Statistics tell us that two-thirds of all hiring decisions fail within 36 months. That includes senior level executives to entry level laborers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will confirm that the average turnover rate is approximately 3.7% per month. In fact, we know that one-third of people are in the wrong jobs, one-third of people are not a cultural match for their company, and more than one-half of employees are not properly trained for their current position or for the company’s future needs.

It seems that better results are possible by flipping a coin! Managers tend to fall into the same traps again and again when hiring employees. To eliminate those errors hiring managers can greatly improve their results by following a few simple rules:

1.       Know exactly what you want in an employee. What skills, values, traits and habits are shared by your best employees? Don’t settle for less than exactly what meets your needs.

2.       Make sure that they share a value system similar to yours. Cultural conflicts and value differences are the leading causes of employee failure. For example, if you highly value quality do not hire someone that wants to get the job done as quickly as possible. If you value dependability, make sure that is evident in the individual you choose for the position.

3.       Hire the best and smartest. If you want your business to improve you need better, smarter people than you now have on the payroll. In many situations that means hiring people smarter than you.

4.       Don’t trust the resume. Verify the facts to the best of your ability. Hire a professional to do the interviewing unless you are skilled and comfortable with the process. Eliminating one hiring mistake will more than pay for the professional interviewing.

5.       Use high quality assessments to get at the core issues. Assessments are predictors of peoples’ behaviors, motivators, skills, and natural talents. In the hands of a skilled professional the use of assessments can greatly improve the quality of new hires. In most cases the cost for the assessment products will be less than the weekly salary of the person you seek to hire.