Managers frequently talk about good or bad hiring choices in terms of luck. If they happen upon a great employee, they were “lucky.” If they make a bad choice, they were “unlucky.” But what I usually discover is the lucky managers are almost always doing things the unlucky ones aren’t.

Lucky hires are usually the result of having a sound process and the patience to stick with it. This happens most often when managers take the time up front to understand what they need in the person they hire to do a job. When they follow a proven, structured plan for interviewing, testing, and reference checking. When they refuse to make a hasty decision in order to fill a position quickly. When they ask for input from people who make great hires themselves and really listen to what these folks have to say about the candidates they’re considering.

On the other hand, those who blame a bad hire on being unlucky have often done at least a few things to shoot themselves in the foot. Maybe they started out with an “I’ll know what I want when I see it” strategy instead of an accurate hiringpProfile. Or they talk more than they listen in their interviews. It could be that they settle too quickly just to get someone on board, or they fail to consider whether the person will fit with the company culture or the existing team. Perhaps they were too busy to check references or too cheap to use an outside assessment tool.

Either way, I’ve seen very few instances where managers consistently hire great people simply because of luck. The most effective ones I know somewhere along the way got themselves some training, developed a solid method, and made a commitment to stick with it. They don’t skip steps and they don’t settle.

So you can leave it up to luck or you can choose to stack the odds in your own favor. Which option sounds most appealing?

Janna Mansker is vice president of client services for Berke, a human resources consulting firm, where she leads the company’s education initiatives and advocates for clients. She can be reached at janna@berkegroup.com.