Why Your Hiring Process Is Broken (And How to Fix It)

Business, People Managment

February 19 2026

You know what every business owner says when you bring up hiring?

"Ugh. Staff."

Constant turnover. Nobody cares like you do. They don't show up. They don't follow through. They quit after three months.

And the worst part? You dread doing it all over again.

Here's the truth: your hiring process is broken. Not because good people don't exist — they do. But because you're running a system designed to fail, and you don't even know it.

Here's what most business owners do:

• Post a job ad — what we call a "tombstone ad." Boring, lifeless, just a list of requirements

• Get a pile of resumes, half of them written or polished by AI

• Book a bunch of interviews — half the people don't show up

• Pick someone, usually the first or last person they talked to

• Hope they don't quit

And when they do quit? Start all over again.

This process wastes time, drains energy, and consistently produces bad hires. Why? Because it's built on hope, not strategy.

You're hoping the right person applies. Hoping they show up. Hoping they're as good as their resume says. Hoping they stick around.

That's not a hiring process. That's a lottery ticket.

Let's be honest about what's really happening.

You're hiring out of desperation. Someone just quit. You're swamped. You need a body in that role yesterday. So you cut corners.

Maybe you hire your friend's cousin because they seem like a good person. Maybe you hire the candidate with 30 years of experience — without realizing they've been doing the same job wrong for 30 years. Or maybe you just hire the first person who can start tomorrow.

Six months later, you're right back where you started.

Here's why this keeps happening:

1. You're hiring for skills instead of character. Skills can be taught. Character can't. If someone doesn't take pride in their work, doesn't care about your customers, and has no passion for what they do — experience doesn't matter. They'll be a problem.

2. Your job ad attracts the wrong people. Most job ads are lifeless lists. Five-plus years experience, proficient in X, Y, and Z, competitive salary, apply now. That's not an ad. That's a tombstone. It tells candidates nothing about your culture, your mission, or why they'd actually want to work for you.

3. You're not filtering — you're guessing. Most business owners read resumes, do a couple of interviews, and make a gut call. But resumes lie. Interviews are performances. And your gut is wrong more often than you think. You need a system that filters people out — not one that hopes the right person makes it through.

Bad hires don't just waste time. They cost real money.

• Time spent training someone who quits in three months

• Mistakes that have to be fixed — sometimes twice

• Good staff getting frustrated and leaving

• Customers getting bad service and going elsewhere

• Wages creeping up as a percentage of revenue because of constant inefficiency

Most business owners don't realize how much this is actually costing them.

We work with clients who were spending 40–50% of their revenue on wages because of constant turnover, bad hires, and inefficiency. After fixing their hiring process, that number dropped to 25–30% — while paying staff more and adding bonus programs.

That's the difference between struggling and thriving.

Here's what we teach every client inside the Forzani Freedom Formula™ — and it's the opposite of what most business owners do.

Step 1: Write an ad that attracts the right people. Not a tombstone. An advertisement. You wouldn't market your business by listing features — you'd talk about the problem you solve and why people should care. Do the same with your job ad. Talk about your culture, your mission, what makes working for you different. Make the right people want to apply — not just need a job.

Step 2: Cast a wide net. Post that ad everywhere. Indeed. Facebook. LinkedIn. Industry groups. Wherever your ideal candidates spend time. You want volume — because you're going to filter fast.

Step 3: Filter immediately with questions. Don't just read resumes. Send every applicant a set of specific questions they must answer before you'll consider them. Ask about real challenges. Ask how they'd handle actual situations your business faces. If they won't answer your questions, they won't do the work. This step alone cuts your applicant pool in half — and that's exactly the point.

Step 4: Quick phone screen. Five to fifteen minutes max. Not an interview — just a quick call to clarify their answers and get a feel for who they are. Don't let it turn into a 45-minute conversation. You're deciding if they move to the next step. Nothing more.

Step 5: Group interview. Most business owners push back on this one. Hear us out.

