A Hiring Framework: How to Hire the Right People

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Brian Blomgren

September 3, 2008

Hiring productive, highly motivated people is crucial for businesses of any size. In the case of a small company, it can be life or death. With limited resources, small businesses can't afford to have employees who don't perform. They need to find employees who are not only talented but also willing to work with less tools at their disposal. In order to find employees who are a good fit for your organization, consider all of the following factors when developing your company's framework for hiring.
  
Motivation
What are the candidate's goals?  Where do they see themselves in 3-5 years?  What are they motivated by? Money, recognition, or company culture? Find out if their desires are aligned with your company goals before you extend them an offer.

Experience
What level of experience is needed for the candidate to be successful in your open position? Typically, hiring managers tend to rely too heavily on experience to determine future success.  Consider this: when was the last time you heard of someone being dismissed because they lacked experience? Is it not almost always because of how they relate to others?
 
Ability
Sometimes, candidates can have considerable raw ability. They just need a company that will invest the time to develop that ability. If someone is naturally good with numbers or good at problem solving, you will have a better chance of success by training them according to the way you want things done. Someone that has a lot of experience may have to unlearn bad habits – or may be unwilling to do so.
 
Values
What are the most important values to your candidate? Candidates often pay lip service to certain values while their actions express their true beliefs. Ask the candidate for examples from their work history versus general questions. Asking for specific examples will provide you a more qualified response.
 
Behavior / Personality
Many personality and behavior assessments are available that can provide a lot of good information. Many times, the interview process masks some of the candidate's negative underlying behavior. A solid assessment will provide the ability to make a better decision. I personally like job match profile assessments, but do some research and find out which assessments are the right fit for your hiring style. 
  
Evaluate your findings in each area of the hiring framework for an objective look at potential candidates. It is often easy to get swept away by one specific attribute in a candidate's background rather than taking a more factual, objective approach. Hiring people based on emotion can often lead to poor choices. So, the next time you are prepared to make a candidate an offer just because you like them or your gut suggests that they are the right fit, review your hiring framework and consider a candidate's qualifications in a more objective way.

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