In Part 1 of this article, we looked at how hiring the wrong person can be one of the most expensive bad decisions you can make, and we took you through seven steps that will help you avoid making that mistake.

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Here are the final eight steps you can take in the hiring process to help you select the right person for the job!

8. Vision Call

This is the call where you talk about long-term vision. Show them the opportunity for advancement. Show them specifics on any long-term benefits that could come their way (e.g. stock plans, ownership, profit-sharing, additional roles, leadership opportunity, ways they can make additional income working on special projects, and so on). Any questions about compensation that haven’t been answered need to be answered by this point.

9. Partner 1 Call

You’ve had three to four calls by this point and you should know pretty well if you want to hire them. Assuming you think you do, then it’s time to get a second opinion from one of the trusted leaders in your company. It’s also helpful for the candidate to get a second perspective.

10. In-Person Shadow Day ­

If at all humanly possible, you want the candidate to come into the office and actually see the job: watch someone else who is doing similar work. If there isn’t anyone, then at least give the candidate a chance to experience the office environment and meet some of the people. Even if only for a few minutes, this makes a huge difference for them and for you. Then ask your team of their initial first impressions – they can be very telling. If travel is a big challenge, have them Skype into a meeting, or watch some of your salespeople make dials on Skype.

11. Partner 2 Call

At Southwestern Consulting we require at least three of our partners (equity holders) or leaders to sign off on any person before we agree to hire them. One of these two partner calls is often a “scare them away” call where we do heavy emotional preparation about how difficult the job can be at its lowest. If they are going to chicken out, we want them to do it in the interview process and not after we’ve hired them.

12. Spousal Interview

One of the final steps is to meet their spouse. As Dave Ramsey says, you need to make sure “they aren’t married to crazy”. This person is going to be a part of your family and their spouse is the most important person in their family. That means you’re kind of going into business with them too. If they don’t have a significant other, then you might ask to take them and a close friend to dinner. If they are a young professional, you might want to meet their parents. If you can’t do it in person, then try a phone call.

13. Budget Review

We haven’t yet made this mandatory, but we’ve talked about it and do it often. We invite each person who is looking to join our team to submit their monthly budget of expenses to us. We do this first to make sure they can afford to work with us. If we can’t pay them enough to meet their basic needs, then they shouldn’t join the team. Second, in our culture, we heavily promote being debt-free and so we want to help set them on that track. Third, it really lets us walk “a mile in their shoes” and helps us understand their daily lives and some of their pain points and opportunities.

Most of all, it connects us to them financially and inspires us to figure out a long-term game plan with them for how we can put them on a path to accomplish all of their financial goals by being a part of our team. Many people on our team have paid off tens of thousands of dollars of debt and/or have become completely debt-free by allowing us to help them in this process.

14. Reflection

This happens on your own. You’ve taken them through the process, now you have to ask yourself: Do I really want them on my team? In our case, we pray about them and ask God if the person is a fit. We also sometimes call it “The Hangout Test” meaning they have to pass the litmus test of the question “would I want to hang out with this person outside of work”. Get feedback from everyone in your team who has met them. You’re about to make a big decision and it’s not too late to turn them down.

15.The Selection Conversation

This is a whole separate skill set and art form in and of itself. But there is a very important order and process to the way this final call should go. This is your opportunity to make commitments to them and to clearly get certain commitments from them. Collecting paperwork and outlining next steps is also a part of this meeting. If they are still with you at this point, then they definitely want to be a part of the team, but they still may have final fears or concerns that need to be worked through – most often fear. It is a graceful art in doing that during this conversation.

The most important part, at this point, is to truly care about the person’s best interest. And if you truly believe it’s in the best interest of them and you then powerfully invite them to join your team!

We may not be the world’s best company at hiring people, but our team at Southwestern Consulting is amazing. We attract great people who believe what we believe, and our people are the reason for our success and growth. This process is at least a small part of it all.

Also, we don’t do this system perfectly every time, but we try very hard to stick to it closely. We have all of our internal automation systems built around enforcing this process. This also isn’t 100% fool-proof as a system, but it’s a lot better than what most companies do in hiring.

Visit Southwestern Consulting to find out more about Raksha’s work.

^{Edited by Nedda Chaplin
Image credit: Vietnamese business executives watching something funny on tablet computer from Shutterstock}

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