Viewpoint February 2007
Hiring the Best
by Bob Gershberg
Managing Partner, Dick Wray Executive Search
It is always the mission to hire the absolute best in order to ensure a highly productive and motivated team. The critical challenge: The very best and brightest are always in great demand. As the talent pool continues to tighten, we must improve our recruiting techniques and enhance the speed of our process.
Behaviorists have come a long way since the 1930s, when Skinner decoded motivation by studying rats. And likewise, human resource professionals have brought their prowess to the forefront in recent years. Why, then, are we still asking the same interview questions that Robert Half devised in 1948? Just as a clear and comprehensive job description is essential for each position prior to recruitment, so is a well-crafted, customized set of interview questions. Having a clear understanding of the required success factors for each discipline—before conducting the initial phone screen—is paramount.
It is estimated by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) that only 12 percent of those actively involved in the hiring process have any formal interview training. Behavioral interview questions must be forward thinking and include inquiries as to how a candidate would handle a situation if he or she had the authority to do so rather than how the candidate may have handled it in the past. Drop the “Did you” and “Can you” questions and allow for open-ended responses by using phrases such as “Tell me about,” “Discuss” or “Describe.” Be mindful of the need to spend most of the interview time listening.
The resume review and subsequent authentication, along with a series of telephone and personal interviews, are only the beginning. To assure successful hiring, extensive background checks, objective behavioral testing and thorough reference checking must be conducted. Recent statistics show that 40 percent of job applications contain false statements. The most reliable predictor of a good candidate is often his or her past successes. If a person had a successful track record during his or her most recent tenures, barring massive cultural differences, the person is likely to shine in your organization as well.
The money, effort and energy spent on mastering the recruitment process will come back many fold. And if you really want to maximize the process with extraordinary results, retain a specialized search firm. Sorry, friends, I couldn't resist!
All the best,
