Sometimes people are so anxious to land a job that they forget that good interviewing protects them as well. A bad fit is bad for everyone, not just the hiring company. Why be miserable in a bad situation? If everyone works to create a good fit from day one, both the new employee and the hiring firm win.

1) In order to try and hire only the A people, I spend a good deal of time in the interview asking questions that pertain to how the person would fit into our culture. If people aren’t familiar with what questions to ask, there are multiple books and training classes. I found the book “High-Impact Interview Questions: 701 Behavior-Based Questions to Find the Right Person for Every Job” had a good list of questions that I can use. I have many of the questions for each of the different subjects typed up and printed for the interview. I then go through questions in the various sections and choose the appropriate next questions based on responses from the candidate. This let’s me focus on the strong and weak areas in order to learn more than what a resume will tell you. My notes after the interview paint a picture that I didn’t see when I used to interview people and just ask “what if” scenarios.

2) I try to set a very clear set of goals and objectives for the new individual. I didn’t do this well at first, but continue to hone this skill. This allows me to set informal 30 day reviews and a 90 day window for the first review formal review. If the candidate is not reaching the A potential within that first 90 days, then it is time to find a new employee. Most managers don’t want to have to admit their mistake, but doing so within the first 90 days is best for everyone involved.

3) I also spend time with the other executives and managers to ensure that the new employee is working well with the team. This allows feedback from an outside perspective that is invaluable in assessing how the employee performs. I may only see the good side of what is presented by the employee to me. Other employees will let you see the who picture.

Hence, the hiring process doesn’t end on the day you bring in the new employee. Within 90 days, you should be able to tell if the employee is meeting the needs of the team and complimenting you weaknesses or only increasing your strengths.

Wayne

@Scott: The HR/IS interaction is always interesting. In my company, HR does the initial vetting of all full-time hires, checking all aspects of the candidate except the technical stuff. Once through the HR screen, the IS team techs them out and checks for culture fit in our team. The process works really well.

@Susan: Very interesting premise. How can you hire someone for a trait that you yourself do not have or even comprehend? I suspect this happens all the time, and would be very difficult to correct. Until the leader is replaced by a more savvy person, I think the team would be doomed to hire ineffectively.

@Linda: Culture fit and culture shift are a big deal, especially (as you note) in small teams. It can be a double-edged sword: leaders looking to change a culture can make incremental shifts as they hire over time, steering a team to a new without a big cathartic change.

@Joe: I had a similar blessing: inherited a team that was built by a guy who knew what he was doing. It gives you a chance to see what you should do when you get your chance to start hiring.

Sometimes an A player from one company turns out to be destructive and a horrible fit in a new culture. Lots of research on how often “high performers” fail when they change jobs, mostly due to that culture fit. This is usually a big surprise to both the hiring manager and the former high performer.

Not only do the new players need to fit into the culture, every person you hire changes that culture a little bit with their spin on ‘how we do things around here.’ Especially important in a small company.

Scott

http://www.ciopedia.com/2009/04/27/time-to-review-your-hiring-process/