Who is guilty for the inherent failings in

candidate assessment techniques?

Chris Rowlands, HR Directors Business Summit 2016

“the recruitment process relies on human

decisions...and our decision-making is much more prone to sloppy thinking and bias than

we would like to believe”Jonny GiffordCIPD Research Report: “ A head for hiring”, 2015

Chris Rowlands, HR Directors Business Summit 2016

Bratton & Gold:“Selection is the process by which managers and others use specific instruments to choose from a pool of applicants a person or persons more likely to succeed in the job(s)”

Chris Rowlands, HR Directors Business Summit 2016

Bratton & Gold:“Selection is the process by which managers and others use specific instruments to choose from a pool of applicants a person or persons more likely to succeed in the job(s)”

“Predictive Validity”

or

How well a test actually measures what it intends to measure

Chris Rowlands, HR Directors Business Summit 2016

Is 50%/60%/70% acceptable? Why bridge the gap?

Cost of re-hire (£4k-£10k)

Chris Rowlands, HR Directors Business Summit 2016

Morale

Capacity: impact on team performance

Missed opportunity: cultural and organisational diversity

Customer dissatisfaction

Commercial downtimeHiring managers become risk averse

External perception: candidate pool

“...and our decision-making is much more prone to sloppy thinking and bias than we

would like to believe”

Chris Rowlands, HR Directors Business Summit 2016

“...take a more robust, evidence-based approach. Doing so will help ensure you really are hiring the

best”

“Traditional” recruitment and assessment methods have hard-wired, systematic biases

Chris Rowlands, HR Directors Business Summit 2016

• “Cloning” (specification)

• Gender bias (CV)

• Ethnicity bias (CV)

• Relationship bias (CV & interview)

• Confirmation bias (interview)

• Social desirability bias (interview)

• Status quo bias (decision-making)

• Cognitive load: “strain on your brain” (decision-making)

• DM competence (throughout)

KEY PREDICTORS OF PERFORMANCE

Chris Rowlands, HR Directors Business Summit 2016

Gender/Ethnicity Bias

• Anonymise CVs• Group CVs• Review simultaneously and/or side-by-side• Use objective measures

Chris Rowlands, HR Directors Business Summit 2016

Interviewing

• CHALLENGE = very low “predictive power”• Information gathering rather than decision-making• Suitable design (fit for purpose)• Structured interviews – commit to “job performance” only

Chris Rowlands, HR Directors Business Summit 2016

Testing

• Personality traits ARE predictive of job performance• Work sample testing• “Values”-based measurement / cultural fit

Chris Rowlands, HR Directors Business Summit 2016

Decision-making

• CHALLENGE – Synthesis of complex data• Resolve to stick to what the data/data scoring tells you• Involve people not involved in the Assessment process• Give appropriate time: avoid “decision fatigue” and

commercial pressures

Chris Rowlands, HR Directors Business Summit 2016

Chris Rowlands, HR Directors Business Summit 2016

Network HR i-intro

• Comparative (anonymised) profiles• Psychometric Profiling

• Aptitudinal Tests e.g. verbal, numerical• Behavioural/Personality Profiling (against Job Profile and/or Company Values)

• Task-based Assessments• Competency-based Q&A• Video Interviewing / Video Profiles• Social Media Profiling• Interview Guidelines, based on Job Specification and Performance Measures• 360 Referencing, based on Performance Measures • Stakeholder forum• Authorisation process for decision-making

CANDIDATE EXPERIENCEAND

CANDIDATE ENGAGEMENT

Chris Rowlands, HR Directors Business Summit 2016

Not forgetting:

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