Your managers may think they're doing a good job of interviewing and hiring, says New York attorney Barbara Meister Cummins, but most of them are "traveling without a map." Here are 5 of Cummins's "Top Failures":

1. Failure to Plan the How to Get the Right Who

Too many managers start interviewing before they know what they are looking for. Start with an accurate job description, says Cummins. It's the springboard for everything else. To get it right, you have to involve the people who work with the job, do the job, and supervise it. A good job description will:

• Help you define the requisite skills and qualifications.
• Separate out the "essential functions," as required by state and federal anti-disability-bias laws.
• Lead to a matrix of criteria that provides a defense against discrimination claims.

To determine your hiring criteria, Cummins suggests the following:

• Focus on knowledge, skills, abilities, relevant job experience, education.
• Determine what is really necessary to succeed; not some "wish list."

After you have decided your criteria, develop a series of questions that will help you distinguish candidates with the attributes you seek.

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2. Failure to Use a Good Employment Application

Every applicant must fill out an employment application, Cummins says. She offers the following suggestions for a good application:

• Request relevant information only.
• Require the names of the last supervisor for each prior employer, and get authority to contact all references.
• Include acknowledgments stating that:
  • If employed, the applicant will abide by the organization's rules.
  • The application is not a contract.
  • Employment will be at will.
  • Information provided is accurate, and if not, is grounds for discharge at any time.
  • The applicant is not bound by any restrictive covenants, such as noncompetes.

3. Failure to Maintain Records of Applications

Recordkeeping is required for federal contractors, and is also necessary for defending possible discrimination claims.

Devise a policy for dealing with applicants and stick with it for both Internet and hard-copy application submissions. ("This is how we look at submissions, this is how we review them, this is what we do with them.")

4. Failure to Check References and Basic Application Information

Surveys show, says Cummins, that 56 percent of all applicants supply incorrect information in some significant area. Knowing this, you must perform background checks, she says.

5: Failure to Provide a Real Orientation

Avoid the rushed "one-hour" orientation, says Cummins. Instead, adopt the "onboarding" approach, which decreases turnover and increases productivity. Some topics to include:

• Duties. Review duties and expectations on the first day.
• Policies. Review important policies and get them acknowledged.
• Antiharassment. Provide full-on harassment prevention training right from "Day 1."
• Information Technology. Include mention of your right to monitor and a "no expectation of privacy" clause.
• Confidentiality/Nondisclosure/Noncompete. Prohibit employees from bringing trade secrets and proprietary information from former employers.
• Code of Conduct. Go over workplace guidelines, such as your dress code, and have the employee sign an acknowledgment.