by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting
A checklist saves lives no matter what industry you’re in.
This is the point Atul Gawande, author of The Checklist Manifesto, frequently makes in his speeches and writings.
So, why do really smart and competent people neglect to use checklists?
It’s because experience and repetition lull us into complacency. Take recruiting as an example.
Many of us have been working in and around the recruiting process for many years. While that experience is valuable and necessary to perform at a high level, it can also be the very thing that trips us up.
When we start to see circumstances that repeat themselves, it’s human nature to get bored and start to skip steps. Before long results start to diminish and the cause is not obvious.
We concentrate on what we perceive to be the most significant issues (the condition of the market, the quality of the candidates, our company’s offerings compared to competitors, etc.) and assume we have the basics down.
A checklist is the safety net that keeps you from becoming a victim of your own success and experience.
If you’re not using a checklist for your onboarding process, you’re missing an opportunity to optimize an important part of the recruiting process.
A checklist may not save your new hire’s life, but it could save their career.
