Hiring is one of the most important things an organization does. Every new hire affects the team, culture, and company direction. It pays to invest time, resources, and research into the hiring process. Making the wrong hire can be far more costly than taking the time to make the right one.

Companies continue to spend substantially more on training than on hiring. ASTD’s 2012 State of the Industry Report found that American companies spent $156,200,000,000 on learning programs in 2011. The average employee received thirty-one hours of training over the year, which works out to more than thirty minutes each week. Why not front-load the investment and spend the majority of time and money on attracting, assessing, and cultivating new hires? If you are better able to select the right people up front, then you can spend less time on training bad hires and dealing with the consequences.

Every step in the hiring process - from resume review to interview training - is an opportunity to improve the final decision. Processes such as structured interviews and hiring committees can help ensure hires will be great for the long-term.