A PMO leader is the one who facilitates change and motivation. He/she is a project leader, general manager for the PMO and is the central voice for all the projects of the organization.
Recruiting and bringing on new talent to the team is one of the most important tasks of a PMO leader. New talent brings new energy and fresh ideas to the table, and has the potential to generate huge revenue for the company.
Sometimes PMO leaders make mistakes while hiring. In a study conducted, it was found to cost around 20% of a person’s salary in fees when you replace him or her. Terminating someone is a tough call, there is no one successful method for efficient recruitment.
Here are the top 10 hiring mistakes to keep in mind while recruiting and how to avoid making them:
1. Inaccurate Job Description
Not describing the job description properly and honestly when you advertising will lead to attracting the wrong candidates. A proper job description lays out the details of the position, thus ensuring only candidates who match the maximum skills apply for the position.
Don’t oversell your position or mislead candidates into thinking they will be able to get promotions they are looking for. It will most likely lead to discontent and resignation.
2. Not recruiting from within
You don’t always have to look for external candidates to get a job well done. There may be many qualified and skilled internal candidates who deserve the positions. Apart from being economical to hire internally, it cuts down on cost and time spent in advertising and recruitment, the existing staff member is well versed in the organization’s goals and work culture and will be able to get up to speed faster.
It also boosts morale and productivity of staff as they feel appreciated and valued. Valuable company secrets which may leak when a candidate leaves will also stay inside the office walls.
3. Relying solely on the interview
Laszlo Bock, a senior Google executive said that maximum interviews are a waste of time, because the interviewers make a judgement about the candidate within the first ten seconds, and the candidate can and will say anything to land the job.
It would be more efficient to provide the candidate with a test or some sort of exercise to judge how the candidate performs in real-life situations. This not only provides a better insight about the candidates, but also helps you analyze how the candidate is in planning, prioritizing, executing, organizing and communicating.
4. Subconscious and Unconscious Bias
Bias is human nature and the recruitment process is biased and inherently flawed in its decision making by nature. Subconsciously and unconsciously we judge a candidate based on his sex, race, class, ethnicity, and these judgments become an important factor to whether a candidate gets the job or not.
Seeing beyond these characteristics will improve decision making and bring more diverse qualities to the table.
5. Hiring less qualified people
Lee Lacocca, a renowned US automotive executive, states that he hires people brighter than him and then he gets out of their way. PMO leaders are at fault at recruiting less talented people than themselves in fear of losing their standing and respect. But smart hiring managers understand that bright people are an asset and will strengthen the team.
Less qualified candidates may become a liability for your organization, consuming resources, time and ultimately not producing appropriate results.
6. Rejecting overqualified candidates
Overqualified candidates come off as a competition to the PMO leaders and so they reject them thinking their positions will be lost. There is also the fear that these candidates will leave the company for better opportunities.
But even if they leave, they bring to the table skills that develop your team. Use incentives and opportunities to keep them in your company.
7. Hiring because you have money
Just because you have money doesn’t mean you should hire lots of people. The idea of growing big sound nice, but not all people will march in the same band. Some may become liabilities instead of bringing in profits. Disputes among team members also increase if there are more members on the team than necessary.
Don’t rush into hiring. Use freelancers to complete tasks until you are sure you need a full-time person to fill in the position.
8. Having high expectations too soon
It is important to help familiarize your candidate with the organization’s goals, the team’s responsibility and the office culture. Make him/her fell welcome, hold meetings to see his performance and encourage him learn.
It takes three to four months to fully integrate a new team member, so don’t rush the candidate or expect the candidate to produce results as soon as he/she takes up the position.
9. Judging based on resume
An employer makes a slight judgement about the candidates based on their resume and sometimes they turn out to be wrong.
Just because a candidate has been exceptional at the previous office doesn’t necessarily mean that he will be exceptional in this role too. And this goes the other way too.
Judge for yourselves by interacting with the candidate, testing him through exercise and getting to know him more.
10. The perfect candidate
There is no such thing as the perfect candidate. There is either a candidate who meets most of your requirements or sometimes more than that, and there is a candidate who doesn’t.
Hire someone who meets most of your key requirements. Keeping your team understaffed will unnecessarily increase workload and lead to discontent among existing team members.
Progile Tech’s PMO consulting services team have a track record of providing clients with solutions that improve projects and portfolio performance. with top PMO Consultants who have been in the industry for more than 20 years, your company is in good hands.