If your business is growing, you’ve likely noticed that hiring new employees is a big challenge. The current economic climate could lead you to make some hiring decisions on the fly. Maybe you hear a person speak at your industry’s annual conference and believe that individual could add plenty to your bottom line. Or maybe a friend recommends an individual who has been a rain maker for another organization.

Your first instinct might be to rush out and hire the person before the competition makes them an offer. If that’s the way you’ve set up your company, you fall into the unstructured management category. According to a new report from MIT and University of Georgia researchers, unstructured management environments lead to chaos.

Initial Hiring

The researchers found that, not surprisingly, when a company operates with a structured management environment, they bring in ‘better’ people. These companies typically employ assessments and interview processes that remove managerial bias. Their assessment results allow them to ascertain which candidates will have a good fit with the existing culture. And the hiring tools also ensure that managers are hiring candidates who are qualified for the position. 

Employee Longevity

Employee turnover is expensive and disruptive to the bottom line. When managers rush to fill an open position with the first candidate they find, they often regret the decision later. On the other hand, when managers hire better candidates, especially in a structured environment, these employees are less likely to be fired. At the same time, employees who work in companies with ‘structured management practices’ stay with their employers longer. These patterns hold true over the ten-​year period covered in the researchers’ data set. Researchers believe system-​wide and proper training and support for managers all contribute to this success.

If you don’t have a good system in place to recruit and hire employees, now is the time to start. Have your senior hiring managers agree on a process and pony up for a good assessment system like TeamTrait™. Your company’s productivity will increase and you’ll stay ahead of the competition in the long run.