Is being objective hard for you?

Recruitment is always subjective to some degree, because it is always about people. However, to make the best hiring decisions, you should still try to be as objective as you can.

One good way to stay objective is to identify 5 or more key criteria and use them consistently. Obviously, they need to be tailored to the job. For example: If you are looking for a sales associate from the retail sector with contacts to retail chains and knowledge of the food industry, you may want to require experience and a background in Sales within the retail industry, a proven track record of reaching sales targets, as well as having a goal-oriented and ambitious personality.

Objective factors first

If there are several candidates who really do tick every box, you can let your own personal preference decide. But make sure you look at objective factors first – and avoid selecting someone with no matching competencies only because they have a likable personality.

I have witnessed many situations when managers just wanted to hire a candidate who actually did not fit the main requirements at all. In our example case, they would be willing to hire a candidate who had a background in sales, but not in retail or the food industry, and thus lacking any relevant contacts (which are worth gold in sales positions) and would be actually starting from scratch to build up their networks within the area.

I am not saying that this is not possible and should not be happening.

It is possible. There are people who have moved from HR to Sales and then to Marketing and even Finance. I actually encourage my managers to be open to these kinds of candidates who want to make horizontal career moves.

Stick to the essential skills

But if you identify at the very beginning the really essential skills to succeed in the job, then stick to it if you have candidates to choose from.

And if not, then you may need to actually rethink the targets for the person and rethink his job description too, because if you hire a candidate who does not tick the boxes, then he needs more time to get started and learn all the “ins and outs” of your industry/function etc.

Objectivity in general is a very wide topic. Objectivity is needed not only when making hiring decisions but also when evaluating candidates.

Without being objective, you may have a tendency to hire people who are just like you and you may end up building a team of people who have the same qualities. However, the best teams are made of people with skills complementing each other. You need introverts but also extroverts, rational and also creative people. If you are an extroverted, intuitive person, most likely you will not get along too well with an introverted, fact-based guy, but you may need him a lot to support you and help you to succeed.

I can easily use a personal example here: when we fall in love with someone. 🙂 We may easily predefine our main criteria and expectations of our future spouse. Then we meet HIM/HER. Very often we just forget within a few seconds of the encounter our main criteria and just follow our intuition, gut feelings, and we fell in love with a person who may not share our values, for example.

A business is not a friends club

So do not let that happen often when you recruit. Try to avoid it. Always keep in mind that you do not have to actually like everything about that candidate right from the beginning. You do not have to share the same hobbies or even life values. You are colleagues. He/she should help you to reach your goals. Select the one who is best equipped to help you in that journey! Select the one who has the best background but also motivation and a great attitude. I know that ideally you would like to have a connection on a personal level too; ideally, you will like each other, share the same views or hobbies or have something else in common than just a job. As already stated, if you have several candidates who do fit the main requirements, then you can decide based on your personal preference too. Then you can do it but not beforehand and by compromising the main requirements.

You are leading a business, not a friends club. You need to think about your business results, first and foremost and who will help you the most to achieve your goals.

Being objective is one of the core challenges when recruiting. But there are more, that we need to overcome to be successful when hiring. Download my ebook here and read more. I believe you will find it useful.

With passionate regards ,-)

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