Twenty percent of employers reported that they plan to increase the number of their employees in 2010, according to a survey conducted by CareerBuilder. If you are among that 20 percent, there are a variety of steps you can take to help ensure that the people you hire are the right people for the job:

Develop a list of the key responsibilities of the job and the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to be successful. This list will help you create a job description that can be helpful in a number of ways. Among other things, a well-written job description:
• Tells candidates about the requirements and responsibilities of the job;
• Guides those who are making hiring decisions by highlighting the knowledge, skills, and abilities you seek in your new employee;
• Helps protect you legally should you need to defend your hiring decisions.

Update your employment application to ensure that it does not contain any inappropriate questions. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibits any inquiries, whether verbal or in writing, about an applicant’s or employee’s race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, age (except if the applicant is under the age of 18), and sexual orientation. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing distributes a fact sheet on employment inquiries that outlines acceptable and unacceptable questions that can be found on their website at www.dfeh.ca.gov.

Have every applicant complete an employment application before the interview. Employment applications are legal documents, signed by the applicant, verifying that the information provided by the applicant is true. That does not mean that people don’t lie or embellish on applications. Indeed, in a survey conducted by careerbuilder.com, eight percent of the 8,700 employees surveyed admitted to lying on a job application. Marketwatch.com reported that 33 percent of applications contain intentional error and 75 percent contain misleading information. What do applicants lie about? According to a PrideStaff report, 44 percent of applicants lie about their work history, 41 percent lie about their education, and 23 percent lie about their licenses/credentials. While a signed application does not guarantee that applicants are telling the truth, employees who are discovered lying on their applications can be easily and lawfully terminated. Additionally, applications usually ask for specific dates of employment, reasons for leaving previous places of employment, names of former supervisors, and other important questions that are usually not addressed when applicants submit only resumes.
 
Create a list of open-ended questions that ask for specific examples of past job behavior.  For example, instead of asking “do you know how to handle difficult customers?” ask “tell me about a difficult customer you had and how you handled the situation.” Ask all applicants for a specific job the same questions, write a short summary of their answers on the list of interview questions, and attach the list to their employment application. Keep applications and interview notes on applicants you do not hire for three years in case you need to defend your hiring practices.
Conduct a background check of applicants you intend to extend an offer of employment. Although there are no laws requiring employers to conduct background checks, according to the California Chamber of Commerce, “courts have held employers liable for negligent hiring for certain acts of their employees, which the employer should have known might occur.” Background checks can be as simple as contacting previous employers in order to verify employment to more thorough checks such as criminal history, credit history, and a variety of other inquiries. We strongly recommend that employers use the services of a professional agency to check the backgrounds of job applicants. Employers may check public records for tax liens, judgments, convictions, and indictments; however, certain disclosures must be made to applicants with respect to these searches. A reputable outside agency will ensure that you, as the employer, comply with all the authorization, notification, and disclosure requirements of state and federal law. What about Googling an applicant’s name or checking their Facebook page? According to local employment attorney Katy Raytis, public internet searches of applicants are generally viewed as lawful; however, unauthorized use of private sites is not. Additionally, she cautions employers that, “just because you can find it (on the internet) doesn’t mean you can use it!”

Experts say that hiring the wrong candidate can cost up to three times the employee’s salary. Therefore, the “hire them and fire them if they don’t work out” strategy is expensive. Following a carefully planned hiring strategy can help you put that money to good use by hiring the right people the first time. As Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, emphasized, “People are not your most important asset. The right people are.”