It’s costly to hire someone only to find that they are not a good fit for the project team. I spoke to Garrett Miller, an expert in hiring and author of Hire on a WHIM (more on what WHIM is below). Here’s what he had to say about finding the right person for the job.
Why does it cost so much to hire the wrong person?
There are two scenarios to look at when trying to calculate the cost of hiring the wrong person.
The first has to do with the direct costs of when hiring the wrong person results in turnover. The estimated costs of turnover vary from 50% to 150% of the employee’s salary. Experts say to increase those numbers when considering managerial positions. Needless to say whether you are calculating the costs on the lower or higher end, both are unacceptable.
That’s potentially a lot of money to a cash-strapped PMO. What are these costs made up of?
I’ll list a few of the biggest expenses and keep in mind all of the costs to replace this employee were already expensed to bring the outgoing employee on board in the first place.
Cost associated with hiring the wrong person include: Advertising for the position, HR costs to receive and sort through possibly hundreds of applicants, time to phone screen, coordinate and conduct interviews and travel expenses that are associated with the interviews. Once initial interviews are conducted there may be second or third interviews, reference checks, back ground checks, developing a package, the offer, the medical check and then the on-boarding process begins. For some companies the on-boarding process is a few days for others it’s weeks or months of training. One must think about the time it will take from beginning of the process up until the employee becomes productive. Have you considered the costs associated with efforts to cover the open position by other associates? The longer the position stays open the greater the burden on those covering and the pressure to fill the open spot increases. Many times it’s the increase pressure to fill that leads to poor choices and the cycle is set to repeat.
What’s the second way of looking at the cost of hiring someone?
The second scenario when looking at costs associated with hiring the wrong person may be even more costly. It occurs when the wrong person is hired and they don’t leave but they stay. The cost of having an employee that is a poor fit or that is missing an essential quality can be devastating to productivity. As valuable management and HR resources are mobilized to address and or try to “fix” the hire the morale and productivity of others may be negatively affected while the issues are addressed.
When wrong employees are brought into the company there is also a cost to the hiring manager’s reputation. The life blood of the company depends on bringing excellent talent on board and when this doesn’t occur the hiring manager is falling short of his or her greatest responsibility.
OK. We want to avoid that. How can managers avoid this when recruiting new project managers, by getting the right person first time?
We can never eliminate hiring errors but we can put ourselves in the best position to get it right. Here are just a few thoughts:
- Make sure you are giving enough time for the process to occur. Many poor hiring decisions can be traced back to hurried timelines or like in the scenario above mounting pressure from others.
- Look for candidates that possess WHIM (Work Ethic, Humility, Integrity and Maturity). Candidates must possess all four qualities, don’t look past one in hope it will develop because you have no assurance that it will.
- Don’t fall in love. Recruiters are sometimes wowed or impressed by one or two of the WHIM attributes. These feelings can cause us to overlook gaps that may exist as we look starry eyed at this ‘great candidate’. I write about my own painful experience in the book, it is very easy to fall into. Be sober minded!
- Be careful not to hire duplicates of ourselves or of others. Yes, we all possess successful qualities, that’s why we are in the positions we are in. We have all hired great candidates and seek to repeat that process but we must remember that we can’t hire a team full of clones. If we take the analogy of putting together a baseball team we can’t go out and hire a team full of Derek Jeters or a team full of shortstops. Each team benefits from diversity of talent, back grounds and skills. We avoid this when we know what skills, talents, strengths and personalities will best balance our teams before the process begins.
Hmm, I don’t know anything about baseball, but I get the idea. If you want to uncover the real talents of a candidate, how can you go about that?
Often our interviews are conducted in sterile environments where the atmosphere is very stiff, safe and controlled. I think it is appropriate to conduct initial interviews in these settings because you want to set the candidate up for success. I find that conducting second interviews in a different, less predictable environment can help shed light on a candidate. For example conducting the second interview in the company café adds a whole host of factors. As you are standing in line you may bump into colleagues which may trigger spontaneous conversations, how did the candidate react and conduct themselves? Was the candidate polite to those behind the counter, were they patient, nervous, did they pick up after themselves? All of these help me see the whole person. If I’m going to interview them anyway, why not mix things up, you may be surprised by what you see, hear and observe.
That’s interesting. So, finally, what are your top tips for hiring new project managers or project personnel?
For some the tendency is to look for someone who is a driver and can just get things done! Though this is a great quality to have on the team, I also want someone who also possesses the quality of Humility.
I define Humility as the ‘ability and willingness to learn’. I need project managers that are always in the learning mode. They are open to new ideas and actually solicit ideas from others. They may have had terrific success doing things their way but they are willing to really listen. Pride is at the root of a lot of projects that have gone wrong. In the project review process you will often hear the question, “Why didn’t you ask for help or let me know that you were stuck?” Humility lends itself to cooperation, collaboration and good coaching opportunities.
More about my interviewee: Garrett Miller is a workplace productivity coach and trainer, keynote speaker, and author of Hire on a WHIM: The Four Qualities that Make for Great Employees (2010, www.HireonaWHIM.com). Known for his extensive experience in hiring, training, attracting, and retaining top talent, he is president and CEO of CoTria, a company that provides time-saving solutions to help clients manage more efficiently.
