Want to nudge Bill Gates down a bit on the list of wealthiest people? Just come up with a formula for making the perfect hire. Employers the world over will beat a path to your door and compensate you handsomely. But if you can’t come up with such a formula, you can still improve your hiring methods and make your workplace more successful. 
Hired (or not) in 14 seconds
Mel Kleiman, founder of Humetrics Inc., a company focused on helping employers with recruiting, hiring, and retention, offered advice on finding the best employees—not just great applicants—in the HR Hero webinar Recruiting for HR: Quit Selecting the Best Applicants and Start Hiring the Best Employees.
Kleiman says the biggest blunder interviewers often make is what he calls the 14-second mistake. Several years ago researchers from the University of Chicago conducted a study and determined that interviewers make a decision on whether they like someone within 14 seconds.
That snap judgment may not be a conscious decision, Kleiman says, but it happens. Once the first impression has formed, the interviewer is likely to ask questions that will confirm the interviewer’s impression.
Kleiman tells of a time he almost missed a great hire himself because of a first impression. He interviewed a man who was grossly overweight, and the applicant’s weight immediately triggered a bias. But instead of writing the applicant off, Kleiman wrote himself a note about his bias. Then something surprising happened.
“I don’t know how he did it, but I want to be on his diet,” Kleiman said. “He lost a good 200 pounds in 30 minutes. At least that was my perception.”
Somehow the applicant overcame the bias and communicated that he would be a good employee. Kleiman says he couldn’t have hired anybody better.
Eagles or turkeys?
Interviewers want employees who can help their organizations soar like eagles, but too often they get waddling turkeys instead. Why? Kleiman says turkeys can dress themselves up to look like eagles. The people who make great applicants but poor employees interview well because they get a lot of practice, he says.
A mistake Kleiman says interviewers often make comes at the beginning of the meeting. In trying to put the applicant at ease, the interviewer will tell the candidate the characteristics the employer wants in the new hire. Then the applicant will find ways to tell the interviewer just what he or she wants to hear. Kleiman says a better way to open an interview is to say, “Tell me about yourself.”
Hiring mistakes happen not just when turkeys make themselves look like eagles. Mistakes also happen when potential eagles look like turkeys during the interview, Kleiman says. That happens when the biases revealed in first impressions keep an interviewer from selecting the best candidate.
Desperation and mediocrity
Kleiman has a favorite quote from Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton: “The most important decision you make every day is who you allow in the doors to take care of your customers.”
Too often employers hire out of desperation and they settle for less than they should because they need a warm body in the position. Kleiman urges employers to take the time to think and make a written list of why star employees should want to work for them. Coming up with a list is easy for great employers, he says. They just need to ask their best employees why they work there and why they stay.
Nobody is perfect
Besides accepting mediocrity, another mistake employers make is to look for the “perfect” employee. “There is no perfect fit,” Kleiman says. “Everybody comes with flaws.” But using interview questions capable of getting valuable information can be key to finding the best employees.
For example, Kleiman says employers are always looking for people who are willing to work hard. Therefore interviewers need to ask questions that will show if an applicant has that attitude. He suggests asking applicants about the hardest job they’ve ever had and what made it so hard.
Keeping control
Interviewers also will have better results when they keep control of the interview. For one, Kleiman says interviewers shouldn’t keep the applicant’s resume in front of them. “You may use it for some guideline, but don’t allow the applicant to control the interview,” he says. An interviewer who relies too heavily on the resume is likely to ask about what the applicant wants to highlight rather than what the interviewer needs to know.
“You’re not interested in what they did on the resume. You’re interested in what happened off the resume,” Kleiman says.
Want to learn more?
Kleiman will be hosting another webinar on hiring Recruiting: Quit Selecting the Best Applicants and Start Hiring the Best Employees on March 26. Listen to the live webinar and hear Kleiman’s thoughts on how to recognize the difference between talent and skills, tips on how to ensure you’re hiring for talent, not for skills that can always be acquired, and interviewing pointers. Listeners also will be able to submit questions for Kleiman to answer at the end of the session. For more information or to sign up for the webinar, go to http://store.hrhero.com/recruiting or call 800-274-6774.