👥 “Why Is It So Difficult to Find Good Employees?”
I hear this frustration from business owners quite often.
They put up a job opening.
Applications start coming.
Interviews happen.
Someone looks promising.
They join.
A few weeks later, the owner starts noticing problems.
The person isn’t performing as expected.
They need constant supervision.
Their skills aren’t what the interview suggested.
Or they leave much sooner than expected.
Eventually, the owner says:
“Good Employees Are So Hard to Find.”
Sometimes the hiring market genuinely is difficult.
But when a business repeatedly hires the wrong people, I don’t want to blame the entire problem on candidates.
I want to look at how the business is hiring.
If you came to me and asked:
👉 “Sushil Sir, How Can I Find Good Employees for My Business?”
my first question would be:
🎯 “What Does a ‘Good Employee’ Actually Mean for This Particular Role?”
Because good employee is too broad.
A good salesperson and a good accountant don’t need the same strengths.
A good operations manager and a good customer-service executive don’t do the same work.
Before finding the right person, I want to define what right means.
💡 HOW I APPROACH HIRING — SUSHIL ARORA
👥 When a business owner tells me they can’t find good employees, I don’t begin by telling them where to post another vacancy. I first look at the role itself: what the person needs to achieve, what skills are genuinely required, how success will be measured, and what kind of responsibility the job carries.
🎯 Then I build the hiring process around those requirements. My aim is to reduce guesswork and help the owner judge candidates on evidence rather than simply choosing the person who gives the best interview.
🔍 Before Looking for Candidates, I Would Look at the Job
This is where many hiring problems begin.
A company decides:
“We need a marketing person.”
A job is posted.
But what does the business actually need?
Someone to run paid advertising?
Create content?
Manage social media?
Generate leads?
Handle email campaigns?
Analyze marketing data?
Manage agencies?
These are different responsibilities.
Yet the job description may simply say:
“Looking for an experienced digital marketing executive.”
Then 300 applications arrive.
The owner has plenty of candidates but still doesn’t know who is right.
💡 More Applications Don’t Fix an Unclear Role. They Give You More People to Be Confused About.
Before recruitment starts, I want the job to be clear.
1. Define the Result Before Defining the Candidate
I would begin by asking:
🎯 “Six Months After This Person Joins, What Should Be Working Better Because They Are Here?”
That’s much more useful than starting with:
“We need someone with three years of experience.”
Experience matters for some jobs.
But years alone don’t tell me whether someone can produce the result the business needs.
Suppose you’re hiring a salesperson.
What will they actually be responsible for?
Lead qualification?
Follow-up?
Meetings?
Closing?
Account management?
Collections?
All of them?
Now we can define the job properly.
I like to think about it as:
Role → Responsibilities → Expected Results → Required Skills → Authority → Measures
Once those are clear, finding the right candidate becomes easier.
2. Stop Writing Job Descriptions That Could Belong to Any Company
Consider this:
“We are looking for a dynamic, hardworking and motivated individual with excellent communication skills.”
What does that tell the candidate about the actual work?
Very little.
I would rather explain:
What will this person do?
What will they own?
Who will they work with?
What skills are genuinely necessary?
What experience is relevant?
How will performance be measured?
What should they expect from the role?
📋 “Would a Good Candidate Understand the Job After Reading This Description?”
If not, rewrite it.
Hiring works both ways.
You’re evaluating the candidate.
The candidate is also deciding whether the role fits them.
💡 Clear Expectations Before Hiring Can Prevent Misunderstandings After Hiring.
3. Don’t Depend on One Hiring Source
Once I know who I’m looking for, then I think about where that person may be found.
Different roles may require different channels.
That could include:
💼 Relevant job platforms
🤝 Employee referrals
👥 Professional networks
🎓 Colleges or training institutes for suitable entry-level roles
📱 Professional communities
🏢 Recruitment partners where appropriate
I wouldn’t automatically use every channel.
I would ask:
🎯 “Where Are People With the Skills I Need Most Likely to Be?”
If one hiring source repeatedly gives poor-fit candidates, I want to know why we’re continuing to depend on it.
4. Screen for the Job, Not Just the CV
A polished CV can create a strong first impression.
But I want to know what the person can actually do.
