It drives my wife, Roberta, nuts, but I just can’t
help myself. Every step I take, every speech I make, every hour I’m awake, I’m
either thinking or talking about how our clients can find and keep the best employees.
Last month, before my keynote address at a Hilton Head, South Carolina, meeting,
I had some time to take stroll along the shore. While walking and mentally rehearsing my
key points, I was also absentmindedly picking up seashells in search of one or two special
ones to take home. All of a sudden, I had one of those "ah ha!" experiences and
I could plainly see that finding good employees is just like looking for seashells. My
next thought was, "Too bad it’s not half as much fun."
In fact, 99 percent of the people involved in the hiring process actually hate
it. They don’t like having to ask tough interview questions. They don’t like
having to disappoint the people who don’t make the cut. Worst of all, they think the
whole thing is, at best, a crap shoot.
They’ve learned from experience that, once on the job, the person who
looked like an eagle in the interview, can turn into a turkey. Then they find themselves
stuck with the miserable job of having to fire someone and starting the whole recruiting
and selection process all over again.
The good news is we can eliminate these disconcerting experiences and
start making better hiring decisions if we’d just recruit and select new hires as
deliberately as a beachcomber chooses seashells. Here’s what I mean:
- Set a goal and stick to it.
When I get to a beach, I usually pick a
destination – a big rock, pier, or curve of the coastline – and head for it.
Sometimes, my goal turns out to be further away than I’d guessed, but I always try to
stick to my plan.
Likewise, the companies who attract and hire the best people, stick to their
recruiting plans and goals. Whether it’s collecting 25 applications, conducting 10
interviews, or making 15 phone calls every day, week, or month, they all use recruiting
systems with measurable goals.
These companies see recruiting as a vital, on-going activity – just as
important as their marketing and sales efforts. Because they’re always recruiting,
they never have to resort to desperation hiring. They never have to hire the first person
with a pulse who happens to walk through the door. They know desperation hiring is the
root cause of most management headaches. It creates open-ended liabilities and jeopardizes
your relationships with your good employees and your customers as well.
- Know what you’re looking for.
Do beachcombers pick up every shell they
see? Of course not. That would be counterproductive. No, they know what they want to find
before they even begin. Perhaps they look for a certain size or color or even a particular
type of shell.
This is where too many employers miss the mark. If you don’t know what
you’re looking for, how will you know when you find it? Most don’t think any
further than "I need a data entry clerk."
What that employer should be thinking is, "I need a new data entry clerk.
The person should have good data entry skills, be a dependable and honest team player, and
willing to work for $7 per hour to start. Experience would be nice, but is not a real
requirement."
Can you see how much easier it will be to find what you need when you know
precisely what it is up front?
- Look as many places as possible.
Serious shell seekers don’t look only
near the water’s edge or just up by the high water mark. They look everywhere. And,
if it’s a beach they know, they’ll go back to the places where they’ve been
successful before.
Good systems recruit applicants in every way possible – employment
classifieds, employee referral programs, store signage, community involvement, etc. Good
recruiters know where the company’s best employees came from and what they look like
and they keep tapping that vein.
- Don’t rely on first impressions.
What do you do when you spot a seashell
that looks promising? Don’t you bend over, pick it up, and inspect it closely? If
it’s cracked or broken or somebody’s home, don’t you put it back? Well, in
order to identify the best job applicants, you have to be just as careful and just as
picky – if not more so – for several reasons.
First, the harder you make the job to get, the more the best people will want
it. Capitalize on human nature by making your hiring system a series of qualifying steps
where each step is progressively more difficult. People who don’t like to work or
don’t take pride in their performance will wash out early and not waste any more of
your time.
In most good selection systems, the completed employment application is the
first step. The person only "passes" if it is completely and neatly filled out
in accordance with all instructions.
The second step is a phone screen to ensure the applicant meets your basic
requirements. The time to find out whether or not they have reliable transportation and if
the salary you offer is acceptable, is before you invest more time – not after.
The third step is actual testing for what it takes to be successful on the job.
Does the person need to be strong, smart, honest, dependable, or a real go-getter? Do you
need someone who can drive, write, or do lots of data entry?
Once you know what capacities and capabilities you need, test for them. There
are all kinds of validated pre-employment tests on the market. They measure everything
from I.Q. to word processing skills. Several companies, including ours, offer attitude and
personality evaluations that can identify the applicants most likely to be successful once
on the job.
Most employers purchase or create their own tests because tests are the most
reliable predictor of success on the job. Testing has proven to be more accurate than
interviews, academic achievement, experience, a temporary job assignment, or reference
checks. And the test results give you the specific information you need to conduct a
thorough and on-point interview.
After the interview, the next step is a thorough reference check to confirm the
information provided by the applicant and to protect you and your firm from potential
legal liabilities (like negligent hiring lawsuits).
Depending on the job, the employer may then also conduct an in-depth background
check, criminal records check, a drug test, or, where a contingent offer of employment has
been made, a medical exam.
- Keep raising the bar.
Once you’ve got a pretty good selection of
seashells, what do you do? You get pickier still. After a while, a shell has to be pretty
special to make it into your collection.
This holds true for employers with good selection systems too. They keep raising
the bar and use every instance of turnover to improve the overall quality of the
organization.
Every single business transaction and every single dollar that comes in or goes
out your door is touched by at least one of your employees. Doesn’t it only make
sense that they should be chosen at least as carefully and as systematically as seashells?
