In today’s tight labor market, it makes sense for bosses to be picky, picky, picky
By Diane Sears Campbell
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE
Hiring used to be a cinch:
An employer placed a want ad and waited for someone to apply. If the employer liked the candidate and he had a good work history, he was hired, and the boss didn't have to fill the position again until the employee retired.
It's not so easy today. Employers face more obstacles than they did even five years ago. Because of low unemployment rates, they're competing harder to find applicants. They're also fighting to keep employees.
And employers are doing this in their spare time as they juggle more responsibilities than ever.
It seems kind of odd, then, that they're being more selective in hiring these days.
"It's almost a contradiction in such a tight job market, but because it is so difficult to recruit good people, we want to make sure each hire is a good hire and that it's going to stick," says Ann Meier, a human resource specialist for Liberty Mutual in Orlando, Fla.
Part of the reason, of course, is financial.
Studies show the average cost of turnover – whether an employer is righting a hiring mistake or replacing a longtime employee – is 2˝ times the salary of the worker that’s being lost. The costs are higher when the boss is replacing an executive who earns six figures.
Besides actual pay and benefits, turnover brings hidden costs: the time it takes to interview people, the overtime paid others to pick up the slack, the loss of institutional knowledge and the decrease in productivity that comes with a dip in morale.
Multiply that times two or four or 10 over the course of a year, and the dollars add up.
"Companies are realizing it's better to wait and be sure than to hurry up and get a warm body in there and deal with the mistake later," says Ann Robbins, senior vice president at Right Management Consultants in Maitland, Fla.
How much money do employers budget for turnover? That question usually brings a blank stare, says Michael Pollard with Business Works, a consulting company in Maitland.
"I don't think anybody budgets $100,000 a year for turnover, but the cost is there," he says. "There are a lot of intangibles."
So how would you hire without making a mistake? Here are some suggestions:
§ Decide exactly what is wanted. The goal is to find someone whose personality, work style and temperament will fit in at the workplace and not just the person with the right skills and a good resume, Robbins says.
§ Give each candidate an assignment. Ask him to visit the office or its Web site, for example, and provide some feedback, says Pierre Mornell, author of "Hiring Smart!" (1998, Ten Speed Press, $24.95).
§ Screen resumes in teams. This can give more depth to the reading than if done alone, Mornell says. But the team should be made up of people who work together well and can come to a consensus.
§ Screen candidates over the phone. At Liberty Mutual, candidates are asked whether they have the required computer skills, can work the needed schedule and are satisfied with the salary range before they're brought in for interviews, Meier says.
§ Adjust interview schedules to accommodate applicants. Employers are likely to be interviewing candidates who already have jobs, Meier says, so be prepared to recruit them and meet with them on their terms, which might mean after hours.
§ Test the candidates. Employers have long measured applicant personalities and abilities, but testing is becoming more exact, Pollard says. The trend is to compare the job seeker's test results with a benchmark of the ideal employee based on performance, work style and personality.
Business Works uses the Prevue Assessment, Pollard says.
Here's how it works: Four top performers in similar jobs are given a one-hour test of about 150 questions about the way they work.
Their answers are marked on a grid to produce a benchmark of an ideal employee. That gives employers a sort of wish list they could use if they could clone their top performers, says Katy Williamson, who conducts the tests for Business Works.
Testing s a supplement to interviewing. "You're contemplating a heavy investment," Pollard says. "The more tools you can get, the better."
§ Interview candidates as team. Instead of putting the candidate through back-to-back sessions with interviewers who ask the same questions, have the candidate sit down with a panel, Robbins says. Talk about your perceptions later as a group.
§ Conduct interviews in multiple visits. Liberty Mutual brings in candidates at least twice, Meier says. That shows they're committed and lets interviewers see them in more than one setting.
§ Ask situational questions. Instead of the traditional “Tell me about your strengths and weaknesses," which is likely to net you a rehearsed answer, ask candidates to describe a time when they had to carry out an unpopular decision, or a situation in which they felt their ethics were challenged, Robbins says. Then ask how they handled it.
§ Watch for more clues. Try something different to gather more insight into a candidate's personality, Mornell says, such as walking her around the building for a tour before the interview and watching how she interacts with the people she meets.
§ Check references. Mornell offers this tip: Call a reference's number during lunchtime or after hours so a voicemail message can be left.
Explain why the call is being made and give this specific instruction: "Please call me back if the candidate was outstanding." If only two or three of the 10 references return the call, that's a clue. This way, references can't be sued by a former employee for saying anything derogatory.
§ Help employees and their families adjust to the change. Most employers make the mistake of putting new workers through orientation and then letting them fend for themselves, says Tom Shea, head of the Right Management offices in Florida.
Soon after taking a job, employees go through a down cycle, similar to buyer's remorse, and wonder whether they made a mistake. If that is anticipated and time is taken to let new employees know what their roles in the organization will be, they're more likely to stay.
§ Offer a potential for growth. Show the new employees what will be available in the future so they don't see their positions as temporary.
“A lot of times you're getting people who are uncertain about their career path," says Shinita Carter, a human resources specialist with Aramark, an international foodservices company.
She puts new employees through orientation classes as soon as they're hired. Later, they're asked to be in focus groups to examine the company's progress, and they can choose from among 40 paid training classes to broaden their skills.
§ Promote the company's image. One trend is to link the organization with a social cause. For example, McDonald's promotes its Ronald McDonald houses, where families stay while their sick children are in the hospital.
§ Seek employees from a diverse pool of candidates.
For instance, Ticketmaster in Central Florida works with the Center for Independent Living in Winter Park and the Florida Division of Blind Services. People with disabilities make up 10 percent to 15 percent of Ticketmaster's staff.
The company also hires up to 50 high school students a year for part-time jobs and seeks retirees and people who are looking for a second job.
In Central Florida, where the service industry is so prevalent, seemingly unrelated companies such as theme parks, restaurants and hotels are looking at the same job candidates.
“We're all competing for the same people, so you have to get real creative," says Maritza Torres of Ticketmaster. "I think all companies are seeking the same thing. You want trustworthy, reliable employees."