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A rushed or surface-level interview today can become a long-term headache tomorrow. Here’s why Aditi Sharma Kalra believes hiring decisions deserve more care.
For business-critical roles, hiring decisions are far too important to be treated casually. When you’re selecting someone to join your core team – someone whose decisions and mindset will impact team morale, business performance, and stakeholder relationships – the process needs to be approached with the seriousness it deserves.
To be sure, we’re not saying hiring is the same as choosing a partner. But if you’re a senior leader, it might not be too far off. “Hiring for business-critical roles is one of the most high-leverage decisions a leader can make," agrees Riantina, Global Director, People & Culture, Remerge.
Nadeem Ashraf, HR Lead, Mediacorp, echoes: “Hiring demands the same discipline as making a strategic financial investment! It requires a deliberate approach: conduct thorough due diligence, run rigorous interviews, and truly understand the candidate."
After all, you’re bringing someone into your inner circle – a person who you will spend nine hours a day with, someone who will influence your work rhythm, your wins and your losses, your stress levels, and most importantly, your ability to deliver business results.
So why wouldn’t you take the time to dig deeper?
Let's have a look at some of the things that hiring managers need to try and invest time in, and hear from several HR leaders on how they advocate and practise these approaches.
1. It's not just about skills – it's about mindset.
Yes, you need someone who can do the job. But what matters more in the long run is how they do the job – and how they grow into it.
Look for candidates who are not just technically competent but hungry to learn, unafraid of feedback, and adaptable in the face of change. Hiring someone who ticks every box today but has no appetite for growth could become a costly mistake six months down the line.
Ask yourself: Has this person demonstrated a pattern of self-driven learning? Do they take ownership of their own growth, or wait for someone to tell them what to do next?
Taking the example of Remerge, in the AdTech sector, where innovation moves fast, the right hire must bring both capability and cultural fit.
Riantina explains how this plays out: "We champion leader-led hiring approach where senior leaders own the process, and we integrate peer interviews to assess how candidates align with our values and ways of working."
This approach, she says, ensures long-term cohesion, not just short-term performance.
2. Culture fit is not a buzzword – it’s a business imperative.
Every team has its rhythm. Every manager has a working style. And every organisation has unwritten norms that shape how work gets done. Culture fit is not about hiring someone who looks, sounds, or behaves exactly like everyone else. It’s about finding someone who aligns with the values, energy, and ethos of the team – and who can respectfully challenge and stretch it when needed.
The biggest hiring regret often isn’t about someone lacking skills – it’s about someone who couldn’t mesh with the team or brought a toxic energy that disrupted morale.
As a hiring manager, don’t just assess whether this person fits the company culture. Ask yourself honestly: Would I enjoy working with them every day.
Mediacorp's Nadeem adds: "Don't hire solely for cultural fit. Instead, consider how this person will help shape and grow both the team and the business."
3. Business acumen should never be optional.
In fast-paced, high-stakes environments, you need talent who understand the 'why' behind their work – and who care about the bigger picture.
Whether it’s revenue, margins, client retention, or stakeholder management, strong candidates for business-critical roles should demonstrate an instinct for how the business runs. Do they ask the right questions about goals and challenges? Do they show a sense of urgency when talking about priorities?
A technically skilled candidate who doesn’t grasp business context will likely require constant steering. On the other hand, someone who gets the numbers – and the pressure behind them – will move in sync with your priorities.
4. The ‘no fuss’ factor matters more than you think.
We often overlook the power of positivity. In truth, one of the most valuable traits in any hire is emotional resilience – someone who doesn’t spend all week talking about last week's setbacks, someone who communicates openly, and who brings good energy to the room.
You want someone who enjoys solving problems, not complaining about them.
Hiring managers sometimes ignore this in favour of hard skills – only to realise too late that a difficult personality is draining productivity from the team. Instead, look for candidates who are simple, grounded, and kind. Yes – kindness goes a long way in high-pressure teams.
As Riantina says: "The best hires don’t just meet the brief, they elevate the team and embody the culture we’re building."
5. Take hiring personally – because it is personal.
The best teams are not built through a one-size-fits-all checklist. They’re built by leaders who care, who invest time into understanding what kind of colleague they actually need, and who treat each hiring decision as a serious, long-term commitment.
At the end of the day, the person you hire is someone you’ll depend on, grow with, and celebrate wins with. If you wouldn’t choose a business partner without deep consideration, don’t hire your next team member without the same level of care.
The right hire can be a game-changer. But only if you take the interview process seriously enough to find them. Aditi Asthana, Regional HR Leader, APAC & India and Global HRBP for Procurement & Production, PerkinElmer, suggests that involving diverse, cross-functional leaders will bring a broader perspective to the interview table. She adds: "Equally important is a strong onboarding plan post-hire to set both the candidate and the organisation up for long-term success."
Two final thoughts before we end this column:
- Another interesting way to look at the above qualities is that they are also likely your topmost reasons to retain your star talent, develop successors, or groom into bigger roles. As such, Bhawna Bakshi, Global People Experience Owner, Kenvue, affirms: "Before looking externally, evaluate internal candidates who may be ready for advancement. Promoting from within can boost morale and retention, and often internal candidates have a better understanding of the organisation’s culture and processes."
- While we would love to guarantee that following all the above steps rigourously will ensure you've made the right choice during recruitment, the beauty of humans is that things can play out very differently when you place them in the actual situations rather than the interview. So hang in there, be patient, and power through whatever decisions you might need to make hereon!
This article first appeared in the H1 2025 edition of Human Resources Online's Hong Kong e-magazine. View the e-magazine here, where you'll find power-packed features and interviews with leaders across various sectors!
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