Selection Resources - Hire and Manage Smarter Blog

How to achieve better recruiting results on a tight budget (click to read)

tth@SelectionResources.com (Selection Resources) — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 05:00:00 +0000

What are the 5 R's? Refer, Recruit, Recognize, Reward and Retain. The keys to attracting and keeping the people that will drive growth and profitability. We are delivering this brief newsletter to Company Executives, Managers & Human Resource Pro's who have the responsibility of recruiting and retaining the best talent for their organization.

How to achieve better recruiting results on a tight budget:

First take a look at your budget and ask yourself "how can you spend the money you have most effectively"? We know that the greatest impact you can have on the organization is at the time of hire. So how much did you spend last year on recruiting? Has this ever happened to you? Paying for a candidate to travel, putting them up for a night and then passing on them because they didn't fit the culture of the organization. In this scenario, a pre-employment test would have saved you the time and money of by identifying the poor fit before the travel and interview took place. Research has consistently demonstrated that inexpensive pre-employment testing offers unique and valuable predictive information about an individual’s future on-the-job performance. Cognitive reasoning tests in particular offer valuable information about an individual’s verbal, numerical, and conceptual skills that can be generalized across different types of jobs and situations. Personality or work style questionnaires are also commonly used to assess job-relevant behaviors and preferences in a work context. The use of pre-employment testing can lead to higher employee commitment, satisfaction, and reduced turnover, as they assist in placing the candidate in a role they are well suited to, where they are more likely to have a higher level of job satisfaction, and consequently stay in the role for longer. And lower turnover reduces your recruiting spend!

Your employment brand should be one of excellence:

Whether it’s taking personal interest surveys on Facebook, Survey Monkeys at work, or completing a survey for a dating site application, we are very familiar with taking assessments as a part of our personal lives. A company in today’s environment that does not use corporate assessments as a tool in the hiring process is going to appear prehistoric and out of touch. As the worldwide use of corporate assessments grows exponentially, it is becoming a common expectation among candidates to be required to take employee assessments. They will immediately get the impression that the company is technologically advanced and cares about its employees.

Conclusion: The research is empirical and the data is robust; inexpensive corporate assessment tools can have an enormous impact on the hiring and retention process. They are your best investment for your dollar. Whether it’s the financial or cultural impact of making the wrong hire, the impact of missing the superstar candidate, the hit the company’s brand takes when looking unsophisticated and ancient to candidates in a competitive market, or over-spending and under-performing during the search and interview process, the opportunity costs of not using corporate assessments can be extremely high. If you are primarily using résumés and interviews to hire employees, you have the potential to dramatically improve your hiring and promotion accuracy by adding assessment testing.

Want more information on implementing a successful hiring formula? Contact us:

How to Uncover a History of Fraud or Theft: Background Checks 101 (click to read)

tth@SelectionResources.com (Selection Resources) — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 04:59:00 +0000

We have not run background checks before... or we do, but just not consistently. How should we start?

Negative publicity associated with negligent hiring — especially as the result of a less than thorough background check, or worse, no background check — can devastate the very foundation of a trusted organization. Now more than ever, companies should be using regulated, professional background screeners.

Less expensive than you think: The most common reason among employers for not conducting background screens is cost. That background screen cost, however, represents a fraction of the cost involved in turnover, termination, re-recruiting, re-hiring and re-training. And that’s best-case scenario for a bad hire.

Employers may also be looking at legal fees to defend an action brought by a victim, often a customer or fellow employee who was injured by the hire, and litigation often extends into the millions of dollars and causes insurance premiums to increase. Additionally, background screens may uncover a history of fraud or theft, and many organizations — especially retail companies — experience very high levels of employee theft.

By conducting background screens, employers can trust that their employee and prospective employee information is in good hands. Background screeners are subject to strict regulations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as well as federal, state and local privacy and consumer protection laws, and they are trained to properly handle personally identifiable information.

Conclusion: The bottom line is that the purpose of background screening is to provide the public with safe places to live and work. Organizations like Selection Resources provide employers the tools and expertise to establish and run an effective background screening program. Companies that utilize background screens demonstrate their commitment to ensuring safety while reducing employee turnover.

Want more information on implementing a successful hiring formula? Contact us:

Engaged Employees For a More Productive Company (click to read)

tth@SelectionResources.com (Selection Resources) — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 05:00:00 +0000

The term employee engagement is widely used to describe employees who are well motivated and committed to their work. Engaged employees show an enthusiasm for their jobs above and beyond specific work duties and requirements. You have written an accurate, detailed job description, interviewed candidates, tested for job fit, checked references and run background checks (the key steps to hiring better people btw). So you have this very motivated new employee. Now what?

1. Ensure that the employee sees clear development opportunities. Sit down and go through their pre-employment assessment results with the new employee. Discuss the training you will provide aiding in their personal development (these areas for improvement were identified and provided in the assessment report). Explain how they can grow in their jobs, improve their skills and advance their careers

2. Provide clear and promising direction, with goals that are achievable and will be seen by the employee as promising long term successes for the company. Promote collaboration and collegiality, because the support and friendliness of people’s co-workers is a key element to job satisfaction
3. Inspire confidence in your company’s managers, so employees know that their own careers are in capable hands.

