Nov 16, 2021
Qualities of a great hiring process
With The Great Resignation still in full swing, there are plenty of folks looking for new a job opportunity that aligns with their values and working style. If you’re a founder or company leader looking to bring in new talent, consider if these qualities of a great hiring process are present in your organization. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it may get you thinking about areas where you could improve. After all, a poorly designed hiring process is a big red flag for many top candidates.
#1. There’s a plan.
Have you heard of a start-up interviewing for a very well compensated leadership position where the interviewer said “I don’t really know what to ask in these things”? I’m sad to say that I have. I’m not here to shame anyone; the start-up in question was hiring for a position that would have undoubtedly helped to improve their hiring process. Nevertheless, it wasn’t the best indicator of an organized, well-managed company. Please dedicate some time to making sure you’re never in this position.
As a former colleague and great coach I know likes to often cite, “plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” This doesn’t necessarily mean that plans are thrown out the window every time they’re put into action, but rather that they’ll likely need to adjust to unforeseen circumstances. Taking time to think about what you’re wanting to accomplish, a reasonable way to go move forward, and how you’ll structure your work will always be helpful.
At a minimum, I’d encourage a strong job description, an interview plan, an outline of the questions you’ll be asking, and an understanding of how you’ll make a final decision.
Job descriptions ensure there are shared expectations between you and candidates, so no one is surprised at what the job entails. An interview plan will help you structure the process and provide transparency to the interviewee. An outline of the questions you’ll be asking (for internal use) will make sure all your bases are covered when it comes to ensuring the candidate you select will tackle the job the way you see fit. Lastly, an understanding of how you’ll make your final decision helps to ensure you aren’t stuck in a painful limbo with multiple candidates. Determining who the final decision maker will be, which qualities are most important in your new hire, and what your non-negotiables are will simplify things.
#2. The whole team is involved.
With the best of intentions, sometimes founders or team leaders will try to run the entire hiring process on their own to help protect others’ time and focus. While the thoughtfulness here is appreciated, there are a billion reasons to not do this.
First off, bias is something we all deal with. It doesn’t matter what kind of person you are or what your background is — we have a filing cabinet of unconscious thoughts in our brain that sneakily impact our judgement. If you leave such an important decision, like hiring, to a single person, you’re ensuring that their biases and blind spots are shaping the culture of your company.
Additionally, hiring is a great opportunity to level up team members. Whether it’s letting less-experience team members shadow in interviews or encouraging mid-level team members to ask questions and drive interviews themselves, getting folks involved (and giving them feedback afterwards) is a great way to help them improve a skill that’s universally beneficial.
Lastly, getting team members involved allows both existing staff and the candidate to better assess if they’re a fit for one another. A candidate may find themselves in a position where they have multiple job offers on the table; if they were able to meet their potential teammates and get excited about working together during the interview process, they may be more inclined to accept that offer.
To get team members involved, I’d recommend dividing and conquering. Use your interview plan to determine which team members will ask which questions or focus on certain areas of a candidate’s skill set. You can have senior team members lead interviews while letting less-experienced individuals shadow. Give everyone a chance to share their thoughts about the candidate (whether that be asynchronously or in a debrief meeting).
#3. Company values are on display.
I found myself in a tricky situation once. I was working with a company that claimed diversity was one of their values, but none of their incoming team members were from under-represented groups in tech.
“We care about diversity! But we desperately need to fill these positions,” they’d say.
And, for what it’s worth, I do think those individuals cared about diversity to some degree. But when it came to making a trade-off to stick to their values, they weren’t willing to hire more slowly and thoughtfully. I was straightforward with my response to them.
“If you’re not willing to change your ways of working to honor a company value, then it shouldn’t be a value.”
Many companies have their values on display on their website or in their transparent handbook. This is great! Making sure the values are also on display during the hiring process is just as important. If you’re operating in a way that doesn’t support your company values, this will be evident during the hiring process, and you’ll lose top candidates.
What are your company values? How do you incorporate them into your hiring process?
One way I’ve done this is to make sure questions centered around the company’s values are included in our initial interview questions list during planning. We aren’t looking for individuals that talk like us or have backgrounds like us or have our same hobbies; we’re looking for people that have an internal compass that points similarly to ours. Do we both value work-life balance? Do we both care about coaching and lifting up others around us? Do we both prioritize asynchronous communication? These things matter, and having strong values laid out will attract the candidates you’re after.
#4. Assignments are paid.
This one is pretty straightforward, so I’ll keep it short. If you’re asking candidates to complete hours and hours of work, please pay them.
I do believe that seeing a candidate’s work is a great indicator of whether or not they’ll be a good fit for your company. Whether you give them a custom assignment, decide to conduct a pairing session with them, or you bring them on for a day, there are plenty of options for going beyond resume line items. However, candidates are professionals with lives. They may still be working a full-time job, balancing family responsibilities, and interviewing at other companies. They don’t have time for unpaid labor.
