How to Hire the Right Employee - Part II:
Know Where to Look, What to Look For

In Part I we focused on the basics - writing an accurate job description, getting the word out and assessing your candidates for the position. This article focuses on promoting from within, as well as filling the role of job foreman.

If It Worked Once, Then...

Sometimes the best candidate for the job is a person who already had that job before. There may be a previous employee of yours - someone who may have left for another firm or may have been only a temporary or part-time employee - who would be the best suited to fill the need you currently have.

Keep a record of the people who leave your company (for whatever reason) but whom you would not mind having back at a future date. When openings arise at your firm, consider them as among the first to potentially fill that void. You may even consider some type of incentive to attract them back to your company. Are they worth an additional amount of money above and beyond some potential candidate you have yet to meet? If so, let them know. Contact them and find out what their salary requirements are before you advertise the position to new applicants. Remember, you get what you pay for, so if they are worth a little bit extra, don't be afraid to pay it.

How Do You Hire the Big Cheese?

Hiring a job foreman is not much different than hiring any other employee. You'll just be after some different requirements and asking some different questions, but the approach to the task will essentially be the same.

Among the leading candidates for such a job should be current (or, in some cases, past) employees who have demonstrated an aptitude for supervision. Depending upon your particular needs, the degree to which supervisory abilities carry more weight than on-the-job experience will vary but, ideally, the prime choice will have the proper balance of both.

So what makes a good foreman? In addition to leadership and experience, some of the qualities that a candidate will possess include responsibility, trustworthiness, consistency, follow-through, good judgment, and strong interpersonal communication skills. Plus, they should also demonstrate a drive to succeed. You want someone who sees their position beyond the parameters of a "9-to-5" (or, as a contractor, 6-to-6) job - when you are a foreman, that may mean working longer hours.

Also, if this is not the first time that you are hiring a foreman and you are instead looking for a replacement for that position, take a moment to reflect upon the person(s) who held that job before. Try to remember both the positive and negative attributes of these people and use that as a guide in determining the type of person you will want to seek out. What skills did your previous foreman possess? How were they at communication - with their crew as well as with you? What was it that made them successful (and what were their shortcomings)? Gaining an understanding of what worked, and what didn't, in the past will make the job of finding the right person that much easier.

If you plan to promote from within, even if you are already quite certain that you know who you would like to make your foreman, you may want to open your application process to all your employees who demonstrate an interest in the position. In doing so, you will be able to benefit from the fact that your employees will feel that you are being fair in allowing them all to apply as opposed to feeling slighted that you have overlooked them.

Easy. Hard. The Choice is Yours.

As stated at the very start of this two part article, finding the employee that is exactly right for the position you need filled can be one of the most harrowing, complicated tasks that you as an employer will ever undertake. But it doesn't have to be that way. It all depends upon how you approach the task.