Best Practices for Hiring the Best
By Lori & Bob Bomes
When it comes to hiring someone, having a best-practice process in place can guide you from beginning to end, increasing your possibilities of hiring the right person before you invest time, money and effort in training them. There are important decisions you need to make throughout the entire process, but how you set the stage helps you progressively narrow it down to the best person as you go through the three stages: (1) Pre-Process Phase, (2) Interview Phase and (3) Follow-up Phase. Having a process and following it, provides more objectivity and fairness for you and the candidates. As you determine best practices for hiring, it is imperative that you check that the guidelines are in compliance with your organization’s hiring guidelines and be in compliance with the local and national governances.
1. Pre Hiring Process
This phase needs to be broken down into several phases. One of the first aspects to be considered is what is the position—including job title, scope of responsibilities and work environment in determining the compensation plan (pay range, benefits, vacation, etc.). A highly competent Senior Executive Human Resources (HR) professional can facilitate the hiring process from beginning to end. Training HR to find the best and the brightest candidates is vitally important – and has a huge return on investment. (Some organizations utilize a committee in the hiring process, which wastes time and energy. The only time other people might be brought in is when there is a final candidate.)
The next determination to make is what type of background, education, skills and experience are the baseline qualities and criteria for the position. The Sr. HR professional may need to discuss the position with those who would be directly involved with the new hire in order to establish the appropriate qualifying criteria for the position.
The application format and process itself also needs to be in compliance with hiring guidelines as it seeks to provide a written means of communicating a candidate’s qualifications relevant to the position. Ability to meet the application deadline, follow directions, and present themselves well in writing and in person also gives an indication of the candidate’s ability to perform. It is imperative that the application itself indicate that their signature provides their consent to means of verifying the information they provide on the application. It is also important to include a background check.
It is important to learn as much as you can about the candidates before you meet them, which helps you remain more objective in comparing their experience and qualifications as they relate to the position. Too often hiring managers meet a candidate and like or dislike him or her based upon subjective and superficial things such as appearances, attire and business acumen. Those can also be important factors based upon the nature of the position in representing your organization, although they should not be the prime factors.
Part of narrowing down the number of applicants to interview is having HR develop a checklist of requirements that are part of the application process, where the following items are completed for each candidate and provide a more holistic and accurate perspective of the applicant
- Application completed, which provides basic technical/educational background experience and work history.
- Cover Letter, Resume and References provided.
- A psychometric, personality instrument that provides an accurate projection of what someone will do in the position for which they are applying. This type of instrument will give an accurate prediction of a person’s likelihood for success.
- A clean Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) check
- A clean drug- and alcohol-free test
Many organizations have moved away from calling references. These calls have proven to be unreliable and often non-disclosing. They are usually a waste of time.
Once the candidates to be interviewed are selected, it is important to have standard procedures for notifying those selected to be interviewed and those who were not, whether it be by letter, phone or a combination.
2. Hiring Process Interview Phase
Although each interview may go differently based upon the candidates being interviewed, there should be a standard impartiality in place through the consistency with which the HR Executive conducts the interview from start to finish, beginning with when the candidate enters the interview waiting area to when they leave. It does not mean that it should be an unfriendly environment, however. Often times, interviewees are nervous anyway.
The pre-process work of gathering information about the candidate should also be considered in determining a general profile of how a candidate’s capabilities relate to the position and how they compare to those of the other candidates.
Another important factor to determine is how the HR Executive perceives the candidate will fit in the culture of the organization or not. Asking several intentionally vague questions creates the opportunity for the candidate to demonstrate their personality, skills and abilities as the HR Executive can gain additional insights to support the information already provided in the overall application requirements. The following three types of questions add to the concreteness of determining a candidate’s ability to lead and demonstrate resourcefulness.
It is important to inform the interviewee that they can either respond using personal or professional responses. Once each question is asked, it is important that the HR Executive is completely silent in order to let the interviewee respond. It is a good idea to have a Question and Answer form to fill in notes regarding the interviewee’s responses during the interview in order to evaluate the candidate’s responses more objectively following the interview. The types of questions and what their possible responses may reveal to you are as follows:
Question 1:
You have just been given an assignment that you know nothing about. Upon completion, the results of this assignment will be rolled out and will positively affect the culture. How would you begin the assignment? Would you involve others? What approach to communicating the positive results to the organization would you take?
These types of questions provide an opportunity for the candidate to offer a creative response. The goals are to watch your applicant think “on their feet” as they respond to moderate pressure. It also demonstrates the interviewee’s individual communication style.
Question 2:
First, tell the candidate: “Describe something at which you have failed.”
If an applicant says that they have never failed at anything – ever – do you really want them? Either they are risk adverse; or they are not disclosing the truth about themselves. Would you want someone who responds in any of these ways in your organization? Additionally, someone who responds with extreme emotion about their failure(s), might be someone worth avoiding. Next, after you have received their response, ask them: “What lessons have you learned as a result of your failure(s)?” If you get a thoughtful, honest response, you might want to positively consider that individual.
Question 3:
Ask the interviewee: “Tell me something about which you are VERY proud and why.”
By asking simple questions and observing your potential employee’s responses, you can rapidly assess positive and negative behavioral traits.
The HR Executive may also want to ask additional questions regarding compensation and so on. Also, offer the interviewee the opportunity to ask questions in order to see what types of questions they ask and answer any questions that may help clarify the position and related expectations.
3. Hiring Process Follow-up Phase
The follow-up of the interview process begins immediately following the interview and/or series of interviews conducted. There should be a comparative matrix that helps evaluate the overall responses of the interviewee in relation to their overall application requirements. This matrix should also aide in comparing interviewees across the board. Rank the candidates regarding who is the best candidate and who are the back-ups.
It is imperative to use a Psychometric Instrument in discovering if final candidates have the talents needed to successfully fulfill the requirements of the position.
Once the best candidate is determined, follow the procedures for notifying them and the procedures for notifying the others. Keep in mind that the best candidate may also have other offers. The HR Executive may want to first check with that candidate to see if they are going to accept the position prior to notifying the other candidates.
It takes a lot of time to hire, train and fire someone. So, hiring right saves time, money and effort. Although you do not want to overcomplicate your hiring process, you also do not want it to be oversimplified. If you adequately think it through and develop a system that involves each phase of the hiring process described here, you will significantly increase your possibilities of hiring the best person for the position.