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Moving recruitment in-house? Avoid costly hiring mistakes
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Moving recruitment in-house? Avoid costly hiring mistakes
12 December 2008:Unless in-house hiring processes are underpinned by sound methodology and a goal of "zero mis-hires", the costs to a business can be extraordinary, says a senior recruitment expert.
Imogene Devereux, from recruitment firm Drake International, told a SmartCompany web seminar this week that the average cost to a business of a hiring mistake is around one and a half times the person`s annual salary.
With the economy in decline and HR budgets traditionally among the first to be cut in an organisation, employers choosing the path of internal recruitment should ensure they have the internal capabilities to perform the function, she says.
Apart from the direct costs of getting recruitment wrong - money spent on finding a replacement and training them - the indirect costs include: lost productivity; lost knowledge; disruption to business; negative impact on the team; loss of business; and loss of reputation. The last is often underestimated by employers, Devereux says, but she points out that churning through three salespeople in 12 months, for example, does not send a positive message about a business.
First step - what`s really required in the job?
There are eight steps to truly understanding a job, Devereux says:
1. Analyse and understand the job function and job description. Devereux recommends spending significant time working out exactly what someone does in their job, pointing out that "the position description, 99 times out of 100, is not what someone does at work". Positions evolve and change, she says, so to get a proper feel for the job it`s best to talk to the incumbent (where possible), team mates, managers and supervisors about what the key functionality of the role is;
2. Summarise the duties and identify the time spent on each one every day. Break these down into percentages;
3. Determine what are the most critical duties to be performed. Limit these to five;
4. Identify what competencies, capabilities, skills and education are required for someone to perform the critical duties;
5. Determine which competencies/capabilities the candidate "must have" in order to perform in the position and what could be trained. For example, a customer service rep must have a friendly, courteous manner, but they could be trained on how to use an email system;
6. Identify any drawbacks or problem areas associated with the role, for example long hours, or a long distance to travel to work. These must be mentioned during the interview;
7. Conclude the key selection criteria for a candidate to be considered right for the role, such as presentation, travel ability, qualifications, prior knowledge, computer skills, equipment used etc; and
8. Develop the interview questions that will validate these criteria.
This methodology, Devereux says, is "infallible and always helps".
Throughout the process, she says, it`s essential to quantify (ask how often, or what percentage of the time is the person required to do this in the role?), qualify (what exactly are they doing? If it`s telemarketing, does it involve inbound or outbound calls?) and clarify (ask, "have I got this right?" Check with multiple people, as often everyone has a different perception of job competencies and behaviours).
Selection
The types of questions that should be asked during the recruitment process are:
* Credentials-based - education, employment history, past achievements. These are a good place to begin, Devereux says, "but they don`t tell us what a candidate chooses to do in a given situation and how well it`s done";
* Technical - designed to determine whether the candidate has the technical ability and knowledge necessary to perform the job. For example, "how do you write a learning objective?" or "How do you merge a document in Word?" These questions provide clues as to whether a candidate possesses the knowledge needed for the job and are best asked during phone screening, not in a face-to-face interview;
* Experience-based - what the candidate has done in the past. These are the most commonly asked questions in interviews, such as "What were your duties in your last job?" or "Tell me about your responsibilities in your last position". These are important questions that help produce a picture of what the candidate has done in the past, but they give no indication of how well the candidate performed the task or activity, Devereux says;
* Situation-based - used to ask a candidate how they would handle a hypothetical job-related question. It`s best to ask about critical difficulties known to occur, for example how they might handle a call from an irate customer. These are especially beneficial when trying to discover a hypothetical behaviour that would eliminate a candidate from the selection process; and
* Behavioural descriptive - these are based on the principle that "the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour in similar circumstances". When asking these questions, it`s critical to keep two rules in mind: the more recent the behaviour, the greater its predictive power; and the more longstanding the behaviour, the greater its predictive power, Devereux says.
Behavioural descriptive interviewing
Behavioural descriptive interviewing (BDI) consists of three components:
1. Situation/task - for example, "Tell me about a situation..?", "Tell me about a time..?" or "Describe a time you faced..?"
2. Action - "What did you do ..?", "How did you do it?" Why, where and when?
3. Results - "What was the outcome, or result?" After asking this question, Devereux says, it`s crucial to then add, "and who can verify that?"
BDI is particularly effective because, unlike with other types of questioning, a candidate finds it difficult to get a feel for the interviewer`s desired response and it places their focus back on what they have actually done, she says.
Anyone recruiting should determine not only the behavioural questions to ask in the interview but also the answers that will demonstrate the candidate matches the selection criteria, Devereux says.
Structure of the interview
Inexperienced interviewers often want to make a candidate feel at home and tend to "jump in and fill spaces" when questioning, Devereux says.
BDI is more structured and "you can`t give away the answers", she says.
Before getting to the BDI questions, however, it`s important that the interviewer builds rapport and uses their relationship-building skills to put the candidate at ease.
They should set the agenda so the candidate knows what to expect. This includes letting the candidate know that BDI questions will be asked, and briefly explaining what they are (without revealing what they are actually questioning for). They should then run through the various types of interview questions, ending with BDI.
The role itself should only be discussed after the behavioural questions have been asked. Devereux says it`s a common mistake to introduce the role first up, because the candidate will - whether they mean to or not - tailor their answers to what they think the interviewer wants to hear. In doing so, they won`t truly reflect who they are and their skills and competencies.
Finally, it`s crucial to close the interview by explaining to the candidate what the next steps of the process are and when they can expect to be contacted, she says.
