How to hire

Bad hire? Blame the CEO

How much does a bad hire cost companies? It’s more than just money according to this infographic by Mindflash. Hiring the wrong person also causes lost time, productivity, and morale. The infographic also provides some suggestions for improving the hiring process. While these are important, one of the keys to hiring great people is to have a great recruiting process. This starts with the CEO, who in my mind should serve as the Chief Recruiting Officer.

CEOs should own recruiting and treat it as a core piece of the company’s strategic plan, not a tactical fire drill. Hiring right doesn’t mean taking your time, however. If your process is set up correctly, you should be able to hire someone within two weeks – that’s resume in hand to offer letter. Superstars won’t wait around for a company that drags its feet.

Also see a slide show version of this infographic at FastCompany.com.

Mindflash_1.24.12-01-2

CEO Class Starts April 4

Starting April 4, I am teaching my CEO class again in conjunction with the Rice Alliance Austin Chapter and the Austin Technology Council. The class is designed for CEOs with more than 20 employees who are seeking ways to grow via the right tools, people and processes.

Top 10 posts of 2013

In case you missed them, here are my most-viewed blog posts of 2013:

  1. Support oddballs in your company culture
  2. Texas vs. California: Texas Wins
  3. CEOs: Employee engagement matters
  4. How executives hire: Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on finding motivated employees
  5. The million dollar hire
  6. 5 Responsibilities of a CEO: Own the Vision
  7. When do you hire for job experience vs. raw talent?
  8. 10 Steps to a Nine Figure+ Exit
  9. The No Asshole Policy and Company Culture
  10. 5 Responsibilities of a CEO: Make Good Decisions

The million dollar hire

I was recently reminded of how important a single personnel decision can be. I traveled to San Francisco to make…