Recruitment - Beyond Nice Chats and Gut Feel!
An Australian survey a few years ago deduced that about $17 billion is wasted annually through poor recruitment practices. This is an enormous and unnecessary waste. The cost of replacing poorly selected staff is very high, and ranges from a minimum of 310,000 through to hundreds of thousands of dollars for senior appointments.
What is the key reason for this great waste? Managers use an unstructured approach, rely on their gut feeling and biases, and then blame the staff or circumstances for poor outcomes. Managers are not trained in behavioural interviewing (or similar technique), which greatly enhances the effectiveness of recruitment decisions. All too often, managers and HR staff are also not held accountable for the quality of their recruitment decisions.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Behavioural interviewing is clearly much more valid and effective than the all too frequent ad hoc approach. It is particularly effective if it is aligned with other sound practices, such as solid referee checking, proper use of biographical data, and appropriate use of personality questionnaires and ability/work sample tests.
Some years ago, Advanced HR Solutions trained hundreds of managers and HR staff in one large organisation in behavioural interviewing. Many of the managers attending had been reluctant to anend the one-day workshop, but were required to come. It was clear that many believed they had very sound recruitment skills, and thought the training was a waste of time, However (to use the jargon), they were 'unconsciously unskilled'.
In one exercise, our consultant did a mock interview, using first the traditional interviewing and then the behavioural interviewing approach. Many participants realised with a shock that the first interview (aligned to their approach) had not yielded any useful information, as compared with second approach. From that point, they were much more attentive! Most of the rest of the day was devoted to providing skills practice and giving constructive feedback.
How effective are your managers and HR staff in recruitment and selection? Do they receive necessary training and support? How accountable are they for their recruitment decisions? Do key performance indicators (e.g. staff turnover) monitor the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection in your organisation? These are important questions, and the answers will determine whether your organisation needs assistance in this vital area
What have past participants said about our recruitment and selection training? A sample:
• "Very interesting and work related. Well done."
• "Very useful information on behavioural interviewing"
• "Thank you very much for the training"
• "Enjoyed it and benefited greatly"
• "All interviews from here on will be positively affected"
• "Very good"
• "Will be put to good use in the near future"
• "A very worthwhile topic - most beneficial"
• "Really well organised tools for interviewing"
Call 0438 792 300 or email us at
training@advancedhr.com.au, so that we
can discuss your needs and explain our process.
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