From the Officer’s Desk: Hiring the Right Fit

We have all been part of teams. Teams go beyond sports; family, coworkers, and classmates are team members in your day-to-day activities. But what does it take to build a winning team in your organization? It all starts with the hiring process. 

There is no doubt that as an EMS officer you will have to hire team members, or at least be part of the process that does. The hiring process is extremely important, and a lot of time and money can be spent identifying the right person for the job. A CareerBuilder survey of 2,257 full-time hiring managers and HR professionals and 3,697 full-time workers from different business sectors found 74% of employees hired were the wrong fit for their position. In addition, the survey also determined the cost of bad hires (average $15,000) and the loss of good hires (average $30,000) to employers.

Those numbers incentivize getting it right the first time. So as an EMS officer, what can you do to be better prepared when selecting applicants to fill positions within your organization?

Posting a Position 

One of the most important things you will do as an EMS officer is ensure your employees understand what is expected of them at work. You must therefore ensure that all positions assigned as direct reports have clearly defined job descriptions. A job description is not a set-in-stone list of duties that will be performed by the employee, but rather a foundation for what is expected. The content varies among organizations. Always check with your HR department for guidance.

Although the human resources team will provide excellent information on organizational requirements, specific job functions and skill requirements may be included within the job description.

Evaluating Applications 

A job advertisement will be posted for a set period—typically 1–2 weeks. It may be posted either for internal candidates (organizational members) only or for internal and external candidates. Once the application period closes, the hiring officer or team will need to evaluate the potential candidates. If numerous applicants responded, a prioritization plan is required.

The first thing to do is determine which candidates are qualified for the position. Just because someone applies for a job doesn’t mean they’re qualified for it. Second, you may want to consider dividing this group into two sets: one of applicants who meet the job qualifications and a second who exceed them. Evaluating candidates’ applications, references, and resumes will not only provide insight into their professional histories but will better prepare you for interviewing the candidates and asking pertinent questions.

If there is enough time to interview all applicants, make every attempt to do so. This will eliminate any question of preferential hiring and show you were fair and diligent with your assessments. If there is limited time and the position must be filled immediately, you may need to narrow the applicant pool by selecting only a few of the most qualified candidates to interview. Make sure that you document why you chose those individuals.

There will be times where you have to hire someone quickly. However, taking your time when deciding whom to hire will be worthwhile in the long run. 

Interviewing Candidates 

Before interviewing candidates, check with human resources to see whether you should use a predetermined template for scoring candidates after interviews. Many organizations have interviewers score candidates based on how they answer questions and how prepared they are. Each question may have a numerical value, or perhaps a checkmark under a plus or minus column, with these marks later being tallied to achieve a final score. This produces a ranking of interviewees.

When conducting interviews make every attempt to have at least two interviewers besides yourself present. This will allow one interviewer to ask questions while the others take notes. This will be beneficial if you need to refer back to answers provided during the interview. 

Choosing the Best Candidate 

When hiring a new employee, it makes sense to hire the candidate with the most talent; however, also consider the applicant’s attitude and character. You may hire an extremely talented individual, but if they have a poor attitude or can’t get along with other team members, it will create challenges.

To help with this decision, consider the following: 

• Does the candidate have the skills to add value to the organization’s processes and systems? A candidate can be extremely skilled, but those skills may not align with the organization’s needs. 
• Does the candidate have the potential—and is he or she motivated—to grow within the organization? Ask the candidate to provide some examples of how their contributions in previous positions made significant impacts to their organization. 
• Does the candidate have the right attitude and character to fit with the organization’s culture? What stresses the candidate, and how do they handle these pressures? Be sure to ask for real-life examples of when the candidate had to deal with a stressful work situation.
• Have the candidate describe a situation from their previous employment where a mistake was made and what they did to correct it.
• Do they have, at a minimum, the skills required to get the job done? You don’t want to set them up for failure. Hiring someone who can’t perform the minimum expected duties of the job will most likely end poorly.

Make it a point during interviews to ask specific questions that focus not only on the expected work assignments but also on whether the new hire will be a good fit within the working culture. It will be more expensive and time-consuming in the long run to hire the wrong person. Go beyond the resumes, job descriptions, and interviews. Get to know the candidates and make a serious commitment to hiring the right person from the start, even if takes a bit longer. 

Conclusion

Hiring the right person by having a hiring plan in place will be one of the most important things you will do for your organization. Be thorough with the process and take your time, as a quick hire may lead to a bad hire who adds no value to the organization’s service delivery or whose poor attitude may negatively impact other team members and create challenges for leaders.

Orlando J. Dominguez, Jr., MBA, RPM, is assistant chief of EMS for Brevard County Fire Rescue in Rockledge, Fla. He has more than 30 years of EMS experience and has served as a firefighter-paramedic, flight paramedic, field training officer, EMS educator, and division chief. He hosts the EMS Officer Exchange podcast; has authored two books, including EMS Supervisor: Principles and Practice; and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. Follow him at @ems_officer.