Info Source - Volume X, Issue 4 - July, 2011

Hiring Best Practices- 4 Biggest Mistakes Organizations Make When Adding Headcount 

By Chris Ordway/Dan Feely

Having been around the block once or twice, at TSI we have been part of, and lived closely alongside our clients, hiring in good and bad market conditions.  Hiring in volatile market conditions has unique challenges (and consequences if unsuccessful).  For your consideration, here are the 4 Biggest Mistakes (TSI sees) Organizations of all Sizes Make When Adding Headcount:

1.    Adding headcount without assessing the processes that drive your business
2.    Looking outside your company before fully vetting the internal candidates
3.    Failing to have a 30-60-90 day plan
4.    Adding headcount without a career path in mind

Please don’t let this list misconstrue TSI’s passionate support for business leaders who are committed to growth. Simply stated, our extensive experience as trusted businesses advisors for over 20 years has given us deep insight into hiring missteps.    Years ago, a respected author wrote about the need to be "slow to hire and quick to fire" as an axiom to coach managers to be reluctant to increase OPEX.

1. Adding headcount without assessing the processes that drive your business -  Globalization and advancements in technology continue to increase volatility in the marketplace. It is not uncommon for business leaders to have false expectations that adding headcount will solve the problems that come with these performance pressures. The most effective first step to ensuring a successful hire is to understand the critical processes that drive the operation. Once this review is complete, assess whether your desired process justifies the extra resource.  Is it possible to realize your desired end result by removing non-value added work instead?  

2. Looking outside your company before fully vetting the internal candidates: Opportunities for growth can lead to hiring, as well as some degree of chaos. Mapping, analyzing and improving the flow of work in departments like finance, operations, and supply chain will provide a framework to determine what skills are needed based on newly defined roles.  From here you can determine if the skillsets exist internally. Overworked leaders can naturally migrate to the position of “Let’s get some fresh ideas and people”. While this is not always a mistake, a comprehensive understanding of the broad operations will help determine if the true need (separated from the chaos) is people related or process related.

3. Not having a 30-60-90 day plan: Gaining traction is never an easy task for new hires since they need quick wins. Without solid process, organization and system understanding, the chance for success is reduced. Many organizations fail to define the definition of success and the underlying metrics relative to time.  As a result, TSI sees a relatively high level of misfit hires that cause overall organizational performance to lag.  

4.    Adding headcount without a career path in mind -  TSI leadership consistently sees situations when new hires are made in functional areas like quality, continuous improvement, and strategic planning.  Then, after 6-12 months when the low hanging fruit is picked and the novelty of the hire diminishes, the momentum can stall.  Many organizations do not have career paths well defined or a method to integrate internal consultants back into the organization.  Poor morale and high cost, relative to performance, results in many of these cases.  In contrast, a third-party business partner with the ability to efficiently migrate between departments and silos can consistently bringing a fresh perspective and deliver results without the long term addition of overhead.

There are a number of ways TSI can assist your organization by leveraging a deep knowledge base to assess and solve operational, strategic and technological challenges. If you wish to discuss methods to deliver results without adding the long term overhead associated with full time employees give us a call at 847.705-0960 x202 or e-mail TSI’s Managing Partner, Dan Feely

Feel free to pass this link on to others in your organization. As well, if you wish to discuss upcoming project needs, please give us a call at 847.705-0960 x202.

A reminder: Check out the TSI blog at http://blog.transforming.com/

Lastly, if you are attending the  NCCI Annual Conference in Tampa (in July), please send us an e-mail.  It would be great to catch up.