Right Reasons, Right Position, Right Person (1)

Hiring’s too important to be left to chance. And in an industry as skill-specific as the oil and gas business, line managers can directly affect the success of their staff members… and of the company itself.

As a manager, however, you probably weren’t hired for your hiring abilities. Your job is much more expansive than that. You will, though, be evaluated on the outcome of your hiring decisions – how effective an employee is, how each one contributes to revenue (or cost control), how well he or she fits the culture of the firm and your department, how quickly they’ve developed and applied new abilities, and how long they stay with the company.

To help you be as good at assessing your manpower needs and finding the very best person to fill each position as you are at doing your primary job, this 7-Point Hiring Manager’s Checklist will guide you through the best practices that professional recruiters rely on.

Seven points of right

Decide What’s Most Important: People aren’t hired to do a job. They’re employed to solve a problem. So determine exactly what the problem is, the best ways to solve it, which human skills and characteristics will contribute to the most effective solution, what tools will be required for maximum employee effectiveness, and what training may be needed to help ensure employees’ success.

The methodology you use can be as unique as you are, but it must be comprehensive. It must help you analyse whether you need to add to your headcount or, instead, make an investment in robotics or remote operations; whether you need one person with multiple skills or several with specific abilities; and whether a new employee has to fit into an existing team, contribute to a new one, and function independently.

The more detailed your analysis, the more likely you are to come up with a realistic assessment of what you must have, would like to have, and don’t require at all.

Distinguish Between Qualified and Suitable: Many people look good on paper. They may have every relevant credential and degree, proven experience, a long list of successes, and glowing recommendations from colleagues and managers. They may also be completely wrong for the way your department or projects are run.

You need to look deeper when everything seems to be right. Whether you search online and check social media, ask candidates to describe what they’ve done (or think they would do) in particular situations, or use the sort of questions that reveal how someone approaches problems (HR may prove to a be a good resource for these).

The objective is to get a truer perspective on someone’s “chemistry” and a better sense of how they’ll complement their colleagues and succeed in their position, as a member of a team, and within the company’s culture.

Verify: Trust is crucial. If anything in a person’s CV veers from the facts, it may be a sign of trouble.

Whether it’s taking credit for someone else’s accomplishments, misrepresenting education or training, claiming honours that were never bestowed, or assigning testimonials to people who didn’t provide them doesn’t matter. It’s the implication that the work they’ll do for you and with colleagues might be compromised.

So check with every reference and, if you suspect that individual is glossing over anything, check with others in the organization, including other managers. Depending on local rules and company policies, the responses may be more matter-of-fact than you’d like, but there may be ways of asking questions in particular ways that give you the insights you need, and your HR department may be able to offer suggestions…….to be continued next week.

Bolaji Olagunju