People & HR · Lesson 2
Hiring with a scorecard
Decide what 'good' looks like before you meet candidates.
Without a scorecard, hiring decisions drift towards whoever was most likeable or most like us. A scorecard lists the role's outcomes, the four to six competencies needed, and how each will be assessed. Every interviewer scores candidates against the same list.
Use a simple 1–4 scale for each competency (1 = clear gap, 4 = strong evidence). Avoid a middle score so interviewers must take a view. Ask each interviewer to score independently before discussing, so the loudest voice does not decide.
Include 'must-haves' (without these, no hire) and 'nice-to-haves'. Be strict on must-haves. It is far cheaper to keep a role open another month than to manage a poor hire for a year.
Example — Hypothetical: scorecard for a senior designer
Must-haves: technical drawing accuracy, ownership of deadlines, clear client communication. Nice-to-haves: BIM experience, mentoring juniors. A charming candidate scores 2 on deadline ownership after weak examples — the team agrees to keep searching.
Try this
Draft a scorecard for your next hire: 3 outcomes, 3 must-have competencies, 2 nice-to-haves, and how you will test each.
Reflect
Think of a past hire that did not work out. Which must-have would a scorecard have caught?