'60% senior hires go wrong...', Anupam Mittal shares PEARL wisdom on hiring

Anupam Mittal, Founder & CEO of People Group and Shaadi.com, shared tips on how to reduce hiring mistakes and improve the odds. The Shark Tank judge also shared a formula finetuned from his learning and experiences to help in the hiring process.  

"Most people get Reference Checks wrong! Throughout my journey, I've had to make 1000s of hires and often struggled with evaluation through the standard interviewing processes," he wrote in a post on LinkedIn.

The Shark Tank judge in his post wrote "60 percent of senior hires go wrong even after the most meticulous processes so I wondered how to improve the odds."

"What I discovered is that there's no substitute for spending time with the candidates and conducting ‘unnamed’ ref checks through your network. But what I also learnt is that not every reference check is the same and you can end up with very different outcomes depending on how it’s done," read his post. 

The investor shared the 'PEARL' formula that he gained through his learnings and experience for best practices to follow during hiring. Here it goes:

P - Promise Reciprocity

Busy professionals don't dole out intel freely. So, you must offer to return the favour – something as simple as “If ever you need my help for a ref check or otherwise, I'd be happy to help". A senior leader will immediately see its value & perhaps become more ‘available’ on the call.

E - Ensure Confidentiality

This is critical, especially in India. Candour is not part of our culture, so assure the referrer that you understand the sensitivity of this call and will keep it 100% confidential. Also that you'd expect the same if they ever choose to call you for a reference. If you still sense some hesitancy, maybe throw an ‘offer’ of a good-faith NDA. Don’t worry, nobody ever takes it up but it makes them less guarded. 

A - Ask questions that force specificity (close-ended & open-ended)

Broad questions like – "How was their work ethic?" “Does she work hard?” - are a complete waste of time. You need to ask 2nd order questions that make it comfortable for the referrer to answer without feeling like they're maligning the candidate. For eg - “How do you think we can help the candidate grow?" is better than "Can you tell me about their weaknesses?”

R - Retrieve critical insights

Actively listen and probe for specifics. Did the candidate consistently meet deadlines? Why or why not? How did they handle pressure? Did they run towards solving problems or look for directions to carry out? These details paint a picture beyond the resume.

L - Learn rehire potential

And finally, the golden question – "Are you willing to re-hire or work with the candidate again? Why or why not?" Regardless of what the referrer may have said up to this point, most senior folks will have a hard-time giving you a false or misleading response to this one. This is the true gauge of the candidate’s potential and one I put a lot of weight in.

To conclude, thank the referrer for their time, assure confidentiality again and commit to a quid pro quo. This leaves the door open for other ref checks you might wish to do in the future.

The post garnered attention from his followers who agreed to his pitching idea. One of the users also suggested adding a bonus S for 'storytelling -Hearing specific anecdotes about the candidate's impact paints a vivid picture' to the points, and Anupam replied Very interesting.