Recruitment is one of the most important processes an organization undertakes. Without optimum ‘people power’ an organization will struggle to meet its objectives. Recruiting errors are costly financially, and can take their toll on your existing productive employees.

Employing individuals with the right technical skills, education, knowledge, experience plus the motivation and positive attitude is a good foundation to begin your search.  (Typically, this is information on your role description.) However, to ”hit the bulls eye” with your hiring, we need to delve deeper to bring in the people that will integrate smoothly with your existing team and organization.

When planning your vacancy profile first make sure you include your culture and competencies to ensure there’s a match between what you need from employees and what you have to offer them in terms of workplace practices, culture, and consistency. Consider your organization from a view of: “who you are”, “what you do” and “how you do it”. A highly motivated sales candidate may not fit into a culture where customer service is a key to the organization’s success. He/she may be rightly interested in your organization as a choice employer, but without the “fit” they’ll be short term. 

As a second step to look for “fit” assess the team of individuals the new hire will work with. At this level, the fit will include the level of expertise, knowledge and skills required. A seasoned team may want to welcome a recent hire or an internal candidate who has shown potential. A team preparing for future changes may benefit from bringing in a highly skilled individual with expertise to share. The team members and manager will make this determination. The team also knows the attributes that will ensure the new hire is a solid fit to their daily operations.

Before you rush in to fill a vacancy, do the “fit” due diligence–your efforts will pay off. 

As a solid HR practice, before your candidate starts working, have a well-planned orientation process including tools and support to ensure they have every opportunity to succeed.