A Closer Look At Evidence-Based Hiring

An evidence-based hiring process can look like a lot of work until you realize that every step in the process is there to preempt future problems, avoid future pain, reduce future costs and maximize  your new hire's effectiveness.

In the last post, we stressed the importance of applying the same kind of rigorous, objective, systematic evaluation to hiring key employees as you would to source a new raw material or vital product part.

The visual below diagrams the process that we undertake when engaged by a second stage CEO to fill a key position in the company.

Some of the most important work is done before we ever start recruitment--systematically defining the need, requirements and compensation for the position.  Once you give us the green light to begin recruitment, we continue a step-by-step process of finding, selecting, and interviewing candidates. Depending on the type of position to be filled, we almost always give each final candidate a battery of assessment tests that provide objective measures for work styles, leadership style, strengths, weaknesses, and personality traits.

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When that's done, we're able to help you compare your candidates on a level playing field. As you review scores and evaluations, re-read interview notes, weigh relative experiences and expertise, you’ll have substantive hard evidence to help you answer important questions--

• Can they do the work—do they have the required expertise?
• Will they do the work—do they have the self-starting, self-directed personality needed?
• Are they a team player and a team leader?
• Are they problem-solvers?
• Are they communicators?
• Are they consistent achievers?
• Do they fit our culture?

—as well as questions specific to the job itself.

By following this process, you may very well have more than one excellent candidate to choose from. This is where you might "take a gut check."  By this point your intuition will be well-informed and is much more likely to give you a trustworthy answer without running the risk that you'll make a bad hire or pass up a superb candidates because of personal biases and snap judgments.

Not only will an evidence-based hiring system help you hire an outstanding employee, it also helps ensure you do so in a fair, legal and objective way. The next time you need to fill a key role, you'll have a ready-to-use, standardized and efficient hiring path and assessment tools. Finally, you'll be able to improve your hiring system over time, since each new hire allows you to evaluate the selection process itself by comparing the new hire’s predicted performance to actual results.

Next: Congrats On The New Hire. Now Trust The Process. (Assuming You Had One)