"But I REALLY like them. I think they can grow with the company!"

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Talmar Anderson, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

Hiring is driven by need. Usually it is an immediate need motivated by either growth or replacement for an existing position. Ideally we hire to meet the need for specific tasks to be completed to the benefit of the company. Too often a person is hired because the interviewer likes the applicant. Don’t get me wrong…you certainly don’t want to hire someone that you can’t stand to be near. But truth be told, we have all hired someone with whom we have had a personal connection even over hesitations on qualifications. So how do we make sure they are going to be the right person? It is all in the requirements for the job…

The first defense is in the documentation you take the time to create before the hiring process itself. Before you meet with anyone, you need a strong job description. What will the position be accountable for within your company? From the Job Description you can easily create the requirements for any applicant to be successful. Requirements are the list of skill sets, personality traits or experiences that will give the best chance for success in the position. The requirements need to be truly what is required to do the job today. It is easy to start trying to hire for where the position could grow (i.e., an assistant that you’d like to grow into the Office Manager). But I am going to burst your bubble here…most employees will NOT grow with your company. And that’s OK! It can be painful but, when you are growing, promotion from within will also need to be based on the requirements for the new position’s job description. Certainly if you give employees opportunity to build on their education and experiences AND they decide to take advantage of those opportunities, promotion from within can occur.

Back to the requirements for a new hire. Can skills be learned to allow the applicant to better meet the needs of the position? Maybe. What if you REALLY LIKE the applicant buuuuut they aren’t familiar with a software you use. They meet 7 out of 8 of your “requirements”. I use the quotation marks here because if you are considering hiring someone that does not meet all of your requirements…well, they are no longer really required. However, there is a way to make an exception. If you are going to hire someone that applies for a position that does not meet all of your needs, you MUST make the employment contingent on them meeting the requirements over the next 30, 60 or 90 days. You will need to be specific with them on the requirement to learn and that it will take extra effort and initiative on their part. Then put the date on your calendar and schedule the progress meetings right then! If you give a deadline and recourse if the needs are not met, you will better be able to end a bad hire situation.