Here are nine (9) steps to really help streamline your organization's hiring process:

1. Don’t lose anybody -- Make sure your good people don’t quit.
2. Don’t hire stupid people -- Then you don’t have to fire anybody.
3. Use the internet -- Yes, a lot of people look for jobs on the web.
4. Read the resumes people send you -- I bet there’s a winner in there somewhere.
5. When someone hands you a referral, follow up on it -- Yeah, this is pretty important.
6. When you ask someone to interview for a job, maybe knock out a few interviews for that person at once --  Nobody likes taking time off their current job and driving back-and-forth for 17 interviews.
7. Check references like it’s your job -- It is your job, so you better get moving.
8. Make a decent job offer -- Nothing like the “lowball dance” that goes on for a week to slow things down.
9. Schedule the start date ASAP -- No, the employee shouldn't start in 45 days after she gives notice and takes a big vacation. That won’t work. In fact, that never works.

For more insightful tips like these, talk to a recruiter or human resources professional who’s been doing this job for more than a hot minute. It's amazing how the basics are always the basics.

This originally was published on the Laurie Ruettimann blog.