Those poor, forgotten hiring processes. The hiring process is one of the most important aspects of a company, but once an employee is hired, most people don’t think about it again.
That’s a mistake, since ignoring the hiring process will have serious consequences for businesses. In a LeadershipIQ survey from 2015, 20,000 new hires were looked at over a three-year period and 46 percent of them failed within 18 months.
It seems as if organizations have simply accepted that almost one out of every two employees they hire won’t work out. Rather than analyze and refine the process itself, they have done that instead.
Perhaps we should give the hiring process some TLC. Three reasons why companies need to start paying attention to “quality of hire” and how it can positively affect their bottom line.
1. Better Recruiting
One Indeed survey of more than 4,000 adults reported that 51 percent of respondents would be attracted to a new job that offered flexible hours. Employers might assume more flexibility with employees’ schedules would make them more attractive to potential employees.
However, there is nothing that indicates those 51 percent would be high performers. The simple addition of that flextime benefit might in fact lead to more unqualified candidates applying.
We need to determine its nature in order to understand how it works. Kyle Reyes, a Silent Partner Marketing employee, created an online screening tool. The self-righteous test can be used by interviewers to identify arrogant and overconfident candidates.
A Snowflake test is used by employers to identify applicants who fail to meet the standard.
Attracting different types of talent requires different perks and benefits. A company cannot identify what attracts good – or bad – employees without measuring quality of hire. Tracking what’s attracting different candidates can help companies to better refine their recruiting process.
The takeaway here is that you should ask new hires what factors attracted them to the company, while reviewing your own hiring process. You will be able to see which benefits make you look like a great employer, and which ones hurt it.
2. Shorter Hiring Time
A Glassdoor survey of more than 344,000 interview processes in 2015 found that an average of 22.9 days were required for a U.S. interview. This percentage increased from 12 days in 2010.
Hiring processes are becoming longer in part because candidates are being subjected to more screenings, such as background checks and personality tests. The companies want to ensure that the candidates they hire will work out in the long run.
There is an alternative, however. Instead of making candidates take every test on the market, measuring your quality of hire will give you an idea of how well your hiring process is assessing each candidate. Your organization will be able to see where there are flaws in the hiring process that allow bad hires to go through, and you will be able to fix those problems before they worsen.
3. Improved Employee Retention
Nobody takes a job with the intention of quitting soon. This does happen, though. Whether the new hire is not compatible with the rest of the team or the position turns out to be different than expected, the reality of a job often leads to new hires leaving.
The hiring process should be more effective and efficient, however, so an employee will have fewer surprises once they start their job. Both the worker and the company know exactly what they are getting into and they are confident that it is a good match for both parties.
The only way to improve a hiring process is to measure how well it functions and figure out how to make it better. Pay more attention to the poor hiring process. The problem has long gone unattended.