Things to Remember While Appointing Employees

a) Hire for Attitude, Not for Skills or Qualification Only

Skills can be learned. Qualifications can be added. But, the right attitude can’t be achieved easily. A lot of career problems arise because of the wrong attitude of the person. Some highly qualified and skilled people aren’t successful in their careers because they don’t possess the right attitude towards working with others. For a successful career, attitude matters more than the right qualification. We see that most of the top rankers of a university or board falter along the way and get lost into oblivion after showing initial sparks of academic brightness. Educational qualification does not mean that the person has a positive attitude. Don’t hire people who have a negative attitude, no matter which qualification or other merits they may possess.

You can spot a negative attitude. Here is a quick check. You have hired a person with a wrong attitude if she

• Can’t work with other people
• Is rude
• Is not punctual
• Is manipulative
• Does not keep her word
• Always needs to be monitored
• Wastes her own and others’ time on petty matters
• Does not complete work fully
• Needs follow-up for every work assigned to her
• Claims wrong credit for work done by others
• Blames others for own mistakes or failures

When you realize that you have made a hiring mistake by selecting a person with a bad attitude, act fast. Get rid of the mistake as soon as you can.

b) Always Reference Check

Tests and interviews may give us some idea about the person’s abilities. But, it is not a full proof method. We may make mistakes in judging people. To reconfirm our findings, we must check the references of the person, particularly, with the past employers. This is advisable to minimize hiring disappointments.

c) Do Not Hire Friends or Relatives

• I call this “Ration card employment.” It is advisable to desist from this practice.
• The main reason is that bringing some friends, relatives or their children in the team skews the balance of the team in a very weird way.
• It curtails our freedom to deal with the individual at par with the others, which creates a lot of unrest among the other employees.
• There are higher chances of a recurring conflict between the relative importance to be attached to the relationship or the job.
• It is also observed that in the end, such an assignment ends bitterly. Finally, either the work or the relationship suffers.
• Hiring of any employee must be done on the basis of merit alone.
• If some relative or a friend asks us to “do a favor” by hiring somebody known to them, we should politely tell them that the recruitment process is handled by our HR team and we can only arrange for an interview. We must make it clear that the selection will be based on merit only. This may offend that relative or friend, but if you can’t say no, then you may have to hire an unsuitable or incompetent person and your business will suffer in the long run.
• Remember, you should keep charity and business separate. Hoarding incompetent people only because they know you or some of your friends or relatives, sends a wrong signal to the other employees about your own weakness and lack of clarity.
• Also, if the person is good and competent, he should not need any recommendation. Such a person will get an employment somewhere on his own.

d) Get a Proof of Current Salary

Some candidates have a tendency to fake a high current salary to negotiate a higher salary from the new company. To safeguard against such possibilities, it is advisable to check the official salary slip and income tax details of the person. These details will substantiate their current salary figures, ruling out any possibilities of wrongful claims.

e) Always Check the Original Certificates to Confirm the Academic Qualifications

These days, a lot of scandals are being reported. There are many bogus universities, fake degree certificate providing agencies and other malpractices prevalent in the job market. We have to be extra vigilant to avoid being a victim of such a scam. We must check the original degree certificates of the candidates and also check the authenticity of the university or the institute.

f) Insist on Getting Proper Identification Proof

Get the current and permanent address and photo identification proofs of the selected candidates. Seek police verification certificate if it is applicable.

g) Ensure a Probation Period before Confirmation

Hiring mistakes are common. In spite of all the care that is taken during the recruitment and selection process, we may still end up hiring a person who is absolutely not fit for the role. This happens because a few hours of tests or interviews may not always expose the true habits, motives, drives, attitude and temperament of the person. Tests can be mastered with practice and one can put up a great act at an interview to impress the interview panel, but the real character of the person will be visible when he starts working with the company.

If it is found that we have hired a wrong person, it is advisable to make a quick change, rather than allowing such people with negative attitude to continue and damage our workplace. For this purpose, we should use an option of probation period to check (before confirming him for final employment) whether the employee’s performance matches with our expectations. During the probation period, an employment can be terminated by a short notice from either side without any binding. If the employee’s performance is not satisfactory, we must let him go by not confirming his employment beyond the probation period.

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