A new year is a great time to take a closer look at your company to find areas for improvement. Many CEO's and company leaders are largely in the dark about one critically important area: how new people are hired and brought into the company. How involved should you be and what information should you know? If you can answer these 8 critical questions, you've got a great handle on hiring. If not, make 2016 the year you dig in and learn about how new people join your company. 

1. What does it REALLY cost your company to make a bad hire?
When you calculate the true cost of making a bad hire, this topic will have your full attention. Look at the cost of time spent advertising jobs, reviewing resumes, calling/scheduling and interviewing candidates, making offers, and training. Add the cost of replacing bad hires.

2. What is it like for a prospective candidate to go through your hiring process?
How are potential employees handled and what steps or milestones must be met from beginning to end? Do they leave with a great impression of your company or do they tell others to stay away based on the way they were treated? 

3. What is the “pitch” that your hiring managers use to engage prospective hires?
It's smart to have a compelling message that your team will use consistently to entice potential employees. One CEO we know was shocked to learn that her employees were "hooking" candidates by telling them everyone gets to leave at 4:45 every day! Be part of deciding why someone would want to work for you.

4. Where have you sourced your last six months of successful hires?
Look for patterns in previous hires. What resources did you use to find your best people? 

5. How long does it take from engaging a candidate to making an offer?
Is your hiring process reasonable? Great people always have options and if your hiring process is unnecessarily long, you are definitely losing great candidates to companies who move faster. 

6. How often are your job offers accepted vs. rejected?
Examine the response you get from candidates. Are the people you want to hire accepting your offers? If not, why? 

7. What is your onboarding experience like? What about the first day, week, and 90 days?
A great first day is as important as a first impression and it's hard to overcome a negative experience. Who makes sure a new employee doesn't have to eat lunch alone on their first day? Who sets expectations and checks in to make sure that things are going smoothly so that turnover is not a serious worry?

8. What percentage of your new hires are high performers two quarters down the road?
Retaining great people is as important as hiring them. If most of your hires end up disappointing you—something is wrong in your screening process. The faster you determine the patterns, the better off your business will be.

Happy Hiring!