The current low unemployment rates and data mining have led to companies tossing out wider and wider nets to fill positions. But, is all of this confusing activity with productivity?
This article (thanks to Dennis Adsit for bringing it to my attention) brings up some great reminders about some very solid things that employers should be doing (valid testing, structured interviews, etc.) and avoiding others (tech is NOT a magic bullet for recruitment and selection). However, it also does a good job of challenging some basic assumptions about hiring, all of which can be evaluated. These include:
- Unless you are adding positions, why are you looking for so many outside candidates? One reason people leave companies is because they do not feel they have promotional opportunities. One reason you are looking for so many outside candidates is that people quit. Chicken, meet egg.
- Taken a step further, HR really needs to test the effectiveness of its processes on an ongoing basis. If there is data to support that, in general, outside candidates perform better than those promoted, then keep on searching for them. And you should probably revamp your entry level recruitment and hiring processes. If not, then career development and taking steps to increase internal mobility will be more effective actions than scouring the universe of passive candidates for new hires.
- Develop measures to evaluate the success of what you are doing. Few things frustrate me more than a client saying, “We cannot measure someone’s individual performance.” Really? Does that mean the cost of turnover is the only reason you keep people in their jobs? Granted, it can take some time to measure output, but you can typically find ways of evaluating a person’s contribution to a team. If a manager says, “I like/don’t think this person is effective” she should be able to say why.
- Related to the above, don’t assume that a good process will always have the same effectiveness. As your business changes, recruiting and selection systems need to adapt as well.
I do not think that HR has to constantly be reinvented. But, basic assumptions should occasionally be challenged. It is only by measuring and evaluating our processes that we can truly improve them.