How To Hire For The Long Term

There are several ways you can go about recruitment and hiring - this is just the way I have found that works for me to hire long term!

Step 1: Have a clear idea of the job duties. Jot down everything that comes to mind regarding the role. Once you've done that, group them into competencies. You're trying to see how this role aligns with your organization. This also helps to see if you have too many duties lumped into this role - it may mean you need to split the role into two completely different ones. Don't change the job duties 8 months in, making the role no longer what you initially hired for.

Step 2: Stick to those main job duties and create a job posting. Get it in front of audiences you know will have the skills that match what you're looking for. Move quickly! No one likes a recruitment process that takes 3 months.

Step 3: Create an interview question guide. These questions should be based on company competencies and grouped based on role seniority so you can select questions appropriate to the role you're hiring for.

Step 4: Create an interview matrix. This is key in ensuring you don't hire just for personality or confidence in the interview. We are looking to score based on tangible skills along with company or team fit. The matrix should be based on those competencies you worked on in Step 1 and weighted accordingly.

Step 5: Ensure your recruitment process reflects the role seniority. For an entry level job, you shouldn't need more than one phone screen and one face-to-face interview (whether virtual or in-person). For an executive role, you will need more.

Step 6: Be transparent. If the role is a bit of a mess right now and needs a "fixer" that's okay! Some people thrive in the chaos. Others don't. If you're not transparent about it then you could end up hiring someone who is not going to do well in that environment and be gone within 6 months. You have a salary range - share it. Don't wait until the process is over just to find out you and your top candidate are not aligned.

Step 7: Make sure you've ironed out your onboarding process so that it's smooth. Onboarding sets the tone for how your new hire feels about the company going forward.