The ability to select the right person for the job, the team, the project. is a fundamental capability of highly successful organizations and leaders. Unfortunately, it is also an area that, in most organizations, is done rather poorly. This would be more clearly understood if they looked at their level of engagement, performance, and positive retention.
Considerations:
- The people decisions are normally what determine the level of success a leader will have.
- Effective people decision-making is both and art and a science and increasingly, with the tools available, can become more of a predictive science.
- Making the wrong people decision is remarkably expensive as it may be easy to get rid of truly bad performers- but that mediocre performer can pose greater risks as they can cost your organizations month after month and they also lead to the loss of high performers…
- In a rapidly changing world and market environment, picking the right investments to make in your people is key to creating and maintaining a high performing organization.
- Technology is having a huge impact on the cost-effectiveness of available alternatives both for selection and development of people.
- For many competition for competencies and skills can come from those half way around the world who are more educated and cost 1/3 as much (or less). How does this impact people decisions locally?
- Selecting the wrong person is a very expensive proposition but it’s commonly done.
- Interviews, even structured behavioral interviews, are often poor ways to accurately assess the future performance of an individual (but effectivve in validating key performance factors).
Strategies:
- Don’t Focus on The Questions, Focus on The Interview.
Too many times interviewers focus on buzzworthy questions they believe will help them understand everything they need to know about the candidate. However, there aren’t specific questions that will instantly give them insight into the candidate.
Instead, recruiters should focus on the interview process as a whole. Spend your time getting to know the candidate better by exploring their skills and gaining an understanding of their experience and personality. Asking questions related to your industry and the candidate’s skillsets will be far more effective than a couple of oddball questions.
Test A Candidate’s Skills
Unfortunately, some candidates lie on their resume which is why it’s important that hiring staff check references and follow up with previous employers to evaluate a candidate’s stated skills and background.
For some hiring managers, viewing a candidate’s portfolio is enough to prove their skills. However, many companies test a candidate’s skills in the form of a test, written, verbal or otherwise. The job assessment test doesn’t have to be complex, but it should be difficult enough for the candidate to show the level of their skill set.
Include Other Relevant Employees
One person shouldn’t conduct the entire talent acquisition process on their own. Recruiters should involve other qualified employees throughout the interview process to get an accurate understanding of the skills the potential candidate can bring to the company and how their personality will fit in with the rest of the team.
This should include the candidate’s future manager, the department’s head or even a team member who will be working closely with them on a daily basis. It can also be effective to include a recruitment and staffing expert in the hiring process. These consultants can manage almost all of the entire recruitment and selection process from candidate sourcing to interviews, streamlining the hiring process for internal HR teams.