Small Business Tips for Avoiding Costly Hiring Mistakes

The other day I heard that nearly 30 percent of business failures are due to poor hiring practices. I wasn't surprised because I've seen it---mistakes in hiring can be costly and can take down a small business. 

Here are a few suggestions for helping small business owners prepare for a successful recruiting and hiring experience: 

1. Spend time to better plan for, understand and research job-role specifics.  In short, define the specific job responsibilities, so you know what you are really looking for; it also helps to make sure that the job description is correctly written.  Sometimes, I think business owners try to have one person cover too much ground.
2. Spend time and follow due diligence in the background-checking process. Professional background-screening services help verify the accuracy of an applicant's claims, including their past employment, driving records and criminal history. These checks are important because they allow better informed and less-subjective evaluations to be made about a person.

There is also another component that some people tend to overlook, which is a critical component: How do you feel about the candidate?  Do you get a sense that this individual will give 100 percent to the organization, the team and the structure that you are presenting.  Too often, we go against our feelings---our intuition--even though we sense there is something negative.  We allow that to happen because we are in a hurry to hire somebody, and I believe that always comes back to haunt us.

Following that intuition and the due diligence are particularly important in a small business environment. It is important to take all the important screening and interviewing steps so that issues missed don’t bubble up to the top later. For example, is what you’re reading on that resume all true? Or, did the applicant include information because it was stated in your employment ad?

Hiring managers need to think strategically about how important and costly one hiring mistake can cost a company.  For a larger company with thousands of employees, making one wrong choice might not make a significant cost difference.   However, in a small-to-medium sized business, a wrong hiring choice can be devastating.

The other day I heard that nearly 30 percent of business failures are due to poor hiring practices.