8 Key Steps To Successful Hiring

I disagree with most of what has been written about how to hire the right employees for a job. To put my comments in perspective, I am sharing my 25 years of real life experience hiring and managing up to 50 employees at a time. There are 8 things to consider when hiring if you want to create a successful manufacturing business.

1. Have the applicant complete an employment application in your presence. Do not accept a resume. An application accounts for a continuous timeline. A resume makes it easy to misrepresent the facts. The ability to follow printed instructions and write in a legible manner can’t be faked in your plain view.

2. Have an actual conversation with the person. An interrogation will not provide a true sense of what makes this person tick. Say something off track. I might say, I see you are married. What color is your wife’s hair? Listen to how the question is answered; annoyed, sarcastic, secretive.

3. Hire the person, not the skill. It is how well employees successfully interact and communicate with each other that matters. Most departments in a manufacturing company have 6-9 people working side by side. I learned early on that the personalities of the employees, especially those working in the same department, are very important in a productive and happy working environment. Yes, that’s right. I hire people based on astrological sun / moon signs. Before you reject the idea outright, I will point out that the ocean is influenced by the phase of the moon. We are made of 70% water, so it is reasonable to believe we are also influenced by the moon. For example, scorpios are strong, fiercely driven leaders. Putting 2 scorpios in the same department would be a ridiculous waste of time and resources. Both scorpios would argue for 8 hours about who is going to “decide” to “decide”. There are detail orientated people, virgo, who are happy working under strong leaders. A virgo has no interest in leading.

4. Don’t waste time checking references. Any person listed is most likely going to say something positive. Calling a previous employer is equally a waste of time. It is illegal for any employer, past or present to provide any information on an employee without specific written consent. Ex employees who have been terminated, sometimes don’t take it well, even resorting to violence against the employer and fellow workmates.

5. Ask the interviewee to rate him or herself on a scale of 1-10 … (2 or 3 questions of your choosing). For the most part, people see themselves accurately. There are red flags if a person only rates him or herself a 5 out of 10 on 2 different questions.

6. Ask what the interviewee has as a goal for employment with you; short term, long term, permanent job, part time while going to school for something else. The cost of training a new employee is very high. It creates a temporary work slow down as someone is learning and being made part of the team. Make sure their goal is inline with the company goals.

7. I ask what position the person feels best qualified to do. I tell every hire that employment is contingent upon agreeing to learn to do 3 different jobs. I have been known to hire someone, less skill qualified, but personality perfect. I have never regretted this policy.

8. Teamwork or no work has been my motto for over 25 years. To be successful every employee must have a commitment to work in tandem to complete a project. It is never productive to have a few people who want to out do, out wit or shine alone. It takes a team working together, all heading in the same direction, to achieve project completion.