The human resources department of a company has a tremendous impact on a firm’s success and growth, which is why to avoid stagnancy, it’s essential to hire new employees or train existing ones. Unfortunately, all too often, companies make bad hiring decisions or fail to see potential in existing employees.

These two factors play a significant in the rise of incompetence and dissatisfaction among employees, preventing both the company and its staff from reaching their highest potential. To prevent situations like these from arising, it’s best to consult a psychological business consultant, who will work with you and help you manage your recruitment, employee assessment, and promotion programs.

Having worked with multiple firms over the past three decades, The Company Psychologist wants to help you steer clear of errors that have cost other firms a fortune. To do so, we have put together a list of the most common mistakes companies make in hiring and developing talent, and how to avoid them!

1. Hiring based on a resume or previous experience.
People often exaggerate and outright lie on resumes about both their qualifications and experience, using it as an easily manipulated marketing document rather than a career biography. Also, just because a person has experience in a particular position with one company does not mean that his or her experience will translate to your company. Moreover, qualifications do not guarantee. Thousands and thousands of people graduate every year, why do you think only the crème de la crème of the group get hired?

To reduce bad hiring decisions, you need to customize your criteria for human resource selection to focus more on skills and personality. A strategic approach to hiring, one that includes structured interviews and assessment tools, can significantly reduce bad hiring decisions.

2. Not understanding the importance of cultural fit in hiring talent.
Every company has a unique culture. The people who thrive in a company are those whose skills, talents, personality, and values align with the company’s goals. Companies can gain an understanding of what their culture is through organizational analysis, employee and customer surveys, and open and honest communication. Before hiring someone, try to ensure that they understand the core values of your company.

3. Not identifying and developing high potential talent.
Companies have a wealth of talent on which to draw. However, individuals who are not in high visibility positions often get overlooked when it comes to talent development. Some people are content to do their jobs and are not interested in advancing, while others would love the opportunity to grow, develop, and make a more significant contribution to the organization. A systematic assessment process can identify those who have the potential to take on different or more significant roles in the company as the first step in a professional development plan.

4. Not recognizing that talent development is an ongoing process.
For a person to develop his or her professional talents, classes, seminars, directed readings, and performance reviews are valuable, but not enough for long-term growth. A process of providing varied experiences with ongoing continuous feedback can keep an individual engaged, invested, and energized.

5. Not giving people the opportunity to fail.
Not every corporate initiative, project, or strategy change is successful. However, unsuccessful projects can provide valuable lessons to those involved, and those lessons can lead to future successes. People need to feel confident that a failed project does not mean the end of their careers.

6. Hiring average people and expecting above average results.
In today’s business environment, it can be very difficult to terminate someone once they are hired. Companies need to set higher standards in the initial hiring process to reduce the chances of hiring someone who is a bad fit. You might think you do, but you don’t have the time to “fix” someone who should not have been hired in the first place.

To avoid these and other mistakes, reach out to the experts at The Company Psychologist.

The Company Psychologist is owned by Angelo C. Valenti, who is a psychological business consultant in Brentwood, Tennessee, and co-author of the book Unleashing Leadership: Aligning What Your People Do Best With What Your Organization Needs Most. With over thirty-five years of experience, we have served a client base consisting of publicly traded organizations, private companies, and family-owned businesses in a variety of industries. We provide talent management and organizational development services across Brentwood, Nashville, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Spring Hill, and Hendersonville, Tennessee.

For a complete list of our services, please click here. If you have any questions about business psychology and consultancy, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us here.