I’m in the midst of getting my certification in EQ and EQ360 (Emotional Quotient – which is part of the field of Emotional Intelligence). I am doing this to help those I serve see themselves more clearly. EQ is part of creating greater self-awareness. Going through this education has re-emerged a subject very important to me – the Selection process in hiring new employees. I have some biases and some observations I wish to share with you that I hope provide value. Of all the things that organizations do to attract a strong work force what they do on the ‘front end’ (recruiting and selection) are key. If those processes are flawed it is difficult, if not impossible, to make it up later.
The first thing I will say about recruiting and selection is – know really well the job you are hiring for (requirements and expectations ranked in order of importance), the key attributes and skills you are looking for consistent with your culture, why and how people are successful in the job, in the department, and in the company. When you know these things first it is a lot easier to put together the ‘who’ you are looking to hire. Too often I see a lack of clarity in one or more of the above areas because organizations fail to spend sufficient time and create sufficient detail. I am told it is because the process of defining is difficult and takes time. Let me see, we have time and money to replicate the hiring process over and over because we can’t seem to get people who ‘fit,’ but we don’t have time to improve the process to begin with? Ring any bells?
My other bias is that there is too much at stake to rely only on asking really good questions and your ‘gut’ in selecting the right candidate. You can have the best strategy, have a great marketing team, good tactics, and great technology, but the human potential in your company will be what defines your ability to differentiate yourself from the competition. Reducing the cost of turnover starts with how well you recruit and select.
Once you have invested the time to be able to answer the above questions really well, then you can look at what measures will help you find the right candidates based on your answers. There are several good instruments to measure personality/behavioral tendencies, values, and social/emotional intelligence. The ones I have awareness of or have used are the DISC, Predictive Index, EQi, and Myers-Briggs. I know there are others. Some organizations may still use some cognitive instrument (like IQ), depending on the job, although research over the past 25+ years has shown that cognitive ability (IQ) is only about a 6% predictor of job success. The field of Emotional Intelligence has brought us instruments that are 27 – 45% successful in predicting success, depending on which criteria was measured (self-perception, self-expression, interpersonal skills, decision-making, or stress management). You may want to use a couple of instruments in tandem (i.e., behavioral tendencies and social/emotional strengths).
I’m not here to sell you on EQ, and there is a lot I don’t know that I’ll know in another month. What I do know is that EQ provides a look at a candidate in a way that has a much higher rate of success in predicting how well the candidate will do. (Note: the EQi instrument from MHS is a level B instrument, meaning it is a “clinical level” instrument with the science to insure the self-reported answers are clinically valid.) Instruments are of value, but they are of much greater value when you understand the key pieces connected to the job, your organization and culture, and the key attributes and skills of others who tend to be successful in a similar job and in your organization.
Many of the mistakes that I have witnessed, and made myself in the selection process, start with the fact that the interview process is too subjective. Assessments against your own selection criterion help provide some objectivity to the process. You won’t do assessments for all your candidates, but I have found that the final three to six candidates provides a good cross section of comparison.
Being a great place to work starts with hiring great people who are a better fit for the job and your organization. Cutting the cost of turnover is about sharpening your ability in the recruiting and selection process. Having done this myself I can tell you that it really does sharpen your understanding of the job, your organization, and who is successful in your company and why. All of these factors make you a better ‘hunter’ in the employment market because you have better understanding of what you are looking for.