Across every industry, managers and HR pros are besieged on all sides with advice about improving retention, increasing motivation, maximizing productivity, and efficient workforce deployment. But the most experienced leaders and personnel managers recognize one simple truth that underlies all these guidelines: Hire the right people in the first place. If your selection, sourcing, and screening strategies are strong, the most common retention and productivity problems tend to fall away on their own. So before you bring a new employee on board, keep these core considerations in mind.

1. Talk to your financial pro or budget manager about the actual nature of the job. Don’t just accept the payroll budget you’re given. Some of the most common and damaging disconnects between employees and managers begin with a disconnect between payroll budget for the job and the actual value of the job in question. If your budget manager understands the difficulty and contributions of this work, the pay rate for the position will be more realistic and sustainable.

2. Visualize your ideal candidate. What kind of education does she have? What are his personal interests? Where would she like to take her career in five years? Picture the candidate in as much detail as possible before you start your search. And don’t just rely on your own opinion—solicit input from the coworkers, teammates, customers, and clients who will work with this person on a daily basis.

3. Source candidates strategically. Don’t just cast a wide net and publish a generic call for applications on a global website. Before you do this, reach out to local industry organizations, college placement offices, and other carefully targeted sites where you’re ideal candidate may be searching for work.

4. Know the signs of your ideal candidate when you see them. What background details, personality traits and other signs and signals will alert you when your candidate is sitting across from you the interview table?

5. Treat every candidate with courtesy and respect throughout the entire process. This means no more than three rounds of interviews, no baiting or demeaning questions, and no ignored requests for updates during the selection process. Be respectful to every candidate, and your ideal choice will stay in the running until the final stage. Treat candidates poorly, and your best prospects will disappear before the second round.

6. Ask the right questions. Your interview script should be edited constantly, and the questions should be targeted and meaningful. Once you sense that you’ve found your match, act fast and close the deal. Don’t let waffling and red tape hold up the final steps of the process.

For more information on how to attract a highly talented applicant pool in the first place, and then whittle that pool down until only the best of the best remain, reach out to the Texas staffing pros at Expert.