The Truth about Hiring the Best [Truth About Series]

Read an Excerpt

PrefacePraise for The Truth About Hiring the Best

"You think you knew everything you needed to know about employment until you read the most recent, catchy FT Press 'Truth' book by staffing expert Cathy Fyock. In only 224 pages Fyock effectively uses 53 'Truths' to challenge many of HR's long-standing assumptions and practices related to recruitment and selection. With everyone wanting to 'hire the best,' this quick read has a high ROI."

Michael R. Losey, SPHR, CAE, Former CEO, Society for Human Resource Management

"Cathy Fyock knows there is no 'silver bullet' when it comes to successful recruiting and hiring—and that passive tactics do not provide high quality results. She knows the truth: Today's low unemployment rates combined with increasing retirements of Baby Boomers spell trouble for employers hoping to expand. Her fresh approach shows the reader that there are numerous opportunities to connect with great future employees, and she provides practical advice for tapping multiple sources simultaneously, as well as interviewing and making offers. If you want to hire the best, this book is your guide!"

Nancy S. Ahlrichs, SPHR, President, EOC Strategies, LLC

"The Truth About Hiring the Best is a great, easy-to-read book that hits the nail on the head! It's a great roadmap to selecting the best. Select the best—anything less will leverage your organization for failure!"

Steve Kratohvil, Human Resources, Bridgestone/Firestone

"The truth is—The Truth About Hiring the Best is everything you need to know on this topic, presented with a fun, direct, and helpful approach. Whether you are hiring for the first time or have years of experience, read this book and get right to the truth of the matter!"

Sandy Allgeier, SPHR, Allgeier Human Resources Consulting

"What a great book! Over the past 25 years, I've been responsible for filling more than 1,000 positions. I wish I'd had this book during that process. The brief and exacting way in which Fyock discusses the 53 'Truths' of hiring make the entire process much less daunting. If you hire...this is the book for you."

Jim Ford, VP Business Education Division, KY Chamber of Commerce

"The Truth About Hiring the Best is a great refresher with down-to-earth, practical advice for recruiting and selecting employees. Especially given today's job market, it has good ideas to market your company, as well as great advice about planning for the future. The combination of humor mixed with good sense makes the material easy to read and remember."

Nina Drake, SPHR, SVP Human Resources and Training, Exchange Bank

"Cathy has written a very practical, easy-to-read book packed full of practical tips that can really help recruiting professionals seeking to develop a better overall process as well as hiring managers looking for ideas on how they can be more effective in filling their vacancies."

Peter McCue, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Papa John's International Inc.

"Want the key to hiring great people? The Truth About Hiring the Best contains not just one but more than 50 keys to successful hiring. Straightforward and concise in its approach, this book contains dozens of practical ideas and tips that anyone can use to improve his or her hiring process. Want the whole truth (and often counterintuitive truth) about hiring, read this book today!"

Joan Brannick, Ph.D., SPHR, President, Brannick HR Connections and coauthor of Finding and Keeping Great Employees

"Wow! This is the perfect book for the time-challenged business manager who is looking for quick, simple ways to instantly improve the way he or she finds, hires, and keeps all-star employees. Cathy has taken some of the most basic sales and marketing principles and has applied them to the recruiting, obtaining, and retaining functions of HR. Therein lies the success and brilliance of her strategies. It's creative. It's simple. It's user-friendly. I love books that I can read one day and implement the ideas the next. This is definitely one of them. A must read for anyone charged with recruiting, hiring, and retaining top talent".

Peter B. Burke, President, Best Companies Group

"Cathy Fyock's publications through the years have been invaluable resources for HR professionals. Her latest book, The Truth About Hiring the Best, is no exception. Cathy's communications style as a writer, public speaker, and consultant is consistently down to earth, full of wisdom, and always on target. This book should be required reading for HR professionals genuinely interested in recruiting and retaining top talent in today's highly competitive business environment."

Lamar Nesbit, Ph.D., SPHR, Senior Vice-President, Human Resources and Customer Services, St. Dominic Hospital, Jackson, Mississippi

"Cathy Fyock presents 53 'Truths' about hiring the best. Here is the 54th: If you want to prevent considerable heartaches, stomachaches, and headaches the next time you interview candidates, read this book and apply its lessons. They are insightful, practical, and wise."

Dr. Lyle Sussman, Professor of Management University of Louisville and coauthor of Smart Moves, Yes You Can, Smart Moves for People in Charge, and Lost and Found

"Talent matters. No one denies this fact. But, there is often a gap between wanting and getting talent. Cathy Fyock's 53 'Truths' provide concrete, practical, and well-tested ideas to close the talent gap. The ideas are reasonable, grounded in research, and actionable. This is an excellent book for those who pay attention to hiring. The 53 truths offer a roadmap for doing this important task more effectively."

Dave Ulrich, Professor of Business, University of Michigan, Partner, The RBL Group

Preface

The day you're given the assignment to fill an open position is the day you're invited to change the world and leave a legacy that could outlast you for generations. There's a ripple effect with every hiring decision you make that goes beyond the simple transaction that begins with the question, "How soon can you start?" It's not unlike the realization that Jimmy Stewart's character, George Bailey, discovered in the classic movie It's a Wonderful Life: The life of an individual does matter and can make a big difference for his family, his friends, and his community. And the decision you make about who you will hire will have similar dramatic consequences for you, the person you hire, and the life of your organization.

This book is designed to help you focus on the all-important employment process, beginning with how you identify the best candidates for your team, to how you develop a pool of top candidates, to how you select the best person for the job. It is a comprehensive book focusing on all the issues that impact the quality of your team.

This book is based on my experiences as a staffing specialist, an HR generalist, a hiring manager, and a consultant specializing in recruiting, selecting, and retaining employees in an aging and changing workplace. For the first 10 years of my career, I worked as a human resources professional with a strong focus in staffing. Over the past 20 years I've helped organizations in many industries across the United States develop a strategic approach to staffing and employment.

Here's what I've learned: The practices that you may have been using for years might not be serving you well. Many hiring managers believe that they know how to recruit and select employees because they've been doing it for so long. Other managers believe that conventional wisdom can help in the process. This book is designed to challenge some of this conventional wisdom about staffing and offer you the truth, and nothing but the truth.

No future will be exactly the same based upon the choices that you make. Realize that making a choice of candidate A will lead to future A, and that a choice of candidate B will lead to future B. If you choose a candidate who is a risk taker, loves a challenge, and embraces change and innovation, your organization will likely foster a risk-taking, innovative culture. If you choose a candidate who is hungry for knowledge and is a life-long learner, your organization will likely foster a growth culture.

Maybe your inclination is to hire someone just like the last incumbent in the job. If that's the case, you may be choosing a future that is a lot like your past. Or, you might take a risk and hire someone who is unlike not only the last person in that role, but unlike you as well. You're more likely to be headed for a different and unique future.

Understand that the quality of your hiring decision will not only impact the future of the organization, it will likely impact your personal future as well. If you hire a strong performer with excellent skill sets—and who fits into the company's future plans—you'll not only make yourself look good by developing a strong team, you'll also be building a prosperous career for yourself.

So the choice is yours. And it's bigger than just this one task of filling a position.

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