A bad hire isn’t just frustrating—it can be costly to your business, from lost payroll to wasted training and time to mistakes and dissatisfied customers. But despite what you might think, combatting bad hires doesn’t start when you’re face to face with a potential recruit. It begins with upfront planning, a process that I call, “Getting Clear.”

Clarity is the effort you put in before you even post a job ad or start interviewing. By determining, ahead of time, why you need this role and what its responsibilities will be, what results you expect from the new hire in this role, and what activity levels they will need to maintain to get those results, you can create a stronger job description that sets expectations and objectives clearly upfront. This will guide not only those applying for the position, but the way in which you recruit, interview, and, ultimately, make your final decision.

This investment of time up front has a huge ROI. For every hour you invest up front, you will save yourself at least 10 hours of tail-chasing down the road.

Clarity ensures you’re able to:

• Articulate a business need for the position
• Set and communicate clear performance expectations for the new hire
• Set performance expectations that you both agree to—before spending a dollar on payroll
• Focus on what you need, not what could be
• Understand the return on investment and value of the position

Once you are clear about what you need to hire, you will be able to:

• Create a great job description (and ultimately a great job ad to attract your ideal hire)
• More easily weed out people who aren’t a good fit
• Eliminate wasted money by not having to train an employee who won’t last
• Know what’s needed to ensure return on investment in the position
• Build the framework to guide your recruiting strategy and interview process