The most common cost of a wrong hire is measured by turnover. It’s a pretty easy cost to measure and track. And, while those turnover costs can be staggering when multiple hiring mistakes are made, they are only the tip of the iceberg to the true financial, emotional and cultural damage incurred. Take this scenario which comes from a real life sales organization where only the names have been changed—as they say—to protect the innocent.
    Noel had a great industry background and on paper his track record of achievements looked good. He interviewed well and even his references had good things to say. Yet, in retrospect, in today’s litigious environment, think about it, why would any former employer say anything bad? The sales manager even ran Noel through a standard behavioral assessment which indicated that Noel had enough drive and outgoing style to generate an active amount of business. So, with anticipation of great results, Noel was hired. Within the first quarter it appeared that it was taking Noel longer than expected to get things going. Perhaps he just needed a bit more attention the sales manager thought. So, attention was diverted from the top performers to Noel—just to help move him along. And, to add to motivation, the sales manager even handed Noel a few of his own house accounts.
    By the end of the second quarter Noel’s lack of enthusiasm had begun to penetrate the rest of the sales force. He was becoming increasingly defensive and accusatory when confronted about his poor performance and at the same time flaunted an arrogance toward other salespeople about the great commissions he was receiving on accounts that the sales manager had previously turned over to him. In fact, complaints were beginning to trickle in from those accounts about the decline in servicing. By the end of six months the sales manger was being challenged by his management which, in turn prompted him to put more pressure on the rest of the sales team to make up for shortfalls. That, in turn, demoralized the high performers and soon it was evident that the vicious cycle had begun. A sales team that had once been cohesive, supportive and high performing began to be laden with rumors, finger pointing and unproductiveness—all symptoms of being infected with a deadly virus of discontent.
    After numerous interventions in an attempt to turn Noel’s attitude and performance around, the sales manager was forced to terminate him. Although this removed the virus carrier, it didn’t provide an immediate solution to the demoralization that had taken hold and it also brought into question the sales manager’s ability to attract and develop the best talent. The total cost of this wrong hire was enormous, far beyond the mere turnover cost of replacing Noel.
    Could this hiring mistake have been avoided? With a process in place to accurately define and measure all criteria for the job you will definitely minimize the risk and greatly improve your success rate. Here’s what we have found to be an integral part of that process beyond the traditional resume, references and interview:

• A system to define the key accountabilities required by the job for the highest success.
• A benchmark of the job’s key accountabilities including most critical attributes, competencies, motivators and behaviors.
• Validated tools to help you objectively assess how well a candidate matches the key accountabilities required for the job.

    Unfortunately, many organization’s hiring tools include only a behavioral based assessment. While an important piece of the process, this tool only provides information about how the candidate is naturally suited to get things done. It fails to provide an accurate picture of two additional critical factors—are they naturally motivated to achieve results and do they have the clarity of thinking in the key attributes required by the job to maximize performance? When all of this information is combined to support effective past performance and a positive interview, you will have maximized your potential for right fit selection. While I’m not generally in favor of singling out one product, in this case I must admit that an Arizona company named Target Training International is one assessment company that has led the industry in successfully combining these critical factors into a unique product called the TriMetrix. Where I have used this product for benchmarking and hiring, the results have been incredible. While there are a variety of other selection products on the market, few have the impact of this mix.
    The point is, in today’s competitive sales environment, old techniques of hiring have been replaced by new, more scientific processes that better ensure that you are not just hiring someone who can sell, but that they can sell in your industry, in your environment and do it utilizing the attributes best suited to perform this specific job at the highest level. If you want to avoid costly hiring mistakes, it’s time to explore refining your hiring process. It just makes good financial and management sense. And, if you don’t up-grade and refine your process, you can bet your competition will.