The 5 Best Hiring Quotes

When you are in the business of hiring people, quotes can be a good way to not lose sight of the big picture. Your company depends on people. Below are the 5 Best Hiring Quotes to help you hire the right people to grow your business.

5. “You need to have a collaborative hiring process.”

–  Said Steve Jobs in the Steve Jobs Book

Since people work collaboratively, why wouldn’t the hiring process be collaborative? Steve Jobs went on to explain the hiring practice at Apple, “When we hire someone, even if they are going to be in marketing, I will have them talk to the design folks and the engineers.” In a team, you will have to work with people with different skill sets. How well a team works together can be more indicative to company success than just the aggregation of employee skills.

4. “Never hire someone who knows less than you do about what he’s hired to do.”

– Said Malcolm Forbes, Former Publisher of Forbes

While a head of a department may not always agree with Forbes, new talented people can do things current employees can’t. This is especially useful to consider before, during, and after cross departmental interviews. When hiring new talent, companies must consider diversity of skill sets. Embrace diversity. Along these lines consider the advice of  Leo Lacocca, Chrysler’s former CEO,  “I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way.”

3. “Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?”

– Thomas John Watson Sr., first CEO at IBM and inspiration for name of Watson (computer)

This is the other side of the coin. Employees need training. Smart people are still just people. Employees make mistakes. Even well trained employees make mistakes. Employees are also investments, people! Don’t bail at the first sign of high water. Consider, what the employee can offer you tomorrow. Think of the bottom-line in terms of opportunity cost when weighing the option of replacing a current employee. Watson speaks of a mistake that is equal to the cost of employee training investment. At some point, the cost of a mistake could exceed the cost of hiring and training a new employee, and at which point, employee turnover becomes a more serious consideration.

2. “I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies.”

– Lawrence Bossidy, Former COO of GE and author

… people, People, PEOPLE! Time and time again, it is people first. At an expert Venture Capitalist panel, I heard VC Saad Khan say it, “I invest in people.” Persistance and determination are not executed by the plan; they are executed by the people. Be true to your value proposition. Recruiting is a social activity.

1. “Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for the love of it.”

– Henry David Thoreau, “Life without Principle“

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The account is dedicated to applying the great knowledge of the secular world into the day-to-day activities of Human Resources. You may enjoy other AcademiaHR articles, such as:  “Human Resource Quotes (Modified Famous Quotes)” and “Economics Quotes Modified for Human Resources.”

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