By Keith Banks, CSP, President
There’s an old parenting tip that advises catching a child doing something good, instead of bad. It’s based on the premise of using positive reinforcement to change behavior, versus ruling by fear and negativity. Hiring can be a little like that too.
Today, in the world of talent acquisition, it seems that with the growing use of tools such as personality asssessments, psychological tests, and background and credit checks, most organizations hunting for talent are giving themselves reasons to screen OUT candidates rather than screen IN potential hires. Shouldn’t we being opening up the talent pipeline instead of turning it off?
The war for talent is in full force and even the most passive candidate will take a recruiter’s call. The May 2018 Jobs report revealed that the number of unemployed persons declined to 6.1 million and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.8 percent. This is the lowest rate since April 2000. Experts say that 85% of the workforce are consistently willing to listen to career opportunities – that means they are ready and willing to jump your corporate ship. Companies of all size are going must think long and deep about what they want their perception to be on the street and in the cloud (aka social media) in terms of their employer brand.
Are you planning to bring some new people on board over the next few months? Think about your hiring process and why you use some, if any, of today’s popular pre-employment tools. An American Management Association survey reports that nearly 50% of employers use personality and/or psychological tests prior to employment. These tools all have tremendous use if like most tools, they are used for “good intentions.” Yes, they assist in weeding out – there’s that word again. They’ll rate which candidates are not qualified; however, this is where your process can become a slippery slope!
Let’s take a step back and consider what and why we hire. The hiring process should be a direct reflection of your CULTURE, which is the basis for why you hire, what you hire and how you hire. Who are you targeting? Why should I (we) come work for you? I read once that Peter Sheahan, CEO of Changelabs said, “ The old cycle was, “I’ll come work for you and give you my loyalty and all you have to do in return is give me job security. Now it’s about, “I’ll come to work for you and I’ll do good work, but you better make me more employable when I leave, and working for you better say something powerful about me.”
Many C-Suite leaders agree that the resume is not their number one factor in the selection process. The actual interview and the gut feel are often the top two responses for determining a hire.
Why is this relevant to my topic? Sometimes going with your gut is the best pre-employment tool. Focusing on what your organization’s culture is all about will lead you to screening IN candidates that will enhance your culture through their experience, skill set or beliefs. Once you as an owner, manager or a recruiter, have defined this step for your organization then the tools used today can be used as a layer of protection or comfort to compliment your hiring decision, instead of screening out possibly some very significant contributors to your organization. ■
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