Selection Process Consulting
Selection consulting is the set of services that assist the hiring organization in definition, preparation and execution of a systematic, fair and appropriate hiring process to ensure the best candidate is identified and selected. Some examples of these services are:
Selection Process Consulting/Training/Facilitation – Developing and executing comprehensive and effective hiring processes. Training & assisting internal staff to develop and execute comprehensive and effective hiring processes.
Hiring and Selection Process
Knowledgeable industry experts estimate that the financial cost of hiring the wrong person is equal to three times their annual salary. Additionally, when productivity deficits & customer/sales losses are factored into the equation the cost can be in the millions of dollars lost. Therefore, Pathfinders has developed a process that will help you hire the right person for the job. We begin by benchmarking the job itself, identifying the behaviors, attitudes, and attributes that will lead to success in a given position. Your job candidates then take our on-line assessments (with no staff time required on your end) to determine their personal behaviors, attitudes, and attributes. The resulting report not only helps you align the right person with each position, it also provides valuable insight into managing each person for maximum potential.
Let�s look at the process in more detail. The Pathfinders hiring and selection process uses seven steps.
Job Benchmarking
Screening
Assessing
Pre-Interview Meeting
Interview
Decision Process
Results Review
Job Benchmarking
The first step is job benchmarking. This involves the detailing of success factors for a job or position. Our goal is to take out the personal biases used in delivering job descriptions and other subjective attempts to identify factors for hiring � which have contributed to poor hiring practices in the past. Using one or a combination of assessments, we provide our clients with an accurate position benchmark showing the priorities of factors leading to correctly identifying the traits necessary for success at the job level. Another key element in the benchmarking is to identify the 3-5 key accountabilities for the position. These key accountabilities are the must � do�s for the job to be successful.
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Screening
The second step is to identify the minimum standards for a job candidate using both the key accountabilities and the priorities from the job benchmark. Using this information, a list of screening questions and job requirements are developed for phone or initial screening conversations regarding the position with candidates.
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Assessing
The assessment phase can be simple or multi-faceted depending upon the client needs. The core of this phase is the Personal Capability Report, which provides a direct comparison to the Job Position developed during the Benchmarking phase. The advantage of this report is it provides you with information regarding how, why and will a candidate perform in the position. Additional assessments used in the selection process include IQ assessments, Math abilities, Reading abilities, Sales Skills and other job specific abilities.
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Pre-Interview Screening
This phase is used to identify who will be involved in the interview phase, where will the interviews take place, how many people are being interviewed, review the selection scoring system and interpretation guide for selected questions. This is a critical phase as it works to eliminate the �winging it� nature of many people in the selection process and shows there is a clear process to follow. This is also the time to identify who may need training or coaching in interviewing techniques. We can provide a workshop on effective interviewing techniques to insure compliancy and competency of all interviewers.
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Interview
This phase is the most important phase due to the interaction with the candidate. This is the time that you learn the most about the candidate, assuming you know what questions to ask and how to ask them to get the most information from the candidate. The key to success in the interview phase is asking questions to learn how the candidate has handled specific competencies in the past plus how does the candidate handle low-level stress during the phase. If the position requires the handling of stress and high performance levels, then the interview phase should place the candidate in simulated situations and clearly monitor their responses. Example: if the candidate will be asked to present to high level customers, then the candidate should present to a high level group and have multiple observers watching for key signs of confidence, competency and presentation skills. Pathfinders can be a part of this interview phase and will provide the objective observation and voice to the interviews.
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Decision Process
This phase has the most variable due to the level of the positions, the number of qualified candidates, the budgetary issues, possible manager biases and the need for a possible contract situation. All legal requirements will need to be observed and validated at this point to insure no additional cost is required.
The decision process should include a prioritization of candidates with all variables discussed openly and clarified if necessary. The phase should include all written communication for both acceptance of offers and rejection of other candidates.
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Results Review
No process could be a process without a review of the hiring process effectiveness and accuracy. This is the most overlooked phase of the process, yet it is very important to the continued success of the company.
In addition to performance evaluation, the Human Resource team should be involved in tracking the levels of performance of each new hire to insure the job benchmark being used for future hiring is accurate regarding the priorities listed. It is equally important to learn if the nature of the job changed significantly after the candidate was hired. Changes will or can impact of the level of performance of an employee. Too often, we hear that a candidate is not working out in a position, only to learn that the job requirements changed to a degree that the employee no longer matched the job requirements. In effect, the employee was having to use their personal weaknesses to work in a position � placing the company and the employee at risk.
The key to any hiring process is to recognize that every position in a company could be very different regarding the personal traits and attributes necessary for success. A company that invests in developing a common pattern of job benchmarks and more accurate job descriptions will enable the company to hire, select, retain, develop and create succession plans at the highest level.
