The fundamental challenges of choosing a new employee in a 100% virtual environment are no different than in person. The tactics to engage the candidates may be a little different, but the fundamentals are still the same. And if you get those right, you’ll be on a roll.
What Are The Universal Challenges?
Without a doubt many employers struggle with productive, timely hiring practices virtual or not. The wisdom, commonly held by most, is that if you have an individual who is very intuitive in charge of hiring, it’ll all turn out in the end. You think having the right person in charge of hiring will yield the best results finding, choosing, and on-boarding new team members.
The pain you are feeling now is the same pain you were feeling pre-pandemic. Your hiring team is too small and they are feeling enormous pressure to make a good decision. They weren’t making great decisions before, and now they have to do this without seeing candidates in person!
Fix the Solvable Problem
The people you have in charge of hiring are getting even less of “a sense” for someone when they can’t meet them in person. The good news is this is a solvable problem.
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- Get crystal clear on what you want and need.
- Consistently follow a process to test for what you need and want.
- Focus on making the process as objective as possible.
- Invite multiple and diverse (how they think and how they got where they are) people to your hiring team, even if they aren’t part of your current company.
Identify What You Need and Want
Know what your right fit is. Think about culture as something you want a match for as well as the critical skills and personality traits that will make successful employees. Think about culture as what is driving the decisions and how the work is getting done. Just remember, your aspirational culture isn’t necessarily your current culture. Even if there’s a little difference between the two, you could be setting yourself up for trouble. Candidates see right through that. They’re smart.
Identifying and knowing the right fit is great. Just make sure everyone who’s part hiring is on the same page.
The Test For That
The test needs to be consistently applied with each person you are considering. So set at least 4 steps for the process, write out interview scripts that will help you see how they match what you need and want, and above all, ask them to do a few things. Watch their behavior rather than just asking about it. Do their actions match what you need and want?
Be As Objective As Possible
We are judging machines, us humans. We know what we like and don’t like. What will help us to be more objective is to be laser focused on the specifics of what we need and want, and then asking – how did this person I just interviewed exhibit those specific things. It might also help you to acknowledge that you do have biases both for and against. If you’ve looked at a resume and you love it, you’ll be less likely to see what appear to be minor mismatches. If you are on the fence about a person’s qualifications, you’ll be less likely to see the brilliance and value they could possibly bring to the team. Put your needs and wants up against what you’ve seen and heard and you’ll have a better score card.
Invite Others To Help
As has been proven many times through business cases, a diverse and larger group of people will bring a better outcome. So think about who’s on the hiring team. Consider having someone who exemplifies the culture, someone who will be working alongside the applicant, someone who will report to them, a trusted customer or vendor, or a peer from another company. You know plenty of people that could help.
Once you’ve established these things, it will serve you on an ongoing basis. Add peace of mind and remove the doubts that you are doing everything you can to hire the right people. One last thing… turn off notifications, put your to-do list in your desk drawer and be present.
Schedule a free half hour conversation with me and I can help you understand your situation and get some clarity on your potential next steps.
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Miche Rayment is the Founder and CEO of The Hire Effect™. The Hire Effect clients learn how to hire for themselves, how to build trust quickly, and to be very, very clear on their roles. TheHireEffect.com