EMPOWERED

CHAPTER 29Hiring

After interviewing, hopefully you have found a candidate you believe will be a strong addition to the organization. You need to prepare an offer and close the candidate.

Much of the hiring process will be dictated by HR compliance and compensation, but there are some essential points for the hiring manager.

First, if you have found a truly strong candidate, then it's critical to move quickly. Strive to produce an offer in 24–48 hours. Beyond that, you may lose a good candidate. And even if not, it demonstrates to the candidate that the company has a hard time making decisions, which is not a good look.

Second, take reference checks seriously, and do them personally—don't delegate this to anyone else. Be sure to ask if the person would hire the candidate again.

One of the most important goals of a reference check is to try to identify candidates that are going to prove toxic due to their personality. Most such people can hide the problematic parts of their personality during an interview, but their previous employers know.

During a reference check, people are often reticent to share negative information, so be sure to give that person every opportunity to share what they are willing to. Note that an email reference check is rarely useful for this reason. A call or meeting for a coffee is much more likely to yield useful feedback.

But go beyond a reference check. One of the surest ways today to spot toxic personalities is to explore the candidate's behavior on ...