Shared insights
I recently attended an Objective Management Group session for partners. They shared some insights into a study they’d done to find the 12 biggest hiring mistakes.
I’ve focused on the top 5 below. If you’d like to know more about the other 7, or how I can help you to avoid all 12, please get in touch.
1. Inadequate job descriptions drove the hiring process
If you want to find someone to do a job well, think about how they’d do that job. Describe the skills it would entail, not just the role or post. You can’t do that if you don’t understand the job yourself. So, if you don’t, speak to someone who does. I can help if there’s no one internal.
This is important because if your job description is wrong, you’ll attract the wrong people. That applies whether you advertise on internet job boards, or use specialist recruiters.
Thinking about the role now and fielding the right applicants is step one in a long chain. Getting it right will save you time in the long run. (Easier than re-recruiting later!).
It might also make you money! Read some of our sales hire success stories here and here.
2. Superficial interviews that lacked structure and evidence
An interview isn’t just a chance to check someone’s as human as they seemed. It’s your opportunity to probe deeper into perceived weak spots, to ask challenging questions, to objectively assess and compare a number of shortlisted candidates.
It’s hard, but not impossible, to do that from CVs alone.
At the very least, you should have a list of questions and a scorecard. At best, you’ll have used OMG’s Sales Candidate Assessment tool and know exactly what you want to find out before you start.
I can help you with all of this. Here’s what one of my recent clients said:
“The most helpful part was that Tim was always on the other end of the phone. So, while we were gearing up for the different key stages like putting the ad live, booking the first interviews, and then the second stage interviews, we had a call before each one, just to say ‘right this is how you do it; this is what you're looking for; or, try going for this angle, you’ll get better results’. Those calls before were extremely helpful.”
Arnav SharmaSales Director, ServiceMaster Glasgow
3. Overemphasis on pre-requisites too early in the selection process
Yes, you have a wish list. And yes, it’s ok to have some prerequisites.
But you know what happens to that person that’s waiting around for Mr or Mrs Absolutely Right – right? They miss that Doer-Upper that could become him, her or them with some well-placed support and training.
A yes/no approach to things is perfectly simplistic. But executive sales roles are rarely perfectly simplistic. Much better to use a methodology which acknowledges this.
Some skills are key. Some can be learned.
Industry knowledge, for example, is not, in my view, as key as some people think as I discuss here, yet many list this as a pre-requisite, slamming the door on some great prospective candidates.
4. Relying on first impression for the final hiring decision
Books and covers.
Instincts are great in their place, but this is a big decision with time and cost implications. If you get it wrong, you’ll waste both. If you get it right, you could save your time and make your company money. Is that really something you’re happy to trust to your gut alone?
Using an objective management tool like Sales Candidate Assessments, doesn’t negate your first impression. It means that your first impression won’t be the only thing that you and your company rely on.
Try it and see. Get in touch with me to discuss a no obligation trial to see the depth of insight such a tool will give you.
5. Past performance bias as an indicator for future performance
People can thrive or dive for a host of reasons. They might have easy accounts. The product or services they are selling might sell itself. They might be supported in ways you can’t see. In contrast, they might be carrying coals to Newcastle and yet still finding willing and loyal customers.
Someone else’s past really is a country whose language, customs and challenges you can’t hope to know or understand. Their CV only shows the shiny side of the story.
Uncovering whether a candidate is the right fit for your role should outweigh past performance. You wouldn’t play your goal keeper as striker and expect to win. Looking under the cover and identifying someone’s true best fit is vital for performance.
No one can know for certain what their future with your company will look like either, but there are tools you can use to make an informed guess.
Help your sales team’s future performance by selecting great sales people to interview. To select those, select OMG’s Sales Candidate Assessments by contacting me.