RAYMOND A. INGLESI, M.A.

ELIMINATE COSTLY HIRING MISTAKES:

THREE ESSENTIALS FOR CHOOSING THE RIGHT CANDIDATE

Raymond A. Inglesi, M.A.
President, Drake Inglesi Milardo, Inc.

Hiring the right people is absolutely essential for the long-term financial success of your business. It is irrelevant how good your products and services are—long term they will not be effectively made, sold or delivered if you do not have highly skilled, energized people in the right positions.

In addition, the cost of hiring the wrong person can be one of the most expensive decisions made in an organization. There are also costs in productivity, advertising and recruitment, training, low employee morale, high stress, management intervention, outplacement, and severance.

Although many companies acknowledge the importance of finding and selecting the right people, they often set themselves up to fail by not having good hiring practices in place. Businesses spend huge amounts on research and development, marketing, computer systems, etc. and yet will cut corners in the one area that assures the long-term success of their company—having the right people on board. Research shows that two thirds of hiring decisions are ineffective in that the newly hired employees are not fully capable or sufficiently motivated to do the job they are hired to do. We then expect managers to train these employees to make them “productive”, when hiring the right person in the first place would be the solution to all of these productivity problems.

Companies often make hiring decisions based on very little substantive data. They may rely on intuition, a traditional interview, a flashy resume or a persuasive decision maker. Somehow the fact that effective hiring for key positions will affect the future economic viability of the organization is not truly recognized.

There are three essentials to truly insure the quality and effectiveness of the selection process:

»   Competency Modeling
»   Effective Interviewing Process and Techniques
»   Comprehensive Candidate Assessment

Typically companies utilize one or perhaps two of these tools but very few use all three and yet all three are vital to making the right selection decisions.

Some Things to Consider Before the Hiring Process Begins:

A)   What are the primary reasons for this position being filled – problem team, new position, strategic thinker, solving a retention problem, technical expertise, etc.
B)   Who would the new employee report to, what are the hiring managers’ styles, competencies, special needs and expectations?
C)   What are the important characteristics of the business culture; team oriented, fast paced, entrepreneurial, technology driven, etc.
D)   Uniqueness of the geographic area and community (culture, climate, city vs. rural).
E)   Who are the coworkers of the new employee and what are they like; matching a new employee with the existing team or group is critical.
F)   What did you learn about the position from the way the previous manager managed
G)   What are the expectations of the staff toward the new employee?

Competency Modeling

Once the decision has been reached to fill a position in the company, the next step is to determine the actual core competencies necessary for success in this position. Actual core competencies go beyond the job description by clearly describing the unique and special requirements of the position. As an example, the successful candidate must be able to function effectively in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment. Another example of a core competency relates to the successful candidate being able to work effectively with the supervisor of the division. That is, the successful candidate must demonstrate certain traits, attributes, and characteristics that are compatible with the supervisor’s style. Failing this, the new candidate will likely not be effective in gaining credibility from the supervisor. Another example of a core competency refers to the candidate’s ability to demonstrate a high level of emotional intelligence. Emotional Intelligence is the ability to effectively deal with your own feelings, as well as the feelings of others.

Generally speaking, the Core Competencies are developed from an examination of the following categories:

1)   Abilities and Aptitudes
2)   Knowledge and Experience
3)   Personal Profile
4)   Motivational Qualities
5)   Professional and Personal Values
6)   Emotional Intelligence

Effective Interviewing Techniques

A)   Effective interviewing results in greater knowledge of the candidate which then leads to a more informed decision. We will go into more detail about effective interviewing techniques in a future article but some things to consider in planning for the interview include:
B)   Develop an interview plan
C)   Decide in advance who should be conducting the interview
D)   Agree on the type of interview that will be used
E)   Make sure each interviewer understands and accepts the competency profile
F)   Establish how the interviewers will rate the candidate

Managers and others involved in the selection process often underestimate the importance of having an effective interviewing plan and process. Interviewing isn’t just about having a conversation with the candidate or spending forty-five minutes going over the resume. It is about gaining knowledge and important pieces of information that go way beyond what is on the resume. A skilled interviewer can gain enormous insight and perspective about the candidate.

Although there are many different types of interviewing styles and techniques, the goals and objectives are the same. That is, to evaluate as accurately possible the candidate’s qualifications and “fit” for the job as compared to the competency profile.

A thorough assessment of the above categories will provide the interviewer with sufficient data to make an informed decision (along with reference checks).

•  Untrained interviewers are often too subjective in assessing a candidate and research shows us that interviewers have a natural bias to select people like themselves. Most common mistakes made by unskilled interviewers:
•  Talking too much, not listening enough
•  Jumping to conclusions
•  “Telegraphing” the desired answer to questions
•  Failure to translate data about past behavior into on-the-job performance predictions

From “The Effective Interviewer”, John Drake, Ph.D.

An effective interviewer can:

•   Create a relaxed environment, which enables the candidate to present him/herself in the best light.
•  Gain valuable insights from the candidate’s personal and professional history.
•  Make important observations from the face-to-face meeting.

The six key factors listed above that account for job success should be thoroughly explored in the interview process. Neglecting any one of these areas can lead to a flawed hiring decision.

Comprehensive Candidate Assessment
The use of assessments for hiring has grown dramatically among American companies during the last ten years. In a survey conducted in 2001 by the American Management Association 45% of 1,085 member companies reported using testing—this is up from 35% just 3 years earlier.

The reasons for using psychological and various career tests as part of the pre-hire decision are very compelling: a psychological consulting firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts conducted three follow-up studies of executives it had assessed for their corporate clients. All three studies found that the higher the executives had rated in the evaluations the less likely they were to have terminated employment—either voluntarily or involuntarily. The survey also showed that a complete assessment process (testing plus comprehensive interview) outperforms all other methods of evaluating candidates. Finally, the survey also revealed that testing is the most accurate method of determining if a candidate will do well in that company’s corporate culture. And lack of fit with a particular culture is one of the primary reasons new employees leave.

Using assessments allows companies to find better candidates and assures that they are putting people in positions that are the best fit. It truly is a win-win for the company and the candidate.

Why Testing:

»   Provides hard data such as the candidate’s analytical, conceptual, verbal and numerical abilities.
»   Provides a profile of the candidate’s traits, attributes, temperament and various personal characteristics.
»   Provides a profile of the candidate’s underlying needs and motives—“what drives her behavior”.
»   Rigorous testing lowers the candidate’s defenses and increases the likelihood of getting an honest response.
»   Provides a profile of the Candidate’s emotional intelligence.
»   Provides information to assess the candidate’s leadership style, management profile, etc.

In summary, there are three vital ingredients to assuring your company is making successful hiring decisions: competency modeling, effective interviewing and candidate assessments. Once companies have made a wise choice in all of these areas the improvements in their hiring process can have a dramatic impact on the company’s overall success and profitability.