Three Big Mistakes Managers Make When Hiring
03/05/07
Hiring decisions may be management’s most critical responsibility. After all, the success of your company can depend on the quality of the people you bring in the door. For many managers, though, the hiring process can be difficult. Here are three of the most common mistakes managers make when hiring new employees, along with three ways to avoid them.
Asking illegal questions
When interviewing candidates, managers must understand how easily even innocent small talk may be construed as discrimination.
For example, an employer should not ask a female applicant about childcare arrangements. Such questions constitute evidence of gender discrimination, as do any inquiries about pregnancy, marital status, the number and ages of children, or future childbearing plans.
Instead, the employer should frame any questions in direct reference to the job:
“We’re looking for people who will make a commitment to the company. Is there any reason you expect you may be leaving within the next three years?”
“Are you able to work overtime, nights or weekends if requested?”
“Where do you see yourself five years from today?”
“What are your own goals for your career?”
The costs of discriminatory practices can be steep: Under the Civil Rights Act of 1991, successful discrimination claimants may demand jury trials and receive compensatory damages for emotional distress, punitive damages, lost wages, attorney fees and court costs.
G.Neil's exclusive HIRE Education: the ABCs of Hiring video is an entertaining and efficient way to train all your managers on the basics of effective and legally sound hiring practices.
Haphazard, subjective screening and hiring processes
Managers too often rely on first impressions, subjective considerations, and their own personal biases to make hiring decisions. A good hiring system should provide a fair, uniform, nondiscriminatory standard by which all applicants for a given job are assessed. G.Neil offers a variety of pre-employment tests designed to help objectively and legally evaluate workers on the following attributes:
Aptitude Integrity Management Skills Personality Tests Job skills Sales & Service Office & Industry Specific Skills
The use of standard lines of questioning, standardized testing, and even a point system could prove invaluable in court: If the employer can show that all applicants were evaluated according to a reasonable and fair system, the company has a good chance of beating a discrimination claim.
Relying too much on resumes
The National Federation of Independent Business estimates that as many as 40 percent of all resumes may contain fraudulent or misleading information.
Tip: Look carefully at the education section of an applicant’s resume. If the resume says “Engineering, State University, 1999” but doesn’t specify a degree, that should raise a red flag. The applicant may be trying to imply that he/she earned a degree without making a false statement on the resume. In this case, the HR professional should verify education credentials by contacting the college or university directly.
A well-designed, standard job application form can help employers see through this kind of deception. G.Neil's Application for Employment Forms force applicants to spell out degrees and credentials actually received. Our forms are also carefully tailored to avoid discriminatory questions, and contain equal-opportunity and “at-will” clauses right on the document. Our applications also provide built-in legal safeguards to preserve your hiring options.
With experts on staff in every area of HR, from employment law attorneys to industrial psychologists, G.Neil offers a wide range of innovative, legally compliant hiring and recruiting products so that you do not have to worry about potential lawsuits resulting from management mistakes.
Pre-employment Testing
Application for Employment Forms
HIRE Education: the ABCs of Hiring
Publish Date: January 2005