THE HIGH IMPACT APPROACH TO HIRING

“Everywhere I’ve worked where I had to hire people, the rule of thumb among managers was to involve HR as little as possible in the process.”

- Stewart, “Taking on the Last Bureaucracy” (1996)

Concerns About HR

• “They don’t know what they’re doing”– “Paper-pushers”– Credibility

• “They’re out of the loop”– “ They don’t understand my needs”

• “They get in the way”– “Tell me what I CAN’T do”

The Function of HR

• Who are the constituencies?

• What do they expect from HR (as part of the organization)?

HIRING GOALS/OBJECTIVES

Primary Goal: – Contribute to organizational performance and

competitive advantage.Secondary Goals:

– – – – –

Costs of Hiring Mistakes

• Estimates of Direct Costs of Hiring– 1/3 of new hire’s salary• (DOL)

– $8,117 for exempt positions• (Employment Management Association)

– $2,356 for non-exempt positions• (Employment Management Association)

– $6,090• (College Placement Council, 1994)

– 150-175% of leaver’s salary• (Kwasha Lipton Survey, 1997)

– $40K for IT Professional• (Local telco)

Indirect Costs of a Bad Hire

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Indirect Costs of a Bad Hire

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BETTER HIRING AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINE

Gain compared to standard interview: Structured interview:

$9,675 Ability test: $10,610

Study of Hiring Managers

• Luck or gut instinct!

What’s the secret to successful hiring?

Summary: Why Hiring Worked

• Gut Feel: 32%

• Good Hiring Process 28%

• “Track Record Hiring” 17%

Summary: Why Hiring Failed

Summary: Why Hiring Failed

• Inadequate Process: 50%

• Inadequate Applicants: 14%

• Pressure to Hire Wrong Person: 13%

• Limitations of Interviewer: 12%

• Fooled by Applicant: 11%

• Didn’t Explain Job: 3%

Why Hiring Failed

Inadequate Process (50%)

• Interviews: 15%

• Reference-checking: 13%

• Not enough time: 7%

• Wrong qualifications: 7%

• Not selective enough: 4%

Three Models of Hiring

• Warm-Body Hiring

• Ritual Hiring

• High-Impact Hiring

WARM-BODY HIRING

Hiring on some basis other than potential performance.

Compromise hiring due to:– – – – –

Frustration due to past failuresNot knowing an alternative existsResults of warm-body hiring?

Ritual Hiring

• Ritual: “A ceremonial act; a detailed method or procedure faithfully or regularly followed.”

Characteristics of Rituals

• Based on tradition– Often we hire the way we were hired

• Often used unthinkingly

• Compliance is expected

• Serve to re-assure user

• But rituals are not necessarily functional

Ritual Hiring

• Ritual: “A ceremonial act; a detailed method or procedure faithfully or regularly followed.”

• Examples:–

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• Outcome of ritual hiring?

A Case of Ritual Hiring?

Lima, Peru police are recruiting female traffic officers because they are more honest. “A recent poll said about 67% of urban Peruvians view women as both more honest and less authoritarian than men….The government is relying on the general perception that Peruvian women are more honest than men to clean up the image of a police force so corrupt that many officers will overlook traffic infractions for bribes as small as a dollar, about the cost of a candy bar….Male officers are known to pull cars over en masse before holidays to extort gift-buying money…”

Said police commander Pedro Montoya, “The women are more honest and morally firm than the men. It’s undeniable.”

High Impact Hiring Principles

• Systematic

• Comprehensive

• Performance-oriented– does it deliver better job performance?

Steps to High Impact Hiring

Understanding job performance Anticipating hiring needs Recruiting high potential applicants Comprehensive evaluation of applicants Performance-based decision-making