Conclusion: To have a more innovative and adaptive company, it’s vital that your employees be engaged in their jobs. Engaged employees are more productive, creative, mission oriented and trustworthy. Enable your employees to accomplish the mission of the organization. Get them engaged!

Want more information on implementing a successful hiring formula? Contact us:

The Great Race for Talent Contunues... (click to read)

tth@SelectionResources.com (Selection Resources) — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 05:00:00 +0000

What are the 5 R's? Refer, Recruit, Recognize, Reward and Retain. The keys to attracting and keeping the people that will drive growth and profitability. We are delivering this brief newsletter to Company Executives, Managers and Human Resource Professionals who have the responsibility of recruiting and retaining the best talent for their organization.

And the great race for talent contunues...do you have a recruiting process that is streamlined, flexible, and tuned to market realities? Your hiring process should be a balance between personal interactions and technology to screen candidates during 1) The application 2) Interviews 3) Testing 4) References and 5) Background checks. You must also create an efficient process that eliminates constraints to getting quality candidates on board. Your website should be clean, informative and modern. Hiring Managers should be trained on how to clearly communicate job needs, be up to date on interview techniques, and be informed of your organizations four step process to get the best recruited. These expectations should be clearly communicated so that the entire process is efficient and effective.

Don't forget the Candidate: Candidates today are looking for a clean and simple recruiting process, one that is fair and can quickly provide feedback (i.e. your Internet testing results came back immediately and you did very well; you are a finalist!) and a decision quickly. Without the ability to move quickly an applicant could take a competitor's offer.

Conclusion: Does your process balance the five keys to successful hiring with an efficient process that allows you to move quickly and hire the best candidates? Utilize the five step recruiting process to reduce costs and improve time to hire.

Want more information on implementing a successful hiring formula? Contact us:

Identifying the Costly Flaws in Your Hiring Process (click to read)

tth@SelectionResources.com (Selection Resources) — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 05:00:00 +0000

What are the 5 R's? Refer, Recruit, Recognize, Reward and Retain. The keys to attracting and keeping the people that will drive growth and profitability. We are delivering this brief newsletter to Company Executives, Managers and Human Resource Professionals who have the responsibility of recruiting and retaining the best talent for their organization.

How do you identify the costly flaws in your hiring process? One of the largest soft costs an organization can have is recruiting and hiring. Inefficiencies can cost you and your company a tremendous amount of time, money, and bottom-line performance. Everyone wants to hire superior people, but the hiring processes some companies use actually prevents this from happening. Most hiring authorities don't have a real solution to any of the flaws, and just live with the frustration and inefficiencies. Often times the flaws are excused by putting the blame on the system they are forced to follow.

Do any of these common symptoms sound familiar?

1. HR and hiring managers often don't see eye-to-eye on either job needs or the quality of candidates.
2. Sourcing methods don't produce enough top quality candidates.
3. Job descriptions and ads overemphasize skills, experience, and geography rather than challenges, accomplishments and how to be successful in the role.
4. You suffer from the moving job-spec syndrome - changing requirements during the process.
5. Hiring decisions are heavily influenced by emotions, perceptions, personal biases, and prejudices.
6. Weaker candidates sometimes get offers because they are good interviewers.
7. New employees later turn out to be either partially competent, or competent but not motivated.
8. Hiring "walking lawsuits." Those real hiring mistakes that cost a few hundred thousand $ minimum.

Remember, you have to "recruit" (sell & close) the best candidates. They don't respond to ads; they don't look for the same things in a job; and they don't accept offers for the same reasons as everyone else. For the best, it's not about the money; it's about the challenge and the opportunity. It's not about existing skills; it's about a chance to learn new things and deliver important results. It's not just another job; it's the beginning of a new career.

Conclusion: If you suffer from any of these problems, your hiring processes may be inefficient and your turnover will suffer. Take a hard look at your hiring process. How could it be immediately improved? Remember, any technology is only as good as the people using it. Selection tools can help bring a best practices approach to your hiring system so update your process for the better today…your bottom line will show the result tomorrow.

Want more information on implementing a successful hiring formula? Contact us:

Defining Good People. Hiring and Managing More Effectively (click to read)

tth@SelectionResources.com (Selection Resources) — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 05:00:00 +0000

What are the 5 R's? Refer, Recruit, Recognize, Reward and Retain. The keys to attracting and keeping the people that will drive growth and profitability. We are delivering this brief newsletter to Company Executives, Managers and Human Resource Professionals who have the responsibility of recruiting and retaining the best talent for their organization.

How do you define good employees or your best people? Do you have some specific criteria that you use? How do you know you're getting anywhere near the best people out there? Do you have any benchmarks or standards to compare against? How much time do you spend in the up front process of figuring out job requirements and laying out the things a person needs to be successful? We find that this area is frequently overlooked in the hiring process. Most companies will spend time interviewing, but they are less willing to give up any time defining core competencies before beginning to recruit.

