The 55 Principles of Hiring Accuracy

Research-based strategies, principles, and tips for hiring right.

55 evidence-based principles to help you hire more accurately — from setting up your process and removing bias, to measuring the right things, retaining the right people, and building a culture that performs.

The Principles

Tap any principle to read the full breakdown.

• Principle #1 People Create All Value
• Principle #2 Every Person is Different
• Principle #3 Every Job is Different
• Principle #4 To Hire is to Predict
• Principle #5 Focus on the Hiring Trifecta
• Principle #6 Before you Hire, Aim
• Principle #7 To Hire Right, Be Transparent
• Principle #8 Know Your Hiring Recipe
• Principle #9 Screen for Attributes, Not Resumes
• Principle #10 Hiring Accuracy Must Be Tracked
• Principle #11 Where There's People, There's Variability
• Principle #12 Where There's Variability, There's Opportunity
• Principle #13 Treat Every Hire Like An Experiment
• Principle #14 Human Bias Prevents Hiring Accuracy
• Principle #15 The Best Way to Remove Bias is With Structure
• Principle #16 Don't Flip a Coin — Structure Your Interviews
• Principle #17 Measure Critical Skills With Work Samples
• Principle #18 Measure 'Hard to Measure' Traits in Multiple Ways
• Principle #19 Use References ('Backdoor' Where Possible)
• Principle #20 Know Where References Help And Don't Help
• Principle #21 Hiring Right Is Knowing What To Measure And How
• Principle #22 Experience & Education Don't Predict Job Success
• Principle #23 To Know What To Measure, Know Where To Look
• Principle #24 To Hire Right, Use The Entire Toolkit
• Principle #25 With Hiring, You Choose Your Hard
• Principle #26 An Ounce Of Prevention Is Worth A Pound Of Cure
• Principle #27 A Bad Hiring Process is Worse Than a Bad Hire
• Principle #28 Don't Take A Hands-Off Approach To Culture
• Principle #29 Define Your Culture Or Someone Else Will
• Principle #30 Don't Try To Be Everything To Everyone
• Principle #31 To Hire for Culture Fit, You Must Define It
• Principle #32 Culture Matters More Than You Think
• Principle #33 People Are Amazing, People Are Horrible
• Principle #34 Hiring Accuracy Matters More Than Efficiency
• Principle #35 Love Turnover? Make Sure You Do This.
• Principle #36 Your Turnover Costs More Than You Think
• Principle #37 Got Turnover? Don't Keep Pouring. Fix The Leak!
• Principle #38 Turnover Is About Job Fit
• Principle #39 To Diagnose Your Turnover, Identify When It Occurs
• Principle #40 Short Term Turnover Is A Hiring Problem
• Principle #41 Ego Is The Enemy Of Hiring Right
• Principle #42 View HR As A Cost Center? You're Doing It Wrong
• Principle #43 Your Comp Strategy Requires Hiring Accuracy
• Principle #44 A Great Hire Creates 2-5X More Value (At Min.)
• Principle #45 Structure In Hiring Leads To Repeatable Results
• Principle #46 Structure In Hiring Leads To Fairness
• Principle #47 Structure In Hiring Leads To Learning
• Principle #48 Structure In Hiring Leads To Your Not Getting Sued
• Principle #49 Structure In Hiring Leads To Accountability
• Principle #50 Not All Attributes Matter Equally For Job Success
• Principle #51 Learn To Recognize The Symptoms Of Poor Hiring
• Principle #52 Your Training Is Only As Good As Your Hiring
• Principle #53 No, You Can't Train Anyone To Be Anything
• Principle #54 Past Performance Predicts The Future, Sometimes
• Principle #55 Ask Applicants To Do, Not Just 'What They've Done'

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