoring criteria that they all adhere to as they judge each event. You can watch an athlete perform what you think is the most amazingly perfect display of athleticism, and the judges will end up giving them a poor score because of a detail you missed. Why? Because the judges have consistent criteria to judge with; they're all on the same page and they can choose the winner based on those criteria. It's the same thing for your hiring process. You need a system in place that allows you to consistently choose the candidate who scores a perfect 10!

5 common hiring mistakes to avoid

Keep the following list of common hiring mistakes in mind as you build your hiring process. Remember, it's never too late to build systems into your business. Even if you're not hiring right now, by creating a hiring system, you'll be prepared when the time comes.

1. Assuming a new hire is the answer

– If you're considering hiring a new employee the first thing to ask yourself is: "Can we achieve our desired results without hiring anyone?" In other words, force yourself to consider all of the options you have at your disposal (besides adding people) to produce the result you want. Only move forward with your recruiting and hiring systems when you've determined that a new employee is absolutely necessary.

2. Confusing recruiting and hiring 

In an E-Myth'd business, hiring and recruiting are separate things. Recruiting involves defining the position and the ideal candidate and then communicating that recruiting message so that you attract the right candidate. The hiring process is about choosing the right candidate. By keeping these two processes clearly defined, you'll maximize the impact of both and end up with the best-qualified candidate for the job.

3. Hiring on the spot 

There's an old saying that hiring decisions are made in the first seven seconds of an interview. Seven seconds? This means that most hiring decisions are made from an emotional perspective. The candidate just "feels right," and while trusting your instinct is good; it must be tempered with objectivity. We sometimes tell clients, "When you feel the urge to hire, don't." Your hiring decisions are some of the most consequential decisions you can make in your business — it's essential to have a hiring system in place that allows you to consider all the pertinent data.

4. "Selling" the company

If you've done your recruiting process right, there's no need for you to sell the company to your candidate because they already know exactly what you are about. By the time the candidate has gotten to the interview stage with you, you should be in hiring mode, focused on choosing the right candidate instead of them choosing you. If you feel like you need to convince a candidate that your company is "so great that you really should come work for us" then you've got a problem and it's time to re-evaluate your recruiting process

5. Hiring based purely on skill

Don't hire based only on the candidate's skill set. You should be looking for skill and attitude. Look for the right attitude because you can always train the right candidate in the skills of the job, but you can't change anybody. For more about this topic, see our article The People Problem.

Share your story

What kind of hiring systems do you have in place? How has your hiring process helped you create a world-class team? 

If you have problems with hiring and training, check out our Position Agreements guide.