So, you have spent a lot of time recruiting for an open position. You get some good resumes and some of those people you talked to actually sound as if they could do the job. This group gets whittled down some more through your interviews and you want to ensure you make the best hire by doing a more formal assessment of their skills. But, your best candidate hems-and-haws, puts off the assessment date and finally drops out of the process. What should you do?
Send the person a present and a thank you note! S/he has just done you a terrific favor!
We can hypothesize all we want about why someone doesn’t want to be assessed (found a better offer in the meantime, doesn’t want the pressure, etc.), but it all comes down to that they did not really want to work for you and by not doing so saved themselves and you a lot of heartache. Whatever you do, don’t back off of your commitment to assess and evaluate your candidates just to make the process easier for them. There’s a lot of research that shows that people who go through a difficult process to join a group are more loyal. Also, we know that people who do well on valid assessments do well in their jobs. Sure, it makes your recruiters’ work harder, but the quality of the talent that gets through the full selection process is worth it in the end.
For more information on pre-employment testing, skills assessment, and talent management, please contact Warren at 310 670-4175 or warren@allaboutperformance.biz.