But I’m too busy to do all this

Of course you’re too busy. Every manager is too busy. But one of the interesting things we’ve observed is that managers who cut corners in the interviewing process spend an inordinate amount of time trying to “fix” the folks that they wrongly hired. This leads to either an extended period of remediation or an eventual decision to terminate and start all over again. In either case, managers are diverted from doing what they should be doing: coaching their most talented people to excel.

In fact, many managers spend more time choosing a new restaurant for Saturday night than they do interviewing a new candidate. But a bad meal only gives you indigestion the next day. A bad hire gives you heartburn for weeks or months.