I recently encountered a company that, after two interviews, asked candidates to complete an assignment for free that they estimated would take around 10 hours. Even worse, they asked for a two-day turnaround.
If you’re giving out assignments, please pay candidates for their time. If you’re a candidate, I’d strongly encourage you to set personal boundaries around how much work you’re willing to do for free. You’re worth being paid!
#5. Communication is flowing.
Ghosting during the interview process has become a more prominent topic lately. This is obviously a red flag for candidates, and — for me as an Ops leader — an indication of some seriously broken processes and overworked team members in your organization.
I recently heard about an individual that had been contracting for a company when a full-time role fitting his skill set opened up. He felt extremely qualified for the role, and even received some positive signs from his main point-of-contact at the company. However, when it came to the hiring process (which was managed by another department), communication was abysmal. He was left with questions, confusion, and ghosting. He was so unimpressed by the process that not only did he withdraw his application for the position, but he also ended his contract with the company. He was doing critical work as a contractor, and now the company was scrambling. His point-of-contact later shared that the individual was in fact still in the running for the position, but the damage had been done; the individual was finished.
When the job market is as hot as it is now, even taking a few days to get back to a candidate may be too long. It’s demanding, but open communication is important.
Here’s how I’d tackle this: I’d set the expectation that all candidates need a response within 24 hours. A response doesn’t have to have all the answers, and it can be short. Believe me, saying “I’m still waiting on a consensus for next steps” or “Just letting you know I’m still waiting, but resolving this is a priority for me” is a better email than receive than nothing at all.
#6. Feedback is welcome.
Remember that company I referenced in the first point — the one with the disorganized, directionless interview process? Every stage of that company’s interview process was rough. So rough that, for better or for worse, I felt compelled to give their CEO some constructive, honest, and kind feedback.
Was this the right call? Probably not, honestly. The company didn’t seem very open to feedback; after all, feedback wasn’t asked for. Lesson learned!
Whether or not you decide to bring on a candidate, make sure they have the opportunity to give you feedback. You may find some areas where your interview process could improve, and you may even receive feedback that you’re doing things really well. It’s really satisfying to receive positive feedback from a candidate that didn’t end up fitting the role; it shows that conversations wrapped up on good terms, they appreciated their conversations, and they’re open to working with the company in the future.
Adding a simple line to closing emails or creating a quick survey to send to candidates can make a big difference here. There’s little to lose, so just go fit it — but only if you’re willing to accept and act upon the feedback, please.
#7. People aren’t overburdened.
This goes for both your existing team members and the candidates you’re interviewing.
If an existing team member that isn’t hiring-focused becomes responsible for interviewing and hiring a new individual, responsibilities will need to be removed from their plate; they can’t operate at 150% capacity. Hiring is one of the most important tasks in your organization. It deserves focus, time, and prioritization. If you’re asking someone to take on this vital responsibility, make sure they have the time and mental space to do so.
For candidates, there’s nothing more draining than a ten-step interview process. I’m reluctant to say that I’ve been a part of some interview teams that operated this way. From a company perspective, it’s often a good thing; you get to really ensure the candidate is a good fit and you get a lot of perspectives from different people. However, for the candidate, things can get repetitive, draining, and time-consuming.
I’d make sure your interview plan is laid out clearly up-front, so that candidates know what they’re getting into when talking to your company. I’d also make sure the candidate is speaking to the most relevant folks at the company. I’d also put some boundaries around how many questions need answered.
Put yourself in the shoes of a candidate and make sure the process feels balanced. Both your company and the candidate want this hire to be a good fit; use your time with them wisely.
#8. It’s a fun, exciting time!
Saving the best for last. Bringing in new team members should (in most circumstances) be an exciting time for all involved parties. Your company is growing. You’re expanding your area of impact as an organization. This is a good thing.
On the opposite end, a candidate gets to find a new group of individuals to work with. People spend a good amount of time working, so finding a workplace that fits our values and working style is important. Speaking from experience, having a job that you love doing everyday is a wonderful feeling. A candidate finding a new opportunity is a positive thing.
If your hiring process is draining or stressful, that’s a problem. Maybe you need help from an experienced leader to streamline things. Maybe you need to decrease your work-in-progress to make room for this important activity. Maybe you need to start completely from scratch. Here’s the bottom line: if your hiring process is stressful for you, it’s going to be stressful for incoming candidates. Taking a pause to clean things up will result in better outcomes.
I hope this article was a good start for reevaluating your interviewing practices. Best of luck with your hiring endeavors! I’ll write soon about how to create a great onboarding experience for your new hires to make sure they get up-and-running smoothly.
