In nearly any business, choosing who to hire is a critical decision…

The right employees directly influence the success of your company, from CEOs and important decision-makers to even attentive janitors that promote well-being by keeping your property clean and providing positive interaction.

And the bad employees, well, to put it bluntly, they’re the dead weight that sinks your ship.

But even considering how vital hiring good employees is, many businesses still get it wrong. Before signing on your next employee, consider these 3 keys for a more successful hire.

Know What You Want

Some managers enter hiring with the mindset that they’ll see who walks in the door and figure it out from there. However, there’s a much better way…

Take the time to identify exactly what it is you need from your new employee down to the last detail and include them in your job posting:

●     Necessary skills - the bare minimum skills that cannot be learned on the job.

●     Job responsibilities - every type of task the employee will do

●     Time and hours availability - when the employee will work

Being specific about the necessary skills, job responsibilities, and time availability will help weed out candidates that don’t meet your needs.

But understanding what you want doesn’t stop there - you’ll also want to think about the ideal personality for the position. In addition, consult with other employees for additional input about what type of hire would help them best in their work.

Hire People, Not Skills

As mentioned above, some jobs have skills that are absolutely mandatory - a customer service representative may need to speak Spanish to be able to communicate with clients, and you would hope that your new graphic designer is proficient in PhotoShop.

That being said, placing too much importance on a vast array of skills past the basics can be a mistake, for this reason…

Finding the right person is almost always harder than finding the right skills.

The right person will have the openness, adaptability, and intelligence to learn much of their job on the fly. And they’ll be happy doing so. They thrive by learning and overcoming challenges, and have no ceiling as to what they can achieve in your organization.

Do Your Research BEFORE the Interview

If you’ve structured your hiring campaign correctly, you’ll have access to a candidate’s application and/or resume before an interview is given.

And that’s the right way because doing your research on applicants actually saves you a ton of time from wasted interviews with people you know you won’t hire.

In addition to a standard background check, you’ll also want to contact references and former employers (if possible) to ask about the person’s work performance and discover any sticking points that would exclude them from working for you.

Ask the Right Questions

The web is littered with long lists of interview questions that even remotely-qualified applicants are prepared to answer. To get a better sense of who the person is, ditch the standards and use more open, free form questions.

Here are a few interview question ideas that force deeper thought and introspection:

●     What did you learn during your time at ABC Industries?

●     Describe your ideal co-worker.

●     How do you deal with stress?

●     Given no money constraints, where would you want to live?

After conducting interviews, there’s only one more question to ask and only you can answer it…

Is this person right for the job?

And if the answer is no, keep searching until you find one that is.