We all unconsciously look for certain traits in people, and we are usually very adept at determining whether or not a candidate has those traits. What is unfortunate is that we find it difficult to articulate them. And even though we may believe we are choosing candidates solely on the basis of experience and demonstrated skills, our unconscious is always there influencing the decision.

You can improve your recruiting in a number of ways. By taking a few minutes to do these things, you will find the recruiting process faster and more accurate because you will be hiring candidates that you can quickly identify as top performers and are more likely to succeed in the job:

Learn about the marketplace: Whenever managers are asked what the key to their success is, they often say their people. But if you were asked, would you know what the demand is like for the kinds of people you are seeking? Do you have a grasp on how many people with particular experience are in your area? Do you understand what kind of person you can hire for "X" salary? The reality is that there are still shortages of good employees. Keep in mind we are in a very low unemployment environment and it is likely that someone who is employed today is who you want!

Step 1: Get to know and understand your best performers
Who are the people in your company or department who you would like to clone? Try to put why you think they are so good into words. What does this person do on a regular basis that makes them a top performer? What positive behaviors do you see regularly that you believe makes them successful? Are there times you can think of when an employee did something you found exceptional or notable?

Step 2: Develop an assessment process
One of the best ways to make sure that you are in synch on what kinds of people to look for is to put together a process for assessing candidates. Test your top performers, and validate what makes them successful. Then compare your applicants against your top performers "benchmark". Seems to make sense right? This is using Scientific Selection to improve your employee selection accuracy.

Conclusion: By investing in time up front to put consistent process in place and utilizing assessment technology, you can improve the speed with which you fill positions and improve your hiring accuracy! Improved job fit is the path to better productivity and profits.

Want more information on implementing a successful hiring formula? Contact us:

Most-asked Q & A from 2019 (click to read)

tth@SelectionResources.com (Selection Resources) — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 05:00:00 +0000

What are the 5 R's? Refer, Recruit, Recognize, Reward and Retain. The keys to attracting and keeping the people that will drive growth and profitability. We are delivering this brief newsletter to Company Executives, Managers and Human Resource Professionals who have the responsibility of recruiting and retaining the best talent for their organization.

Want more information on implementing a successful hiring formula? Contact us:

Despite the clear and documented advantages offered by modern, valid assessments, many organizations remain reluctant toward using them as part of their staffing process. Each year we get asked a lot of questions about assessments. Our hope is that by discussing common FAQ about assessments, we can help provide knowledge and understanding that will ultimately help you contribute to hiring and retaining high potential employees.

Q - Why use assessments, besides they are all the same?

A - Not so, there are many, many differences including legality and validity. It is also important to make sure your Testing Consultant understands your business and hiring objectives. They can recommend the level of test needed for different positions, and quickly define in the benchmarking process, and help you understand basic interpretation of results.

Q - How can I tell which kind of assessment to use and who should provide them to me?
A - Make sure the assessment is valid and have a large sample size. Some tests are better for training and development (like the Myers Briggs), others have much more horsepower (the Achiever) than an easily slanted test like the DISC. Make sure you provider has the experience to help you set a program up and responds quickly to your testing requests.

Q - How do assessments affect the candidate experience?
A - There are many good reasons why your organization should use assessments. Mainly for job fit and development suggestions. Explain this to each candidate and make sure they understand (without sounding arrogant) that this is part of your hiring process and it is important for their career fit and personal development. In our experience, if the reasons why are explained to the candidate then the candidate will view the experience as a positive one.

Q - Will the use of assessments place me at greater risk for legal action?
A - No. In fact, the opposite may be true since a well developed assessment is always objective, consistent and does not discriminate against any protected class. Look for a test that has never had an adverse finding.

Q - What are the security risks associated with the use of online assessment tools?
A - Through the use of secure servers and passwords, security risks are minimal.

Q - Do assessments really work?
A - Yes. Scientific Selection adds reliable information about the candidate allowing you to make a more informed hiring decision. Remember, the assessment never makes the hiring decision, you do!

Q - How can small organizations benefit from the use of assessments?
A - All sizes of organizations can improve their selection capabilities. Smaller organizations usually hire less frequently, so assessments can really help you focus in on core competencies. A bad hire is one of the most costly mistakes a business can make, and a mistake by a small organization can negatively impact the bottom line!

Q - Are tests too expensive for a small company to use?

A - No, assessments costs are insignificant in comparison to the costs of hiring the wrong person.

Q - What role should an assessment play in the overall staffing strategy?
A - It should be weighed no more than 1/3 in your hiring decision. The other "tests" include interviews, references and background checks should be the majority of the decision. Use them every time you hire someone, and you can improve company productivity and profits.

Conclusion: Have you been on the fence about using assessments? Scientific Selection could reduce the odds of a hiring mistake and ultimately help reduce your turnover. