When we need to hire someone here at BCI, it can often feel very overwhelming. I don’t know if we are anything like you, but when we get to the point of hiring, we are typically desperately in need of another person, and it is tempting to just want to fill the position with a person who has a pulse and will show up regularly. We have learned the hard way that while it is tempting to take that stance, it never pans out for us. We, like many of you, have a small, tight knit team, and the way that person can relate to the rest of our team matters.

I recently went to a training seminar, and one of the things that they told me was that you should never hire someone you don’t like because you are going to end up spending more time with that person than you do your own family, unless you are in a family business. If that’s the case, you could have issues arise if you decided to terminate a family member just because you didn’t like him. So, what do we do to make sure we are putting the right people in the right position in our company? We go through the Interview process and use assessments.

Assessments have become an invaluable part of our interview process. We all know people lie on their resumes, right? Let’s say we are hiring for a position that is detail oriented. A candidate comes in and looks like he is going to be a great fit. We go through the interviewing process, and everything seems to check out. That’s the end of it, right?

Wrong. We have that person take an assessment. The assessment gives us an understanding of the candidate’s personality type and strengths in the workplace. It isn’t uncommon to find that a candidate actually comes in low on the skills needed to effectively complete the job you are filling. People will try to be whatever you need them to be during the hiring process in order to get the job, but will quickly revert back to their true personality once they get the job.

Over the course of 5 years, you will spend on average about $300,000 on an employee when you factor in taxes and benefits. If you were to make any other $300,000 investment, you would spend significant time thinking through that decision. I encourage you to have all your candidates take assessments to make sure they will be a good fit and a benefit to your company!

 

Vanessa Clements

Dealer Development Team