Source:
http://www.hrdaily.com.au/nl06_news_selected.php?act=2&nav=1&selkey=1047&utm_sou
Imogene Devereux, from recruitment firm Drake International, told a SmartCompany web seminar this week that the average cost to a business of a hiring mistake is around one and a half times the person`s annual salary.
With the economy in decline and HR budgets traditionally among the first to be cut in an organisation, employers choosing the path of internal recruitment should ensure they have the internal capabilities to perform the function, she says.
Apart from the direct costs of getting recruitment wrong - money spent on finding a replacement and training them - the indirect costs include: lost productivity; lost knowledge; disruption to business; negative impact on the team; loss of business; and loss of reputation. The last is often underestimated by employers, Devereux says, but she points out that churning through three salespeople in 12 months, for example, does not send a positive message about a business.
First step - what`s really required in the job?
There are eight steps to truly understanding a job, Devereux says:
1. Analyse and understand the job function and job description. Devereux recommends spending significant time working out exactly what someone does in their job, pointing out that "the position description, 99 times out of 100, is not what someone does at work". Positions evolve and change, she says, so to get a proper feel for the job it`s best to talk to the incumbent (where possible), team mates, managers and supervisors about what the key functionality of the role is;
2. Summarise the duties and identify the time spent on each one every day. Break these down into percentages;
3. Determine what are the most critical duties to be performed. Limit these to five;
4. Identify what competencies, capabilities, skills and education are required for someone to perform the critical duties;
5. Determine which competencies/capabilities the candidate "must have" in order to perform in the position and what could be trained. For example, a customer service rep must have a friendly, courteous manner, but they could be trained on how to use an email system;
6. Identify any drawbacks or problem areas associated with the role, for example long hours, or a long distance to travel to work. These must be mentioned during the interview;
7. Conclude the key selection criteria for a candidate to be considered right for the role, such as presentation, travel ability, qualifications, prior knowledge, computer skills, equipment used etc; and
8. Develop the interview questions that will validate these criteria.
This methodology, Devereux says, is "infallible and always helps".
Throughout the process, she says, it`s essential to quantify (ask how often, or what percentage of the time is the person required to do this in the role?), qualify (what exactly are they doing? If it`s telemarketing, does it involve inbound or outbound calls?) and clarify (ask, "have I got this right?" Check with multiple people, as often everyone has a different perception of job competencies and behaviours).
Selection
The types of questions that should be asked during the recruitment process are:
* Credentials-based - education, employment history, past achievements. These are a good place to begin, Devereux says, "but they don`t tell us what a candidate chooses to do in a given situation and how well it`s done";
* Technical - designed to determine whether the candidate has the technical ability and knowledge necessary to perform the job. For example, "how do you write a learning objective?" or "How do you merge a document in Word?" These questions provide clues as to whether a candidate possesses the knowledge needed for the job and are best asked during phone screening, not in a face-to-face interview;
* Experience-based - what the candidate has done in the past. These are the most commonly asked questions in interviews, such as "What were your duties in your last job?" or "Tell me about your responsibilities in your last position". These are important questions that help produce a picture of what the candidate has done in the past, but they give no indication of how well the candidate performed the task or activity, Devereux says;
* Situation-based - used to ask a candidate how they would handle a hypothetical job-related question. It`s best to ask about critical difficulties known to occur, for example how they might handle a call from an irate customer. These are especially beneficial when trying to discover a hypothetical behaviour that would eliminate a candidate from the selection process; and
* Behavioural descriptive - these are based on the principle that "the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour in similar circumstances". When asking these questions, it`s critical to keep two rules in mind: the more recent the behaviour, the greater its predictive power; and the more longstanding the behaviour, the greater its predictive power, Devereux says.
Behavioural descriptive interviewing
Behavioural descriptive interviewing (BDI) consists of three components:
1. Situation/task - for example, "Tell me about a situation..?", "Tell me about a time..?" or "Describe a time you faced..?"
2. Action - "What did you do ..?", "How did you do it?" Why, where and when?
3. Results - "What was the outcome, or result?" After asking this question, Devereux says, it`s crucial to then add, "and who can verify that?"
BDI is particularly effective because, unlike with other types of questioning, a candidate finds it difficult to get a feel for the interviewer`s desired response and it places their focus back on what they have actually done, she says.
Anyone recruiting should determine not only the behavioural questions to ask in the interview but also the answers that will demonstrate the candidate matches the selection criteria, Devereux says.
Structure of the interview
Inexperienced interviewers often want to make a candidate feel at home and tend to "jump in and fill spaces" when questioning, Devereux says.
BDI is more structured and "you can`t give away the answers", she says.
Before getting to the BDI questions, however, it`s important that the interviewer builds rapport and uses their relationship-building skills to put the candidate at ease.
They should set the agenda so the candidate knows what to expect. This includes letting the candidate know that BDI questions will be asked, and briefly explaining what they are (without revealing what they are actually questioning for). They should then run through the various types of interview questions, ending with BDI.
The role itself should only be discussed after the behavioural questions have been asked. Devereux says it`s a common mistake to introduce the role first up, because the candidate will - whether they mean to or not - tailor their answers to what they think the interviewer wants to hear. In doing so, they won`t truly reflect who they are and their skills and competencies.
Finally, it`s crucial to close the interview by explaining to the candidate what the next steps of the process are and when they can expect to be contacted, she says.
Source:
http://www.hrdaily.com.au/nl06_news_selected.php?act=2&nav=1&selkey=1047&utm_sou