Suppose someone writes:
“Managed sales and business development.”
Fine.
I would want to understand:
What exactly did you manage?
What was your personal responsibility?
What kind of customers did you work with?
How did leads reach you?
What did you do when a prospect wasn’t responding?
How was your performance measured?
🔍 “What Did You Personally Do?”
That’s a useful interview question.
Because sometimes a candidate describes the success of an entire team as though they personally created all of it.
I want to separate:
Team Result → Candidate’s Actual Contribution
5. Ask for Examples, Not Just Opinions
Imagine asking:
“Are You Good at Handling Customers?”
Most candidates will say yes.
Instead, I might ask:
💬 “Tell Me About a Difficult Customer Situation You Personally Handled. What Happened, What Did You Do, and What Was the Result?”
Now I have something to discuss.
Or instead of:
“Are you good at meeting deadlines?”
I can ask:
💬 “Tell Me About a Time You Had Several Important Deadlines at Once. How Did You Decide What to Do First?”
I want candidates explaining actual situations.
🎯 Past Examples Don’t Guarantee Future Performance, but They Give Me More to Evaluate Than a Simple ‘Yes, I Can Do It.’
6. Test Important Skills Where It Makes Sense
If a skill is central to the job, I may want to see it.
Hiring a writer?
Give them a reasonable writing exercise.
Hiring someone for spreadsheets?
Use a relevant spreadsheet task.
Hiring a salesperson?
Use a short sales situation or role-based discussion.
Hiring for customer support?
Give them a sample customer problem and ask how they would handle it.
The exercise should match the work.
I don’t want a long unpaid project disguised as an interview.
I want a focused assessment that helps answer:
🎯 “Can This Person Actually Do an Important Part of the Job?”
A CV tells me what someone says they can do.
A relevant skill check can give me additional evidence.
7. Don’t Hire Someone Just Because You Like Them
Interviews are human.
Naturally, we connect with some people more easily than others.
A candidate is confident.
They speak well.
The conversation flows.
The owner thinks:
“I like this person.”
That’s fine.
But liking someone and hiring someone are different decisions.
I would go back to the role.
👉 Do They Have the Required Skills?
👉 Have They Given useful evidence of those skills?
👉 Do They understand the role?
👉 Are their expectations aligned with what the job actually offers?
👉 Can they handle the level of responsibility required?
👉 Are there concerns we are ignoring because the interview felt good?
💡 A Good Conversation Is Not the Same as a Good Hiring Decision.
8. Don’t Ignore Attitude and Working Behaviour Either
Skills matter.
But I also want to understand how someone approaches work.
What happens when they make a mistake?
How do they respond to feedback?
How do they deal with a problem they don’t immediately know how to solve?
How do they communicate when a deadline is at risk?
Do they take responsibility for their part in a problem?
These things are difficult to judge perfectly in an interview.
So I wouldn’t pretend one conversation can tell us everything.
But I can ask questions that give me more information.
💬 “Tell Me About a Mistake You Made at Work. What Did You Do After You Realised It?”
I’m interested in how the person thinks about responsibility.
9. Be Clear About Salary, Responsibilities and Expectations
One reason employees leave quickly is that the job they join isn’t the job they thought they were accepting.
The interview describes one thing.
The first week reveals another.
Maybe the responsibilities are much broader.
Maybe working expectations were unclear.
Maybe the reporting structure is different.
Maybe compensation details weren’t properly discussed.
I don’t want surprises created by avoidable ambiguity.
🤝 “Does the Candidate Understand What They Are Actually Agreeing To?”
Be clear before they join.
A candidate may decide the role isn’t right for them.
That’s okay.
Finding that out before joining is usually better than finding it out a month later.
10. Check References When the Role and Situation Justify It
For some roles, reference checks can provide useful additional information, subject to applicable hiring practices and consent requirements.
I wouldn’t treat them as a magic test.
But where appropriate, I may want to understand things such as:
What responsibilities did the person hold?
How did they work with others?
Would the previous organization consider working with them again?
Are important employment details consistent?
🔍 The Goal Is Verification, Not Trying to Dig Into Someone’s Private Life.
Keep it relevant to the job.
11. Don’t Hire Only Because You Are Desperate
This is where many bad hiring decisions happen.
