The Guide to Recruiting in the Good Times and Bad
Most companies react to hiring situations as emergencies; which might explain why so many do it so poorly. When 50 CEOs of global companies were surveyed, hiring practices were found to be disturbingly vague: Respondents relied heavily on subjective personal preferences or on largely unchallenged organizational traditions, based on false assumptions.
However, regardless of the times, organizations must take a serious look at the challenges facing them. Organizations have to anticipate the need to approach hiring from a rigorous, strategic, and objective point of view. They need to develop best practices, which in many cases will mean drastically revamping their hiring processes. They need to educate their line managers so they can hire effectively. Lastly, they need to ensure that their HR managers provide the right support.
Step 1: Anticipate the Need
Recognize that the firm’s existing top-talent pool is probably adequate. Despite best efforts, some top talent will leave to pursue other opportunities. Therefore, it is important to hire and then develop promising people.
Organizations should, at the very least, review their high-level leadership requirements every two to three years and develop a plan that can answer the following questions:
How many people will we need, in what positions, in the next few years?
What qualities are we looking for in those people, and how will we know when we find them?
What will the organizational structure look like?
What does our pipeline need today to ensure that we can find, develop, and support the leaders of tomorrow?
Step 2: Specify the Job
If a new high-level executive is to last long, a company must distinctively define the particular job skills it needs, and recruit and judge candidates accordingly. However, most companies rely on generic leadership skills, such as strategic thinking and drive.
To clearly specify the job, an organization must:
Define the specific demands of the job
Specify the skills and experience relevant
Identify the team and the candidate will need to work with or recruit
Consider how company culture and context affect the role
Step 3: Developing the Pool
You’d think it would be obvious that the wider you cast your net, the greater the likelihood of finding the right person for the job. However, this is not always true if the candidates within the net are unqualified.
The most effective strategy for sourcing is to think not only about candidates themselves but also about people who may know the best ones, such as external networks, former employees, customer supplier, or an advisor of the firm.
Step 4: Assessing the Candidates
A good assessment yields more than a good candidate – it can actually improve the company’s bottom line. Effective, yet simple practices can support a more efficient candidate assessment:
Using a small number of high-caliber, well-trained, properly motivated interviewers (typically, the hire’s perspective boss, the boss’s boss, and the top HR manager).
Employing rigorous behavioral interview questions (i.e., Tell me about a situation in which you managed conflicting interests).
Conducting detailed reference checks
Including top stakeholders
Step 5: Closing the Deal
The complication with top candidates is that many of them either already have a job, or are blessed with multiple offers.
Demonstrating active support for the candidate’s interests
Describing the job realistically
Ensuring that compensation is fair to other employees
Involving C-level executives for top positions
Step 6: Integrate the Newcomer
The recruitment process doesn’t end after the deal has been closed, although most companies think it does. Integrating the newcomer is crucial. Research found that 40% of new C-level hires who departed within two years did so because of integration difficulties. Theses best practices help to ensure integration:
Using veteran top performers as mentors.
Making sure the newcomer checks in regularly with boss, mentor and HR, even when no problems have arisen.
Step 7: Audit and Review
A great recruiting and integration process will minimize, but can never eliminate, the chances of making a hiring mistake. When that happens, best-practice
Is to act quickly to remove bad hires – that is, within the first year.
Removing bad hires within the first year
Regularly reviewing recruiting practices
Identifying and rewarding excellent interviewers
Holding all assessors accountable for the quality of their evaluations
Overall, companies can and must do better in filling top executive positions to operate effectively. By following the recommendations expressed in these pages, organizations will be able to set the bar higher, re-evaluate their recruiting processes, and make “talent management” a reality rather than an empty phrase.
Source: https://hbr.org/2009/05/the-definitive-guide-to-recruiting-in-good-times-and-bad
