Finding The Right People Now Is Tougher - The Key To Success Is Preparation

Employers say that finding the right people has always been a challenge. But high unemployment has made it even tougher. That doesn't seem to make sense. But our clients place as much if not more emphasis on preparation for recruiting and selection of critical positions in high unemployment markets as in tight labor markets.

Careful preparation is necessary to overcome certain beliefs and behaviors that always seem to show up at times of high unemployment. The behaviors and beliefs our clients cite most frequently as needing to be overcome by careful preparation are the following:

The belief that critical positions should be easier to fill in this economy. With so many people out of work, shouldn't it be easier and quicker to hire the right person for the right job? That expectation and the pressure it places on recruiters and hiring managers can result in taking short cuts in the selection process.

The high number of applicants has made it harder to separate the qualified from the not qualified. It's not uncommon to get 500 resumes or on line applications for a position that, a few years ago, may have seen one or two qualified applicants.

The high volume of job applicants hasn't changed the fact that at least 90% of them will continue to be unqualified for specific positions. Except now it can take a lot longer to sort that out, and the exposure to lawsuits based on discrimination in hiring increases. With so many applicants, the number of discrimination and bias complaints has grown.

There's a real temptation to hire “overqualified” people for jobs – opening the possibility of higher turnover as soon as the job market for their particular qualifications improves.

It's tempting to “raise the bar” for applicants in high unemployment markets. As a conscious choice in a strategy to upgrade a workforce, it may be OK. As a choice based on the assumption that more people, and, therefore, better people are available, it's not so good.

It's easier in today's market for hiring managers to take the “throw them up against the wall and see who sticks” approach to selection. It's a lazy approach to hiring, and speaks poorly of the organization that allows it.

Many of the unemployed got that way by being “cherry picked” by their previous employer. Problems of behavior, performance and other issues that were allowed to fester in good times become the reason for laying them off in bad times. Those issues often carry over to a new employer – and reference checks rarely uncover the real reason for their being laid off or terminated. Prepare to do the digging yourself.

The “cast a wide net” theory of recruiting is hard to resist. With so many people out there, why not throw out the biggest net and get the most applicants and then sort them out? The assumption that a larger applicant pool will somehow result in better selection is false. The large applicant pool is not nearly as valuable as one right person for the job.

It's human nature to see people from the outside as better possibilities than people from the inside – there are no warts on the outside applicant – yet. The temptation to take a chance on hitting a home run with a new hire rather than promote from within is greater in a high unemployment market. The results can be lower morale and commitment and a loss of trust. It's tempting to take the existing employees for granted in high unemployment. After all, with few jobs available, they'll sit tight, won't they?

With so many applicants, it's tempting to not do the homework before recruiting. But lack of preparation slows down the process. Good people don't last long, even in a high unemployment market. Without the confidence of knowing what the right person will bring to the table, it's likely that decision making will be slow – and that right person ends up going somewhere else.

To manage these behaviors and beliefs, and at least a few of them exist in every organization, the key is good preparation.

Here are six elements of good preparation that create the benchmarks of the job – not the candidate - that are key to success in selection.

1 - A written job description covering the who, what, where, when, how and why of the job is critical – not just some boilerplate piece that hasn't been updated for years, but an up to date description that can be shared with all those involved in the selection process – from recruiters to interviewers to applicants.

2 – Separate from that description, but even more critical is a statement of the top 3 to 5 Key Accountabilities for the position. What are the things that this job will contribute, and how will performance be measured? It's amazing how often this key step in preparation uncovers substantial disagreements between stakeholders. Without agreement and alignment on these KA's, how can a selection team possibly make the best decision on candidates?

3 – The stakeholders and those with significant knowledge of the position need to be part of the job description and Key Accountabilities discussions and development. Don't expect a staff person with no real skin in the game to be able to give the same depth of input as a hiring manager or a person who was successful in the position or a person who will depend on the position to support their own.

4 – A profile/benchmark of qualifications including education, experience, industry knowledge, specific skills and other relevant hard data needed for success is developed. This is critical to avoid letting particularly attractive candidates - for reasons other than criteria critical to the position - introduce irrelevant criteria into the process. At this point focus needs to be on the job – not the applicant.

5 – A profile/benchmark of the Behaviors, Attitudes and Motivators, and the Personal Skills critical to the job is developed by the same stakeholders that developed the Job Description and the Profile of qualifications. The best way to accomplish this is to have the stakeholders use the same assessments that will be administered to candidates of interest.

6 – The selection team is briefed on their roles in evaluating candidates, and are given training in the interview and evaluation of candidates.

Once these six steps are taken, attention can be focused on candidates. The focus on the candidates is in the context of a well developed and communicated understanding of what the job needs.

The more critical the job, the more critical preparation becomes. What it does is ensure the investment of time, effort and money spent on acquiring the right talent in the right job is maximized. The proof of the effectiveness of this kind of focused effort in selecting talent is seen in lower turnover, more successful hires and promotions and transfers, and a reduction in the costs associated with selection. An added benefit of this approach is in the acceptance of the person selected. When people in an organization see careful attention being spent on decisions that will directly affect them - in terms of new bosses, new peers and new support talent - they know they are part of a special place, with special people. There is a lot of pride and commitment in knowing that.

Take inventory of how the high unemployment labor market may have influenced the behaviors and attitudes toward selection in your organization. Then compare your preparation steps with the six steps described in this article. Then decide the best way you can use preparation to gain a competitive advantage in the selection of talent for your organization.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph & Fax: 602-795-4100; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com;Website:www.coxconsultgroup.com; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com

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