Hiring for the long haul

Smart hiring managers use a variety of methods to find employees who will stick around. Tom Gimbel, founder of LaSalle Network, a nationally recognized staffing firm based in Chicago, shares these strategies at Fastcompany.com:

1.  Always be interviewing. The right time to be interviewing is before you are in need of a new employee, Gimbel says.

2.  Hire slow, fire fast. “Don’t be afraid to part ways with the bad hires … they quickly impact productivity, morale and culture,” he says.

3.   The airplane test. You should be able to sit next to job candidates for four hours and actually enjoy your time with them, Gimbel says. “I look for two other things during the interview process. First, that they are a genuinely nice person, and second, that they have a strong work ethic … everything else can be taught.”

4.   Consider soft skills. Someone may have been in a totally different career, like engineering or computer science, but the analytical skills they have might be beneficial to the job, he says.

5.   Ask “unconventional” interview questions. Candidates who are willing to answer these types of questions demonstrate flexibility, openness and the ability to think on their feet—all necessary skills in today’s workplace, Gimbel says.

6.   Capitalize on interruptions. “When I’m interviewing a candidate, I’ll have someone interrupt the interview to ask me a question. I’ll then introduce the candidate to that person and take note of that interaction,” he says. “Does the candidate stand up, shake their hand and introduce themselves, or are they frustrated and unprofessional?”