Yes, we’ve all heard the old saying, two heads are better than one. And when it comes to hiring, no truer words were ever said. Of course, hiring by consensus does take time and energy. But there are benefits.

Utilizing a team approach when it comes to hiring not only provides a variety of viewpoints and insight into each candidate’s suitability for a position, it can also promote camaraderie, a shared sense of belonging among team members, and a more than likely chance of support for the chosen candidate.

On the other hand, if you leave the hiring decision up to a single individual, especially someone without the proper training, you risk issues such as bad hires that result in turnover, or worse, bad interviews that result in lawsuits because inappropriate comments or promises are made.

Also, managers may be inconsistent in their interview process gathering inconsistent information and making it impossible to compare candidates resulting in bias. Using a properly trained team to participate in the hiring process can reduce the likelihood of these issues.

A colleague recently told me about a client he worked with who was interested in hiring a candidate because she was someone he knew, even though she didn’t have the proper background and experience for the position. Left to his own devices, he probably would have done just that.

But he was accountable to others involved in the hiring process and they warned him about the possibility of backlash and the lack of credibility this person would have with the rest of the group.

The team was the voice of reason.

When conducting team interviews, there are two methods you can use: either one-on-one, consecutive interviews with each interviewer or a group of interviewers simultaneously meeting a single candidate.

Afterwards the interviewers gather to discuss each candidate.

Though the one-on-one, consecutive process is the more conventional, the latter option saves time, enables participates to all hear the same responses to the same questions and provides an opportunity to see how the applicant behaves in a group setting.

Whichever method is used in the hiring process, it is vital that participants are fully trained in proper interviewing techniques with a pre-arranged set of questions to be asked of all candidates. That way the teamwork process of hiring candidates will be the most effective.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 17th, 2006 at 11:36 am and is filed under Interviewing, Teamwork, Hiring. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will appear immediately, but I reserve the right to delete innapropriate comments.