How to Mitigate Risk When Hiring?

As the boss, you make important choices on behalf of the company every day, but none hold as much weight as hiring decisions. The people you choose to work on your team will either make or break your business, so you need to choose wisely.

Unless you have the ability to predict the future, there’s no way to completely eliminate hiring risks. However, there’s plenty of moves you can make to increase your chances of finding the best person for the job the first time.

5 Ways to Mitigate Risks When Hiring

Realize the Obvious Choice Isn’t Always Best

When you find a candidate that checks all your boxes, you’re probably tempted to offer them the job on the spot, but don’t do it. The right person on paper isn’t necessarily the best fit for the position. Skills can be taught, but personality traits are relatively set in stone. Before making a move, take a step back and see if the person is also right for your company culture.

Perform a Skills Assessment

Anyone can say they have certain abilities, but talk is cheap. Put candidates to the test to make sure they’re as talented as they claim. Assess their skills by having them complete a test or a project to see if they really have what it takes to excel at the position.

Conduct a Background Check

Digging into a seemingly perfect candidate’s background might seem like a waste of time, but it’s not. Unfortunately, people don’t always tell the truth — at least not the whole truth — when vying for a job, so you have to uncover the facts yourself. Performing an employment verification and talking with references will either reaffirm that your top choice is amazing or send up red flags that keep you from making a costly hiring mistake.

Request Referrals

The more you know about candidates, the better, so seek referrals from people you trust. Involve both employees and your own network in the search to see if anyone has a contact who might be a good fit. Sourcing candidates this way gives you an advantage because people you have a relationship with won’t recommend anyone they don’t truly believe in.

Take on a Staffing Partner

In most cases, you have to make a hiring decision after meeting a candidate once or twice. This is a pretty big move to make in such a short period of time, but it doesn’t have to follow such a speedy timeline. When you work with a staffing firm, you’re able to recruit on a temp-to-hire basis. This gives you the chance to see the person in action with your team, before making a final call.

Hiring right takes a great deal of time and effort, so team up with ECS to give this task the attention it deserves. We offer client management, staffing insurance, employment management services, and consulting to help employers like you get to the top and stay there. Contact us today to discuss a partnership!

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