Why should I use a Cipher?

There are many reasons why using a Cipher is beneficial.

1. You'll save money

Not only will you save the money wasted on hiring the wrong person, but you'll save time in every hiring process, because time is money. With a Cipher, you'll move a lot quicker through the hiring process, because you'll have a better understanding of what you're looking for.

2. Your whole hiring team will be aligned

iCIMS did a study a few years back on the perceptions of recruiters and hiring managers. 80% of recruiters felt that they had a high to very high understanding of the roles they were recruiting for. Meanwhile, 61% of hiring managers rated the recruiters as having a low to moderate understanding of the roles they were recruiting for.

This isn't meant to bash our friends in talent acquisition, nor the hiring managers, but rather to drive home the point that the two most important partners in a recruiting effort are mostly not aligned on what is needed in a role.

3. You'll shorten the training and onboarding process

How many of us have started in a role where our objectives and expectations were not as clear to us as they needed to be? By crisply defining what you're looking for during the hiring process, you'll do a much better job of explaining that to the person you hire.

4. You'll reduce the time needed to coach underperformers

Rather than guessing how they could possibly be better, you can do a much better job of coaching that person when you know what good looks like and have defined it through the Cipher process.

5. You'll stop reinventing the wheel with each new hire

Once you've taken the time to create a Cipher, if you're hiring repeatedly for that role, you can use the same document with confidence. This is most applicable to groups of new employees at the front line of an organization: for example, sales reps, customer service reps and analysts. See Can I re-use a Cipher for a different hire?

6. You'll close the candidate you really want

Your ability to close that candidate begins during the interview process, if not before. When you know what you want and can communicate it with clarity, authenticity and consistency across the hiring team, candidates know that they're dealing with a strong company.