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It’s Only Common Sense: A New Series—A ‘Hire’ Responsibility

I speak with companies all around the country and one of the biggest problems I hear is that of finding the right people—or any people, for that matter—to hire. The bigger problem, though, is for about five years now, we have not spent enough time focusing on the right people. Either we found someone local, or they were willing to relocate because they needed a job.

Even 10 years ago, there was an established workforce and plenty of potential employees to choose from. Offering someone just a little higher salary was enough to tempt them to move and join a new company. So, in reality, we didn’t have to worry about it too much. The right people came to us; it just happened somehow.

But as we know, times have changed. Combine the effects of the pandemic, new attitudes about discrepancies in the wage gap, and the oldest generation retiring in droves, and it’s a whole new story. Now, hiring the right people, then getting them to stay if you’re lucky enough to have them, has become the biggest challenge today.

In one recent conversation with one company, I was told they hired 13 new employees and within two months, only two remained with the company. That, my friends, is something to worry about.

Over the next few weeks, I will be addressing this issue and what can be done to solve it. Here are some of the things I will be discussing:

• Develop the right job description
• Find the right person
• Focus on the entire hiring process
• Conduct an effective interview
• Show that person the appeal of our industry and why what we do matters
• Show that person a very promising financial future
• What to do once that person is hired
• Orientation, training, and cross-training
• Develop a planned career path
• The review process

The first step is to know who you are looking for. This means developing a holistic job description. This means taking in all the characteristics you need in the ideal candidate.

Another way to describe it is to look at the intangibles, those things that go beyond the normal job description parameters, including experience and background. Find out about their ambitions, passions, curiosities, and integrity. Think about how they will fit in and enhance your organization.

When you are looking to fill a position, look far beyond filling that one position. You are building a team. Create a vision by considering how any new hires can contribute to your team in the next five to 10 years. Think about the possibilities.

For example, could this person be a quality manager in five years? How about a production manager in six years? Could they be running your company in 10 years?

These are all the things you should consider very early in the hiring process, even right when you are creating the job description. Think about the future, not only of your company, but the potential future for the new hire as well.

Right now, when a fab just needs someone to fill a spot on the etcher or in the drill room, the hiring manager may only be thinking about that one specific job and the candidate’s ability to perform those duties, without giving much consideration for what the candidate can do beyond that one role.

By the time we actually do the hiring, we are so pressed to have someone fill that particular position, we might just settle for the next “warm body” rather than a living, thinking, passionate and ambitious person who is looking for work that matters and will give them a future.

Think about the company I mentioned with the 13 new hires. How many of those 11 who left the company might have stayed in they knew they were in line to be the company’s engineering manager within five or six year, earning $90,000 a year?

Don’t laugh; that’s exactly what happened to most of us 30 to 40 years ago, and we’ve done okay. It’s only common sense.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.