These four tips will help you in recruiting and hiring a candidate who will become a successful, contributing superior employee. Review the first five of the nine tips.
A Bad Hire Is Worse Than You Think
According to the Harvard Business Review, 80 percent of turnover is caused by bad hiring decisions. These are costly mistakes. The U.S. Department of Labor calculates that it costs one-third of a new hire’s annual salary to replace him. These figures include money spent on recruitment, selection and training plus costs due to decreased productivity as other employees fill in to take up the slack.
But these numbers don’t reflect the intangible damages an exiting employee can have such as lost customers and low employee morale across the rest of the organization. And, turnover costs climb even higher as you move up the organization: mid- and upper–level managers can cost over twice their annual salary to replace.
Interviewing Doesn’t Work
Traditional interviews don’t help you select top talent. In fact, a large study conducted by John and Rhonda Hunter at the University of Michigan on the predictors of job performance found that a typical job interview increased the likelihood of choosing the best candidate by less than 2 percent.
Worse, the traditional job interview is a highly subjective process. Interviewers often have a range of biases that dramatically affect their perceptions of individual job candidates. Despite the best of intentions, interviewers and supervisors have an unconscious tendency to favor people who are similar to themselves.
An interview-only hiring process can create teams that get along reasonably well - but lack the blend of skills needed to excel in business together.
The Galliard Group of Boise, Idaho, works with family-owned and closely held companies to build cost-effective hiring practices. Managing Partner Lisë Stewart points out that there is a real danger in simply collecting resumes and interviewing a few top candidates. “Desktop publishing and resume writers can make almost anyone look good on paper.”
Stewart continues, “Do a web search on ‘job interviewing’ and you’ll find thousands of websites full of advice on how to ‘ace’ the interview. We’ve seen well-rehearsed candidates give great interviews. Unfortunately, those great interviews do not predict success in the job; they predict success in doing job interviews.”
The Most Neglected Aspect of Hiring
A job analysis is the most neglected aspect of hiring. Performed correctly, a job analysis provides a list of the personal attributes required to work effectively in the role. This list of attributes is identified first by breaking down a person's job into logical parts.
Next, each job task is analyzed according to the knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes required to perform the job correctly. Once a business knows what the position requires, the hiring process is faster and more effective because job candidates are evaluated on a common set of criteria. When you know exactly what talents are required—you know what to look for and what to test for.
“Most Human Resource departments know that a good job analysis is needed to get the best person but it’s surprising how many just aren’t doing it at a basic level,” says Stewart. “Turnover is reduced when the person fits the job. It’s just common sense: people love their jobs when the position matches their personality, attitudes, and skills.” Stewart says that an effective job analysis is critical in achieving this ‘fit.’
Matching People to Jobs
Once a business understands what the job demands, there are several tools that help identify the right people for the job. Candidate screening, personality and skill assessments, performance-based interviews and behavioral based interviews all help identify top candidates.
“No single technique on its own can predict on-the-job performance so companies need to use a blend of tools that reflect their needs." says Stewart. “The research on hiring is clear on one point: using multiple selection methods gives you the best employees.”
Stewart notes that a multi-faceted approach can both streamline the process and ensure much better, fit—increasing employee retention and productivity. She adds, “Hiring people does not need to cost a lot or take a long time. Once a business has a sensible hiring process in place, finding top talent is much easier.”
