Lateral hiring, or recruiting experienced professionals from other organizations at the same level, has become a go-to strategy for companies looking to scale quickly or fill niche, high-impact roles. These hires often bring fresh expertise, a proven track record, and immediate contribution capabilities.
However, while lateral hiring presents immense potential, it is not without its challenges. Many hiring managers and recruiters fall into common mistakes that can lead to poor organizational fit, underperformance, or high turnover rates.
This guide sheds light on seven frequent mistakes in lateral hiring and offers actionable solutions to avoid them, ensuring your recruitment efforts yield long-term success.
Relying Only on Resumes
What’s wrong?
Resumes tell you where a candidate has been and what they’ve done but rarely give insight into their skills, adaptability, or cultural fit with your organization. Overemphasizing past roles or titles can lead to overlooking candidates with potential but unconventional career paths.
How to avoid it
- Skills-Based Assessments: Implement assessments that test real-world skills or problem-solving abilities. Website like Groyouth allow you to evaluate candidates’ capabilities beyond what’s on paper.
- Behavioral Interviews: Ask situational questions like, “Tell us about a time you navigated a significant challenge at work.” It reveals how candidates act in specific contexts.
- Hands-On Work Simulations: Invite candidates to complete tasks or participate in domain-relevant mock scenarios.
Ignoring Cultural Fit
What’s wrong?
While lateral hires may excel in their previous workplaces, their ability to align with your company’s values, dynamics, and pace could differ vastly. Ignoring cultural fit often leads to friction, low morale, or early attrition.
How to avoid it
- Conduct Culture Interviews or Peer Interviews: Allow the team with whom the hire will be working to meet them and assess their compatibility.
- Communicate Company Values Early: During the hiring process, ensure candidates understand your organization’s mission, communication norms, and ways of working. Sharing an employee handbook or team stories can help.
- Use Predictive Index Tools like CultureAmp or Gallup reports to evaluate how well a candidate aligns with your workplace culture.
Rushed Hiring to Fill Urgency Gaps
What’s wrong?
When fast-scaling teams face an urgent vacancy, rushing the process is easy. However, quick fixes often lead to long-term errors, such as hiring candidates who don’t align with your expectations or growth plans.
How to avoid it
- Adopt a Structured Hiring Process: Even under time pressure, maintain rigor in steps like interviews, assessments, and reference checks.
- Partner with Pre-Vetted Hiring Platforms: Platforms specializing in lateral hiring solutions (e.g., for tech, finance, or IT) provide pre-screened top-tier talent, reducing time to hire while maintaining quality.
- Maintain a Continuous Recruitment Pipeline to avoid panic hiring when critical positions open up.
Not Tailoring the Onboarding Process
What’s wrong?
Expecting lateral hires to “hit the ground running” often leads to stress, confusion, and inefficiency during their early days. Even seasoned professionals need context to thrive in a new workplace.
How to avoid it
- Customized High-Level Onboarding: Respect their experience, but ensure you introduce them to your systems, processes, and key collaborators early.
- Create a Buddy System where new hires are paired with an experienced team member who can guide them informally.
- Include Cultural Orientation in onboarding to familiarize employees with your company’s social dynamics.
Misaligned Expectations
What’s wrong?
Employer and employee misalignment about role responsibilities, performance expectations, or career growth paths can result in disengagement and dissatisfaction.
How to avoid it
- Transparent Conversations Upfront:
- Discuss role expectations, KPIs, and potential growth trajectories during the offer stage.
- Be clear about challenges along with opportunities.
- Create Growth Roadmaps tailored to the hire, so they understand how the role contributes to their long-term goals.
Overlooking Internal Talent
What’s wrong?
Organizations often turn to external resources even when capable internal candidates could rise to the challenge through upskilling or promotions. This practice can demotivate existing staff and increase recruitment costs unnecessarily.
How to avoid it
- Run an Internal Audit First to evaluate potential internal candidates for vacant positions.
- Establish Talent Development Programs that create a strong internal pipeline of employees ready to take on higher responsibilities with minimal oversight.
Weak Employer Branding
What’s wrong?
Qualified lateral talent carefully evaluates the companies they engage with. If your company appears outdated, opaque, or inconsistent with their values, you will struggle to attract experienced professionals.
How to avoid it
- Leverage Employee Testimonials on LinkedIn or Glassdoor. Positive reviews about work culture and professional growth foster brand trust.
- Showcase Career Development examples on social media platforms, spotlighting promotions, team achievements, and professional learning opportunities within your company.
- Regularly Update Social Proof and Website Content to present a polished, modern, and approachable brand image.
A Smarter Approach to Lateral Recruitment
Lateral hiring has the potential to level up your team by bringing in fresh perspectives and expertise. However, avoiding these common pitfalls requires a strategic and human-centric approach.
From refining job descriptions to integrating structured onboarding experiences, every step counts toward creating a positive and successful recruitment strategy.
Looking for expert guidance in building a smarter lateral hiring pipeline? Our Lateral Hiring Services can help you find mid-career or senior professionals who align with your organization’s goals and culture in record time. Contact us today to learn more!
