Have you heard about the “cheese capers” in Wisconsin this week? In two separate thefts, it’s reported that $160,000 in cheese has been stolen. You can get all the available details here. When you have thefts of this magnitude, it’s often assumed it’s an “inside job.” Meaning employees that have the motivation, access and opportunity are often the first people questioned in a situation like this. According to the National Retail Federation, in 2014, U.S. businesses lost $15 billion to employee theft, so it’s not completely out of line for the owners of the missing cheese to look at their own staff first. So what can you look for when you’re hiring a new team member that might tell you that they might not be the best choice for your team?
1.Friends
You have probably read this 1000 times already, but that’s because it is good advice. Even if you have been best friends with this person since you were seven, and this job would really help get them out of a tight space, you shouldn’t hire your friends. Inevitably, you’ll have to pick between your friendship with this person and the good of your business or department. You’ll have a tendency to see past some of their lackluster performances in favor of getting to work with someone that you like. When you have to finally call them out for their lackluster performance, you run the risk of offending them, or worse, not knowing how to talk to them about it, chickening out for the good of your friendship, and just let the problem drag on.
2.Family members
Your family members might make even worse employees than your friends. Depending on your relationship with your family member that could become your potential employee, you may find yourself at the center of the conversation around the holiday dinner table, which may be flattering or unflattering based on the subject of the conversation. Family members have a tendency to drag the entire family into whatever is going on at work if it involves one of “their own.” Think about what will happen when you know that cousin Marie was out late on Sunday night after bowling league, and she calls in sick on Monday morning. You know that her sickness is likely a result of a late night out, but if you mention this to her and tell her it can’t happen again, she’s probably going to tell your Aunt, which will likely result in you having to talk to your Aunt about the situation too. The scenario under which hiring family members is most successful is when it’s a family business that’s been owned for generations, it’s getting passed down to one or two people in the family, and there’s been a lifelong training process in place for the transfer of ownership. There’s an ingrained sense of ownership cultivated from a young age. -However, even then, there’s no guarantee.
3. They have done it all!
You’re asking all your regular interview questions, and there’s not one scenario that you’ve brought up that this candidate didn’t have an answer for. You’re contemplating asking if he or she has ever met an alien because what they’re saying is so unbelievable. -They’ve got an answer for everything, have done everything, and can handle anything. This brings us to the old adage, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” So you’re left wondering if this person is perfect because they have all the experience you could ever ask for, or if they’re just really great at making things up on the fly. To determine which category they fall into, a check of their references and a second interview are the minimal forms of research you should do before proclaiming them as the most perfect candidate for the job.
4.None of their references are managers
The interview is going well, you’re getting along, you like the candidate’s experience, until. .. you ask about the references provided. After a brief explanation from the candidate, you find out that none of the people they’ve listed are previous managers or supervisors. You can ask the candidate about this to see if they have a plausible explanation, but it more likely indicates an aversion to having you speak to people who were directly responsible for reviewing or claiming their work. That should likely be a red flag for you. If there is one manager missing from their references, everyone likely has one manager that they’ve lost track of or that they didn’t always see eye to eye with, but if there’s no manager reference, you might want to do some more research before extending an offer.
5.They can’t say one nice thing about their current job/boss/co-workers
We all have had this co-worker or friend. No matter how excited they are about their new job, they find a reason to complain about it. This is tough to identify in a first interview, however, if you’re asking a series of questions that should cause the candidate to talk positively about an experience, but you’re left with a sense of negativity, that should be the first sign that they might complain more than the average employee. Complaining is okay, not everyone loves their job 100% of the time, but constant complaining can bring down team morale, affect culture and grind productivity to a halt. Negativity loves company, and adding a constant complainer to your team is something that you will always regret. Think you have a candidate who falls into this category? Ask them what they feel like they can do to improve their life in their current role. If they tell you they can’t because of XYZ, they are either in so far over their head that it’s going to take some time for them to even be ready to go to work for you, or they’re so focused on talking about their misery that they can’t give you an answer. Either way, you’ll want to politely end this interview and move on to your next candidate.
There have been dozens of books and articles written over the years on who makes the best employees, personalities to avoid, and the best hires you can make. These are only five of the most common mis-hires that occur in the job marketplace. There is always an exception to every rule, so please take this advice as a guideline, not as a guarantee. We’re just trying to help you avoid someone stealing all your cheese!