You only explain your business once instead of ten times. You see how people behave in a group — who's collaborative, who dominates, who shuts down under pressure. And you get answers you'd never get one-on-one.

We had a client who was ready to hire someone based on their resume alone. Perfect on paper. Then we ran the group interview. That person interrupted everyone, dominated every conversation, and tried to control every activity. They would have been a nightmare.

The person who actually got hired wasn't even on the shortlist based on their resume. They crushed the group interview — and ended up being a five-year employee.

Step 6: One-on-one interview. Now you're down to two or three finalists. Dig deeper. Ask follow-up questions. Get to know them as people. Make sure they're the right cultural fit for your team.

Step 7: The working interview. This is the step most people skip — and it's the most important one.

Bring them in for a paid half-day or full-day trial. If you're hiring a welder, have them weld. If you're hiring a mechanic, have them diagnose a problem. If you're hiring a buyer for a retail store, walk a mall with them and watch how they think.

This is where you find out if they can actually do the job. And just as importantly — it's where they find out if they actually want it.

Most business owners hear this and think: that's a lot of steps. I don't have time for that.

Here's the reality. The traditional hiring process takes 20 to 40 hours — reading resumes, booking interviews, doing interviews, following up, making a decision, and starting over when it doesn't work out.

This process takes 4 to 6 hours total. And it has a 90% success rate of finding the right person on the first try.

Which one actually saves you time?

Think of your business like a pro sports team.

Pro teams are constantly trying to improve. Always looking for better players. Always running tryouts. Always replacing underperformers with people who want to be there.

Why would your business be any different?

We had a client who fought us on the group interview. Thought it was a waste of time. We convinced them to run it once.

Thirteen people showed up. They only needed to hire one.

At the end of the session they said: "We want to move seven of these people to the next round."

We said: "But you only need one person."

They said: "We know. But these seven are better than six of our current staff. So we're hiring all seven and replacing the underperformers."

That's what happens when you run a real hiring process.

1. The traditional hiring process is broken — it wastes time and produces bad hires

2. Most business owners hire out of desperation instead of strategy

3. Bad hires cost you way more than you realize (time, money, efficiency, culture)

4. A real hiring process filters people out — it doesn't hope the right person makes it through

5. Group interviews reveal things you'd never see in a one-on-one

6. Always do a working interview (the tryout) before making a final decision

7. Think of your business like a pro sports team — constantly improving your roster

1. Why doesn't the traditional hiring process work anymore?

   Because AI has made resumes meaningless. Anyone can generate a perfect resume tailored to your job posting in 30 seconds. The traditional process relies on resumes and interviews — both of which are easy to fake. A real hiring process filters for character, passion, and cultural fit — things AI can't replicate.

    

2. What's the biggest mistake business owners make when hiring?

   Hiring out of desperation. When someone quits, they panic and hire the first person who can start tomorrow. This leads to bad hires, which leads to more turnover, which leads to more desperation. Break the cycle by building a hiring system that runs constantly — not just when you're desperate.

    

3. Why do group interviews work better than one-on-one interviews?

   Because people act differently in groups. You'll see who dominates, who collaborates, who shuts down under pressure. You'll also get answers you'd never get in a one-on-one setting. Plus, it saves you massive time — you only have to explain your business once instead of 10 times.

    

4. How long does this hiring process actually take?

   4-6 hours total for the business owner. Compare that to the traditional process (20-40 hours) or the cost of hiring the wrong person and starting over in three months. The time investment is minimal — and the success rate is 90%.

    

5. What do Dennis Taekema and Greg Forzani recommend for hiring?

   Start with an ad that attracts the right people (not a tombstone). Filter immediately with questions. Do a quick phone screen. Run a group interview. Move finalists to a one-on-one interview. Then do a working interview (paid tryout) before making a final decision. This process is laid out step-by-step inside the Forzani Freedom Formula™ — and it's how our clients consistently hire A-players while spending less time on hiring than they used to.

1. That's where the real work begins. And that's where real profit becomes possible.

2. If you want to see exactly where your business is leaking money — and what to fix first — watch our free training.