In my travels and extracurricular activities (I'm also a member of our local school board), I've found that hiring practices, beliefs and policies can greatly differ from organization to organization. And what I've found in many of these organizations is a great fear of change.

Well I'm here to tell you - don't fear the reaper, and don't fear change. If there was a single, best way to hire, it could be programmed, repeated and processed to death - probably ending up in some sort of pill form we could just swallow.

The reality however, is that hiring is a complex process and it involves people. Real people. And to truly find great talent, you need to have a truly great approach to hiring. And I think it has to evolve with your organization and the types of positions you are trying to fill.

Outdated Hiring Practices:

• Companies like Google and Apple who ask impossible or off-beat questions (which I’m told Google has since stopped).

• Companies that have a never-ending chain of interviews.

• Companies that have group interviews with disinterested team members who don't really want to be there.

• Companies that use the same process for all positions, categories and skill sets.

Now I'm no HR expert, and I defer to them, however, like any process the proof is in the results. So if you have a process that's working, by all means, keep it going. And if there are HR reasons for specific processes (or consistency), then by all means, be compliant. But don't be afraid to change if it's not working.

Develop a Process for People, Not for Processes

Another thing to consider is the speed of change in our world. The interviews our parents went through were nothing like the ones we had, and are light years away from the interviews today or tomorrow.

And, although I hesitate to continue to propagate this theory of "generations in the workforce" and how different we all are, I think there's some truth to it. My eyes are opened every time I talk to a young person or someone from a much different generation. But in general people are all different no matter what generation they belong to.

I would also include in this discussion companies that relegate a large part of their sourcing, recruiting process and screening decisions to a completely automated system, like an ATS (applicant tracking system). That's a lot of trust to place in technology.

In the end, just remember it's a PEOPLE process. Be real. Be flexible. And, be willing to change.