Making the hiring decision and the employment offer

Learn about the data-based decision-making process.

Hiring decisions are often made based on gut feelings or general likeability. “I knew when they walked in” or “we just clicked during the interviews” is not a smart way to make hiring decisions.

Unfortunately, hiring decisions are too often biased. Thanks to that, around 50% of hiring managers say a year later that they wouldn't hire the same candidate again. The video below illustrates how such hiring decisions are made.

The Full course “Hiring for Executives” is produced in collaboration with Estonian Business School and is available on the Coursera platform. You can register here.

Decision-Making Discussion: Part I

What did you think about this video? It might be hard to believe that this can happen in real life, but it happens much more often than we think.

In the video, stakeholders discussed who should be chosen for the role. One person believes Miriam is the best candidate due to her energy and passion, but another thinks she needs to be more mature for the job. Daniela is dismissed because the CEO finds her unsettling, and Hendrick is considered but ultimately rejected because he lacks passion.

Those statements aren't based on crucial information for this role but on bias and irrelevant assumptions. Tõnis Arro shares his thoughts in the video below.

Many companies have a hiring process where the decision is made based on executives discussing their gut feelings about candidates. The strongest person's opinion dominates, and candidates are rejected for ridiculous reasons. There are better ways to make hiring decisions than this.

What is, then, the best way to make a hiring decision? We recommend using a scorecard.

Scorecards in hiring are a set of criteria and corresponding scores that each evaluator uses to evaluate each candidate. The evaluators assess each criterion individually, and the scores are then aggregated to determine an overall score for each candidate. Adopting scorecards ensures that all candidates are evaluated using the same criteria, creating an equal opportunity for each applicant.

This framework provides a straightforward and systematic approach for evaluators, allowing them to remain focused on essential aspects of the hiring process. Furthermore, evaluating candidates using the same criteria enables direct comparisons between them, leading to more informed hiring decisions.

In the following video, we see how a scorecard can be used.

Decision Making Discussion: Part II

In this video, the stakeholders have evaluated candidates on the Wisnio platform, and it is now time to analyze the results and decide on a candidate to choose. CEO suggests they choose Miriam because of her energy, enthusiasm, and motivation. However, other managers disagree, saying that Hendrick's experience and maturity are better than Miriam's. The group then decides to look at the data before making a decision. Based on the scorecard, the data shows that Hendrick is the best fit for the role.

All the stakeholders have their opinions, but who should make the hiring decision?

"Despite many people being involved in the process, the ultimate decision should be made solo. Only the CEO has comprehensive knowledge of the criteria, the rationale for the criteria, all of the feedback from interviewers and references, and the relative importance of the various stakeholders. Consensus decisions about executives almost always sway the process away from strength and toward lack of weakness. It’s a lonely job, but somebody has to do it."

Horowitz, Ben. The Hard Thing About Hard Things (p. 129). Harper Business. Kindle Edition

Who would you choose if you were the CEO, Hendrick or Mirjam? Watch the following video to know what did he decide and why.

The CEO decided to select Hendrick for a job position. He believes that Hendrick has the necessary competencies to compensate for his weaknesses and that they share similar values. Choosing someone who can get the work done and is not afraid to argue or provide honest feedback is important. Looking at things piece by piece in the decision-making process helped clarify his decision.

Self-check quiz

Take the self-check quiz below to see what you learned from this article.

Self-check quiz

Have you heard the saying “Hire fast, fire fast”? Is this the best way to approach hiring decisions?

1. Yes, you should go by "Hire fast, fire fast"!
2. No, this is not the way.