In every small business, each hiring decision you make can be critical and have a tremendous impact on your success or failure. Unlike the childhood playground, choosing the best talent can have significant ramifications to your business. Besides the ability to move the needle and make your overall organization that much better, ‘A’ players can move mediocre people to the A level and up everyone’s game.

It’s estimated that as much as 50% of all hires are mistakes that can cost your organization thousands of dollars in downtime, productivity, and the cost to backfill the role. Here are some tips to minimize your hiring mistakes and attract the best talent available:

Know how to Interview. Common mistakes interviewers make include talking too much, not taking notes, failing to quantify desired qualifications, and using vague descriptors about candidates (“he was a good candidate”). Go in with a gameplan that includes pre-defined questions, a formal ranking/rating system based on specific criteria and requirements, and withholding judgment until after the interview when you’ve had time to process your notes. Ask open-ended questions, manage your time efficiently, and stay focused. Give each candidate a final score and rank accordingly. By standardizing your process, you can assess candidates on an “apples to apples” basis across the interview team and hone in on the right fit.

Ask the right questions. Part of the vetting process requires qualifying the candidate and understanding their relevant experience, background, and motivations. Regardless of how you ask, you need to be in a position to make an informed decision that will require asking standard questions about the candidate’s relevant work history:

  • What were they hired to do? Charter/mission?
  • What were their key accomplishments?
  • How were they measured? Ask for quantifiable metrics: $, %, #, timing.
  • What was their overall impact to the company?
  • Why did they leave?

Check references. You will obtain some valuable data points by checking references. Try checking names of managers the candidate mentions during the interview rather than the list of people provided by the candidate. Require and check at least two managerial references and be leery if the candidate cannot provide prior managers. When speaking with a reference, ask open-ended questions and reinforce confidentiality. Besides asking about the candidate’s performance, ask for advice about how to manage the candidate, areas of concern, and ultimately if they would hire the candidate again if given the opportunity. If they wouldn’t want to go to the altar of employment again with the candidate, you have to wonder why.

Review their social media profile. Part of your due diligence must include reviewing the candidate’s social media profile (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). Their public persona (professionally and personally) may be telling and reveal areas of concern, misbehavior, and warning signs of potential issues if hired. In addition, this check may also reinforce the candidate’s subject matter expertise, interests, and reputation in the community.

Find the passion. Finally, the key differentiator between candidates may come down to discovering their motivations and overall outlook on life. Successful people and top talent possess a certain drive and passion for their jobs and life in general. They are motivated, enthusiastic, intellectually curious, and hungry. Try to assess what drives and motivates a candidate: what are they seeking in their next job, what gets them up every morning, what do they like to do in their personal time, have they ever taken on a project unsolicited by their manager, and ultimately can you see the ‘fire in their belly’? ‘A’ players will easily demonstrate an energy and enthusiasm that is remarkable and outstanding. In my experience as a hiring manager and recruiter, mediocre talent will be lackluster in their interviews, answer questions without energy, and typically will not show any drive or initiative.

Hiring the best talent can do miracles for your company. With simple tools, preparation, and the right standards, you can implement a successful process of finding ‘A’ talent for your organization.

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