Someone resigns suddenly.
The workload increases.
The owner says:
“I Need Someone Immediately.”
Standards start falling.
The first acceptable person gets hired.
Two months later, the business is dealing with another hiring problem.
Urgency is real.
But I would still ask:
⚠️ “Am I Hiring This Person Because They Fit the Role, or Because I Need a Body in the Chair?”
Sometimes a temporary workload solution is better than making a rushed permanent decision.
A wrong hire can consume management time, affect other employees and create customer problems.
12. Your Hiring Process Should Be Repeatable
I don’t want every manager hiring completely differently.
One asks ten questions.
Another has an informal conversation.
Another hires through a recommendation without much assessment.
Another conducts four interviews.
As the company grows, I want some consistency.
A simple process might look like:
Role Definition → Application Screening → Initial Discussion → Relevant Assessment → Structured Interview → Verification Where Appropriate → Decision → Offer → Onboarding
The exact process can change by role.
A senior manager shouldn’t necessarily go through exactly the same process as an entry-level employee.
But there should be a reason behind the steps.
⚙️ Hiring Should Be a Business Process, Not a Series of Random Conversations.
🚀 How I Would Help a Business Find Better Employees
If a business owner came to me and said:
“Sushil Sir, I Keep Hiring the Wrong People. How Would You Fix My Hiring Process?”
I would work through it like this.
🔍 Step 1: Look at the Employees Who Already Perform Well
This can teach us a lot.
What do your stronger employees do differently?
What skills do they have?
What responsibilities do they handle well?
What did you correctly identify when hiring them?
I don’t want to create clones of existing employees.
I want to understand what successful performance in this business actually requires.
📋 Step 2: Define the Role Properly
Before publishing anything:
What Will They Own?
What Results Do We Expect?
Which Skills Are Essential?
Which Skills Can Be Taught?
What Experience Is Truly Necessary?
This prevents us from creating an unrealistic wish list.
🎯 Step 3: Decide How We Will Judge Candidates
Before interviews start, I want criteria.
Otherwise, the criteria change depending on who walks into the room.
For example:
Relevant skill.
Problem-solving.
Communication required for the role.
Experience where needed.
Evidence from previous work.
Performance on a relevant assessment.
🔎 Step 4: Improve Screening
I don’t want senior managers interviewing 100 obviously unsuitable applicants.
Use the role criteria to narrow the pool.
Then spend more time with candidates who genuinely match the requirements.
🧠 Step 5: Improve the Interview
I would use questions connected to actual work.
Less:
“Where do you see yourself in five years?”
More:
“Here Is a Situation You May Face in This Role. How Would You Approach It?”
Then ask follow-up questions.
I want to understand the candidate’s reasoning.
🛠️ Step 6: Use a Relevant Skill Check
Where practical, test the ability that matters.
Keep it reasonable.
Keep it relevant.
Explain what is being assessed.
🤝 Step 7: Make Expectations Clear Before the Offer
Role.
Responsibilities.
Reporting.
Compensation.
Working arrangements.
Performance expectations.
Don’t sell a version of the job that doesn’t exist.
📊 Step 8: Compare Candidates Against the Role
After interviews, I want to come back to:
“Who Best Fits What This Job Actually Requires?”
Not:
“Who did we like most?”
That helps make the final decision more disciplined.
⚠️ The Mistake I Want Business Owners to Avoid
There is a sentence I hear:
“Nobody Wants to Work Properly Anymore.”
I would be careful with that conclusion.
Maybe you have genuinely interviewed poor candidates.
But if hiring keeps failing, I would still inspect the process.
Are we attracting the right people?
Is the role clear?
Are we offering realistic terms?
Are we assessing the skills that matter?
Are interviewers making decisions mainly on instinct?
Are good employees leaving shortly after joining?
If people join and repeatedly leave, the problem may extend beyond recruitment.
I would then look at management, expectations, workload, development and the working environment too.
👉 If Hiring Keeps Failing, Don’t Just Search Harder. Check Whether the Hiring System Itself Needs Fixing.
💡 HOW I LOOK AT FINDING GOOD EMPLOYEES — SUSHIL ARORA
👥 When I help a business improve hiring, I don’t begin with the question, “Where can we find more candidates?” I begin with, “Who exactly are we trying to find, and what evidence would tell us this person can succeed here?”
