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Employment Guide: Hiring and Retaining Top Performing Employees

The objective of the first interview is to apply the criteria developed in the job description to the candidate, quickly, and then select the one who best matches the job description. This method enables you to move on to the next phase of the selection process. However, keep in mind that employment laws restrict the scope and purpose of interview questions. Because much of the information you studiously avoided asking about on the application, becomes apparent when you meet someone face-to-face (race, age, physical disability, national origin, etc.), you must take extra care in this phase of the process. This section will attempt to guide you in the interview process so that you may legally obtain the appropriate information needed to make a hiring decision.

Most hiring decisions are made in the first four minutes of an interview. Don’t make this common mistake! Keep an open mind. Find out information about the applicant. Remember, you are looking for someone to fill a job with specific tasks. You are making a long term decision.

Employment interviews are an indispensable part of the hiring process, and when done properly, can be an excellent tool for screening applicants. The more methodical and systematic the interview process, the more likely it is to produce the kind of information needed to make good judgments about individuals’ chances for success. This approach also helps you to withstand a discrimination charge.

All interviewers should be taught proper interviewing techniques and know what and what not to ask. Planning and preparation are the keys to effective interviewing. To guard against discriminatory hiring decisions and discrimination claims, the kinds of questions asked should be prepared carefully before the interviews are conducted. Stick to pre-planned questions throughout the interview. From a purely legal perspective, the best interviews are those where the interviewer asks every interviewee the same questions. Remember it is not always the question itself, but the way you ask it that is a violation of law.

The interviewer should make notes of responses and evaluations and later document the interview like any other major employment event.

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Table of Contents

Part One: Identifying and Hiring Top-Performing Employees

Section I - The First Interview

Interview Outline

Employment Interviewing Do’s and Don’ts

Interview Evaluation Form

Checklist for Review of Interview

Section II – Pre-Employment Assessments

Section III – The Second Interview

Summary Evaluation Scale

Section IV – Background Checks

Checklist for Review of Background Investigation

Section V – Making a Conditional Job Offer

Offer Letter

Conditional Job Offer Medical Form

Education Verification Form

Employee Processing Form

Section VI – The Medical Examination

Part Two - Motivating and Retaining Top-Performing Employees

Section I – Employee Orientation

Employee Orientation Checklist

Section II – Performance Evaluation

Performance Evaluation Worksheet

Section III – Using Occupational Assessments

Section IV – Terminating an Employee

Discipline/Termination Checklist

Warning Notice

This guide contains information you can use to select and keep great employees. It is presented for informational purposes only. None of the information contained herein is intended to constitute, nor does it constitute, legal advice but merely conveys general information related to legal issues commonly encountered. The material contained herein is general in nature and may not apply to particular factual or legal circumstances. We do not undertake to update any material to reflect subsequent legal or other developments.