How to improve your quality of hire

by Elly Cawley

Employment survey data suggests that up to 20% of all new hires are viewed as ‘mistakes’; and although the costs of mis-hires and the benefits of great hires are well understood, many organisations still struggle with quality of hire.

In this article, we look at three ways to directly impact your quality hires, as poor quality hiring decisions can be both costly and disruptive to your business.

Of course there are many factors that influence quality hires, but if you can improve in these 3 critical areas of your recruitment process you are on the right track!

1. Ensure your recruitment process is candidate-centric rather than employer-centric

Most business processes are designed and executed to maximise organisational efficiencies and minimise time and investment.  However, while organisational productivity must always be considered, an efficient process doesn’t always result in quality outcomes.

Recruitment processes are one such conundrum.  What potential applicants and your target talent want in order to engage and invest in your opportunity isn’t about what’s easiest for your organisation.

A positive candidate experience during the application and assessment process is critical - not just to a successful hire, but also to their longer term performance.

Think about how you can best engage your talent at the critical beginning and end stages of the hiring process and how to modify your approach for different audiences.

  • How can you give real insight into the role, your team and the culture?
  • What self-selection approaches should be used - surveys, job simulations?
  • What are the most effective human engagement and interactions for this person?

2. Improve your recruiter’s expertise

Attract and retain skilled recruiters who genuinely ‘get’ that recruitment isn’t about keywords on a resume or years of experience.

Understanding and expert knowledge…

This “tip of the ice berg” level of recruitment is the crudest level of understanding of what skilled recruiters do.  If your recruiters are not able to assess and understand behavioural and motivational competencies, enrol them in some professional development … or hire some who do!

Attitude…

Your recruiter’s attitude about the value of what they do will also impact their desire and willingness to innovate and be committed to quality processes and outcomes.  If their experience and relationships with critical hiring managers in your business do not reflect their importance in the process, they are less likely to be engaged and more likely to just go through the motions, resulting in mediocre outcomes.

Workload…

It may seem obvious, but the number of vacancies a recruiter manages can significantly impact the quality of the outcomes.  Most organisations find it difficult to justify having dedicated resources for recruitment, which means that staff in HR are often spread too thinly to ensure expertise across too many deliverables.

Ensure you have the resources to manage the volume of recruitment you are experiencing and look for flexible ways to manage this during peaks in demand.  Consider hiring a contractor to manage short term volumes, or outsource strategically when demand is in peak; or even for difficult roles.

3. Effectively partner with your hiring managers

Hiring managers, as ultimate decision makers and key influencers in the first 90 days of a new hire’s employment, have significantly more influence on quality of hire than recruiters.  The challenge is that while most hiring managers are ‘subject matter experts’ in their field, they often lack the skills or understanding of recruitment and selection practices effectively.

  • Get hiring managers involved early in the process.  Have them invest time and thought into a needs analysis process from the outset.
  • Manage their expectations and the amount of weight they will give to an applicant in relation to what’s on their resume.  It’s a common misconception for hiring managers to assume that years of experience will have a direct correlation with their predicted performance.  They may find it counterintuitive that evidence suggests these factors are not good predictors of performance.
  • Provide them with appropriate selection tools and ensure they know how to use them.
  • Ensure they understand the impact of candidate care throughout the recruitment process.
  • An accepted offer is just the beginning.  Get them engaged in the onboarding process to set your talent up for successful performance.

 

Click here to read other RecruitNews articles.

Elly Cawley is a Recruitment Specialist in Dixon Appointments' Recruitment Team.  For further information, contact Elly on 03 9629 9999 or email: ecawley@dixonappointments.com.au