3 Hiring Mistakes that Skyrocket HR Risk

In our last post discussed assessing and managing HR risk. Just to recap, we spent some time discussing how crucial it is for HR to shift the focus of their position from being compliance centered to being more aware of the risk they create with poor hiring decisions.

If you were previously unaware of the HR risk you supply to your company, or worse, have been too caught up in the other high octane demands of your job to notice the role you play in HR risk, then here are 3 ways you may be putting your company at risk by making poor hiring decisions.

#1 HR Risk – Not Understanding Risk from a Company's Financial Perspective

If we're measuring HR risk from a strictly financial perspective (which matters most to your business), then the cost of a poor hire far outweighs the cost of a minor compliance infraction. A poor hiring decision could follow you for 30 plus years and cost you millions in sales or revenue loss. Don't believe me? Check out this infographic from Recruiter Box which breaks down the cost of hiring new employees.

By dismissing the notion that you have the potential to play a huge role in the HR risk associated with your company because you're too busy hiding behind compliance, you're doing yourself (and your organization) a huge disservice. After all, the fastest way to climb the strategic ladder is through understanding your contribution to your business's bottom line: money.

#2 HR Risk – Relying on Ineffective (Outdated) Applicant Communication Methods

Applicants value their time, and so should you.

You should also respect your own time, especially since it's on the company's dime. Choose methods for communicating with job candidates that are efficient and statistically most likely to garner a response. Yes, we've reached that pivotal point in our tech bubble wherein text messaging is the fastest and most reliable channel for communicating with your applicants.

Think about it. How many of your service providers offer the ability to send text reminders for appointments, now? At least double from about three years ago, I can guarantee that. The convenience of text reminders is unsurpassed and it ensures that the sender's message is received on the receiver's timeline. And it doesn't waste time.

The same goes for trying to communicate with applicants when you're trying to set up an job interview time that aligns your schedule and your job candidate's schedule. You can choose an applicant tracking system that has a text messaging feature automatically built in to its platform. Optimizing this piece of the hiring process because it cuts down on time-to-fill and thus reduces HR risk.

#3 HR Risk – Skipping Job Seeker Personas

If you've been a follower of ours for a while now, then you know that our primary goal is to transform HR professionals into killer marketers. Recruiting quality applicants is along the same vein as marketing products/services to clients.

One of the best kept marketing secrets is to create buyer personas because they help you understand your clients on a deeper level thus enabling you to sell more and create a higher level of customer satisfaction.

Relative to HR risk, the same mentality should be applied to each of your job openings. You want to spend time understanding exactly the type of applicant, also known as a job seeker persona, that would be an ideal fit for your job position. The easiest way to go about this is to ask the department manager a lot of questions.

Without a thorough understanding of the characteristics your ideal applicant would possess before you write the job ad, you'll waste time attracting the wrong applicants to your job ad which increases HR risk and hiring overhead. You'll have higher turnover and spend more trying to fill your job opening with the right person next time.

Still feel like you can't quite get a handle on alleviating HR risk? Our hiring experts can help! See a demo today to find out how easy risk free hiring can be!