Did you know? One of the biggest mistakes that a leader can make is doing too much. This statement may not seem right to you at first glance, but David Seruya explained this dilemma in our interview as a case of a leader wearing ‘too many hats’.
In such a situation, perhaps due to a lack of trust in their employees or just an impulsive need to control every facet of the process, the leader forgets the importance of delegation. And, in doing so, creates an environment where they have to take care of everything themselves.
In order to prevent such an exhausting scenario, David Seruya, who has over a decade of experience in leading his own company and employees, has helped us create a 5-step process for hiring top talent!
Step-by-Step Process for Hiring Top Talent
David Seruya described his hiring process as one that is generally based on references or direct communication with the candidates. More specifically, he said, “I prefer to hear their work history directly from the mouth of their past employees so that I can get a clear idea of their work ethic, but there are times when, after talking with a candidate directly, I will take a gamble based on how much they impress me during the interview process.”
We’ve summarized a more thorough breakdown of his hiring process below for someone interested in following along:
1. Evaluate the empty positions.
The first thing that should be considered when you’re hiring is what position needs to be filled. This might seem pretty obvious, but David Seruya stated that it’s actually one of the most important steps that leaders tend to take for granted.
Of course you need to know what position needs to be filled! But, how many people actually consider what kind of person is best to fulfill a specific role rather than just filling in an empty desk? Simply put, this step is a reminder that you need to look a little deeper to make sure that you get the right person.
2. Work on your job description.
The job description is one of the most important aspects to prepare when hiring. In order to get it right, it’s important to take into consideration all the things that you thought up in the previous step and condense it in a way that will attract the best candidates.
David Seruya stated that, for this step, the most crucial thing is for you to be clear about your expectations so that you don’t have to spend time on under or overqualified candidates who are not suitable for the job position.
3. Start your recruitment.
Every company has its own method of handling recruitment. Some prefer to do things in-house, while others may hire a recruitment firm or agency to do a bulk of the task for them. This should be considered carefully so you don’t feel pressured later on when things get troublesome.
4. Consider available candidates carefully.
Once recruitment has been launched, the next step is to carefully look through all of the candidates. David Seruya prefers to be more involved in this step. And, as mentioned in the beginning, he looks at references first to get a measure of the candidates’ previous work ethic.
At this stage, it might be tempting to simply pick a candidate that has a good resume and leave it at that, if only to save up on time, but it’s important that you patiently wait until you have a good pool of candidates to pick through. Otherwise, you might find yourself settling on the wrong candidate.
5. Interview the best candidates.
The interview step is David Seruya’s favorite part of the process. As mentioned, he likes to give candidates a chance to impress him, and for this, he makes sure that the interviews are carefully arranged. He gives each candidate time to prepare themselves so that he can make sure that every candidate is given the opportunity to show their best selves.
Of course, he doesn’t delay when he finds good candidates during post-interview procedures. Although David Seruya describes himself as a calculative man, for the most part, he also takes his ‘gut instinct’ into account and doesn’t hesitate when extending rewards (e.g., higher pay and better benefits) to the most promising candidates.