🔍 Then I work backward. We define the role, identify the important skills, choose appropriate sourcing channels, improve screening, use job-relevant interview questions and assess important abilities where practical.
🎯 This doesn’t guarantee that every hire will work out. No hiring process can do that. But it can help the owner make the decision with more useful evidence and less guesswork.
🧠 Finding Good Employees Is Only Half the Job
Suppose you hire an excellent person.
Then they arrive on Monday.
Nobody knows who should train them.
They don’t have access to the systems they need.
Their responsibilities aren’t explained properly.
They receive conflicting instructions from three people.
Two weeks later, the owner says:
“They’re not performing as expected.”
That’s why I connect recruitment with onboarding.
🎯 “What Happens During the First 30, 60 and 90 Days After Someone Joins?”
A good employee can still struggle inside a poor system.
So after hiring, I want:
Clear expectations.
Training.
Access to the right tools.
A person they can go to for help.
Early feedback.
Performance reviews appropriate to the role.
💡 Don’t Spend Weeks Finding the Right Person and Then Leave Their Success to Chance After They Join.
👥 What I Would Do if Good Employees Keep Leaving
This is where the problem changes.
If you can attract good employees but can’t keep them, I wouldn’t keep blaming recruitment.
I would ask:
Why Are They Leaving?
Is the job different from what was promised?
Is management creating problems?
Is the workload unreasonable?
Are responsibilities constantly changing?
Is good performance recognised appropriately?
Do people have room to learn or take more responsibility where relevant?
Are there repeated issues employees have already raised?
Exit feedback, when available, can be useful here.
🔍 If Good People Keep Leaving, Hiring More Good People Won’t Fix the Reason They Leave.
That’s a retention problem.
Treat it separately.
💬 Final Thoughts From Sushil Arora
If you’re asking:
“How Can I Find Good Employees for My Business?”
Don’t start by posting the same vacancy on five more websites.
Start with the role.
📋 Do I Know Exactly What This Person Will Own?
🎯 Do I Know What Good Performance Looks Like?
🧠 Which Skills Are Essential From Day One?
📚 Which Skills Can We Train?
🔎 Am I Screening Candidates Against Those Requirements?
💬 Are My Interview Questions Connected to Real Work?
🛠️ Can I Test an Important Skill Appropriately?
🤝 Have I Clearly Explained What the Job Actually involves?
📊 Am I Choosing Based on evidence or mainly on instinct?
⚙️ Do I Have a proper plan for what happens after the person joins?
Finding better employees starts before the first interview.
It starts when the business becomes clear about what it actually needs.
🎯 Your Next Step
Before posting your next job opening, take a blank page.
Write the role at the top.
Then answer:
👉 Why Am I Hiring This Person?
👉 What Problem Should This Hire Solve?
👉 What Will They Be Responsible For?
👉 What Should They Be Able to Achieve After They Settle Into the Role?
👉 Which Three or Four Skills Matter Most?
👉 Which Requirements Are Truly Essential and Which Are Simply Nice to Have?
👉 How Will I Check Those Skills During Hiring?
👉 What Would Make Me Reject a Candidate Even if I Personally Like Them?
👉 What Will Their First Few Weeks Look Like After Joining?
Then ask yourself:
🎯 “Am I Looking for a ‘Good Employee,’ or Have I Clearly Defined the Right Person for This Job?”
If you can’t describe the second one clearly, I wouldn’t start interviewing yet.
Define the role first.
Then search.
Then assess.
Then hire.
And once the person joins, give them a fair system in which they can actually succeed.
💡 MY HIRING PHILOSOPHY — SUSHIL ARORA
👥 I don’t believe good hiring starts with collecting the maximum number of CVs. It starts with clarity about the job and the result the business needs from that role.
🔍 My approach is to define the role, identify the skills that matter, assess candidates using evidence relevant to the work, make expectations clear before they join, and then support the new employee with proper onboarding and feedback.
🎯 The aim isn’t to find a perfect employee. I want the business to become better at identifying people who fit the work, giving them a clear start, and creating the conditions in which good performance can continue.
— Coach Sushil Arora