One of the biggest and most important processes in your business is the process of hiring new staff. You want to bring on the best, most talented individuals to your company so that they can bring it to new heights – any business owner would! There is one mistake most leaders make, though, and that’s not bringing their existing staff on board with the hiring process. Your current team wants to know that the people you bring in will fit and work nicely with them, and your candidates will want to get to know who they will be working with before you hire them, too.
If you involve your staff in the hiring process, you get more eyes, ears and minds on the table and it makes a huge difference to the process as a whole. When you involve current employees, your candidates can gain some insight into the culture of the business and you also get the added bonus of extra people in the hiring process. You can task someone with drug testing in HR and they can look for the best leak detection tablet to ensure that the results are accurate. You can also look at tasking another member of your team with gaining the references of your candidates. You will benefit from having your staff involved in the hiring process, and we have four clear reasons as to why.
- You create more accountability when you have more people involved in the process. If your team members are holding each other accountable for their core values, then they collectively discuss who would be the best candidate for the job and fit for their team. By giving candidates a project to present to their prospective team, you can allow them to make the decision based on personality and qualifications, too, and everyone is held to account for that choice.
- Involving the rest of the staff in the choice between candidates also helps you to connect your employees with the success of your company. Let’s say you’re big on hiring from within the business: your candidates will see this with your employees and their success on the floor. They can discuss your rewards and benefits programs with your team and get to know who does what well – and how it’s because of you.
- Onboarding is far, far easier when you have your current team involved in the process. Someone can get settled into a new role when the whole team they are working with is assisting them with their movements in the company. Building relationships is vital to avoid any awkward behaviour on that crucial first day, and your existing employees can be a big part of the engagement process.
- When you involve your staff in the hiring process, you are ensuring that they are a part of the transition into the culture of the business. The fit will be easier and the candidate can feel better at ease that the culture is the right one for them no matter what happens.