“Part Time Employee… Full Time Problem.”

We’ve heard that quote more than once from a frazzled retail manager. An employee may work only 15 hours a week but cost your business 40 or more hours of wasted time. Plus the underperforming employee can damage your company culture and customer relationships.

These six actions will enable you to hire great part-time employees. And they’ll keep your hair from getting grayer. Or falling out. Or both.

1.  Don’t trust your gut; establish a consistent interview process for candidates.

Renowned business management author Peter Drucker wrote, “An executive has to learn not to depend on insight and knowledge of people but on a mundane, boring, and conscientious step-by-step process. Don’t hire people based on your instincts. Have a process in place to research and test candidates thoroughly.”

Develop a detailed Employee Hiring Process that includes the job description, required targets/skills, preferred targets/skills, pre-employment testing requirements, and the interview process. Your interview process should include at a minimum:

• Phone Screen: Fundamental questions about the job to determine if a 1^st Meeting/Interview is appropriate.
• 1^st Meeting/Interview: Pre-employment testing, candidate completes background check form, and first interview.
• 2^nd Interview
• Job Offer (via phone)

2. Ask behavior-focused questions.

Behavior-focused interviewing centers on the belief that past behavior is the best predictor of future conduct. During your interviews, seek to uncover a pattern of recurring behaviors. Here’s how:

• Ask open-ended, past-tense questions like: What exactly did you say to him?
• Don’t use theoretical questions like: How do you typically handle tough customers? Instead, ask a behavior-focused question like: Can you give me an example of how you handled a tough customer?
• Don’t ask leading questions like: Did you do that to save time? Ask the behavior-focused version: Why did you do that?
• Don’t provide leading information like: We look for candidates who are passionate about [the products your business sells]. Candidates will ask you questions about the job. Be cordial, but don’t tip your hand by giving information that will coach them on how to answer your questions.
• Don’t ask close-ended questions like: Would you say you’re comfortable handling a customer complaint? Use the behavior-focused approach: How do you feel after handling a customer complaint?

The book Hire Like You Just Beat Cancer includes 258 Tremendous Interview Questions, and most of them are behavior-based.

3. Conduct multiple interviews.

You can’t just hang out with a candidate for a half-hour and get the information you need. At its core, the pre-employment process involves getting important information on the table, sorting through it, and making a decision. Some hiring managers think they need to gather a bucketful of information before hiring a candidate. Others think it’s more like two buckets. They’re all selling themselves short. In actuality, you need a wheelbarrow overflowing with data to draw a clear picture of any candidate. The more information you can uncover and the more skillfully you analyze it, the better your hiring decision will be.

4. Don’t hire based solely on the candidate’s experience.

Determine if the candidate is a good match for your company in four areas: skills, personality, character, and mapping. Candidates need to prove during the interview process that they meet your standard in all four areas or could quickly attain acceptable levels of performance.

Most hiring managers understand skills and personality. Let’s talk about character first, then mapping.

Don’t think of character as honesty alone. Honesty is an important character trait, but there’s more to good character than being forthright. All 18 Character Traits are listed in my book; here are the key five traits for part-time employees:

• Prudence: Doesn’t make reckless choices. Lacks prejudice. Keeps things in perspective.
• Justice: Doesn’t advantage self, family, or friends at the expense of others.
• Fortitude: Demonstrates moral courage. Does the hard thing. Encounters adversity or bears pain with a pleasant disposition.
• Temperance: Exhibits self-discipline, emotional control, and thrift. Confronts personal failings; doesn’t excuse them.
• Work Ethic: Channels action toward a defined purpose. Demonstrates initiative, determination to succeed, and quality workmanship.

If a candidate is skilled but lacking in these traits, they won’t succeed. Think about your worst employees of the past – they could have had fine skills but were lacking in character.

Mapping answers the questions, “Does the candidate have the psychological makeup to be inclined to perform the activities of your job consistently, independently, and above your company standard? Or do you have to relentlessly push the candidate to perform the activity?”

Don’t hire an introvert if the job requires frequent interaction with customers. Don’t hire a creative free-spirit to keep your stockroom organized. Don’t hire as your store manager someone who winces at the thought of a difficult conversation.

5. Reference checks and background checks should be conducted on all candidates prior to a job offer.

Hiring managers need to be skeptical. They must seek all the facts. Hold out for specific facts from sources other than the candidate.

6. Don’t be a cheapskate. Pay higher than the market.

Don’t predetermine how much your company is willing to pay a candidate to fill your open position. Pay whatever it takes to hire the candidate who will achieve your company goals. Predetermining a salary cap can cause your company to miss out on hiring a great employee. You have to be able to cover the expense, of course. But don’t cheap out if the person will provide strength to your organization and achieve your goals.

Happy hiring!

Written and contributed by Jim Roddy, the President of Jameson Publishing and author of the book Hire Like You Just Beat Cancer, which features hiring lessons, interview best practices, and recruiting strategies for managers through the perspective of a cancer-surviving executive. For more information on the book, go to www.HireLikeYouJustBeatCancer.com.