Opinion: Your Approach to Hiring is All Wrong

Lester Nathan, MS

Most pharmacy owners trust their gut to determine how to locate and hire the best possible candidates for any job opening. Others seek advice from more established colleagues. Neither one is a sound basis for hiring future superstars if you want to build an A-team.

And, if you’re looking for a technician or a cashier on the basis of experience, that, too, is the wrong reason to select an individual. You can give anyone the experience they need. 

Experience is not the right basis for hiring because it may be the wrong experience. Your culture and how you want things done matter far more than somebody else’s adverse experience, especially if it was in a chain store or big box store.  

Certain qualities indicate that a person will succeed no matter what type of job you are hiring her for. Her attitude towards learning and success are most important.   

Indeed, drive and determination, plus an attitude towards learning, can be the most important information you can discover about her. 

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What Now?

The approaches to recruiting candidates that you were using ten years ago no longer succeed very well, especially during this period of peak employment for the general population, when the barrel of labor supply is almost empty. 

Here’s what you should be doing:

• Advertise online as well as in the local newspaper because this is where the largest number of applicants seek new employment. When properly done, you can even entice individuals who are currently employed but who are seeking a better opportunity. 

• Describe the benefits of coming to work for you rather than somewhere else. And make certain those benefits are what most people are seeking today (ie, health insurance, child care assistance, etc.).

• Give good people reasons to leave their current jobs. Surveys show that as many as 67% of those gainfully employed are unhappy in their current positions and would prefer to move to a better job. Make sure you extol all the benefits and opportunities you offer. 

• Offer flexibility arrangements (ie, days of week, hours, etc.), as long as they are compatible with your needs.

• Show that you are interested in helping applicants make a career of working for you. 

Hiring the Smart Way

Once you receive resumes in your email, interview the top three candidates to see which one is most qualified. You can assess qualifications by holding a two-minute phone call with the applicant and using a well-prepared, short questionnaire.

And finally, perform a reference check to determine if the applicant really has the abilities you want in an employee. Sometimes, you may learn something about that individual that you could not discern from any conversation. 

By following this proven method for hiring the most qualified people, you can select the future stars of your team.