Hiring Plan Not Working? Maybe It’s Because You’re Not Paying Attention To These 5 Hiring Misbeliefs

Finding the ideal candidate for your firm might be difficult. Many candidates must be interviewed, assessed, and then you must decide who is the best amongst them all.

But what if your hiring plans don’t pan out the way you want them to? Perhaps, it could be that you are not paying close attention to these 5 hiring misconceptions, or that you totally believe in them to the point that they’ve thrown a spanner in the works.

What are these hiring misbeliefs? Let’s take a look.

Misbelief #1 — You Don’t Hire People, You Buy Them

This is a prevalent hiring misconception, and a simple one at that. Most employers seem to believe that bringing someone into the fold is a simple case of paying them for their skills and time.

If this were true, what would happen if the hiring organisation doesn’t have the funds to pay for an individual’s expertise and time? Furthermore, would your job description call out what the candidate can (and can’t do) upon joining?

As might be expected, when you think of hiring as “buying”, you may end up with candidates who might burn out from being overworked, or consistently don’t meet expectations.

An employer, you should not even entertain the idea that the hiring needs of every organisation are the same. While there can be similarities, your organisation has its own unique needs. By and large, your company will need people who can exceed expectations, and the funds to pay them for it.

Misbelief #2 – If You Don’t Hire Fast, You Will Be Left Behind in The Race for Talent

While hiring velocity is important when you have urgent manpower needs, it doesn’t have to be rapid all the time. Moreover, expeditious hiring doesn’t necessarily correlate to falling behind in the rat race for talent.

What your organisation needs, more than speed, is a hiring plan. Because without it, you will make no progress.

Your hiring plan should include prioritising the needs of your business, that they match up to your hiring efforts and priorities. Keep in mind that only focusing on speed without having a plan in place will only confuse your hiring team, or worse, beget employees who don’t understand your business and organisational goals.

Misbelief #3 — Your Can’t Hire The Right Person If Your Team Doesn’t Have The Time

Hiring isn’t something that is done only once (or when the need arises). It’s a continuous process — one with no room for errors. If you have an open position tomorrow at your firm, is there any guarantee that you will find the ideal candidate right away?

That is why your team needs to continuously invest their time and efforts, and plan carefully because there’s no way of telling when a suitable prospect might turn up. Even if your team has very little time or skill in uncovering prospects, they could, at the very least, be briefed about the ideal candidate’s skillsets and background.

Misbelief #4 — Why Explore Other Hiring Avenues When You Have Job Boards?

This hiring misconception plagues several organisations. And the repercussions of just sticking to job boards to find suitable candidates are far too great.

While it’s true that job boards deliver the most number of applicants, the hiring rate on job boards falls well behind those of alternative hiring sources. And the main reason why that happens is because most candidates on job boards apply to many jobs, without putting in much thought into knowing if their skills, experience, and qualifications are what the job (or the recruiter) needs.

As opposed to job boards, candidates who apply via a company’s careers page or through referrals spend more time understanding their fit within the company.

Misbelief #5 — No One Can Get Involved Except The Hiring Managers

When you think hiring, you immediately think of the HR or the hiring manager. This is one misbelief that is prevalent across many organisations, but untrue.

Besides the HR department and the hiring managers, there are several other individuals within the organisation that get involved in the hiring process.

For instance, this could be a scenario: a team lead initiates the hiring need, the HR team sources the applicants and sorts their resumes, a hiring manager makes the initial contact, the potential employees’ supervisor (or manager) takes the interviews, and the salary negotiations are presided over by the HR team or the hiring manager.

While it’s true that a team lead may not have as much knowledge or experience in sourcing as HRs or hiring managers, they will be able to assess applicants’ skills and experience far better than the recruiters.

It’s time to address the typical hiring myths now that you are aware of them. When falsehoods have been instilled in you for a long time and you have repeatedly heard them, it can be challenging to change your outlook and hiring strategy.

But if your organisation really does want to improve its odds of hiring the best candidates, then it must stop thinking like other recruiters and start concentrating on what actually matters — your unique business and manpower needs, and how they match up.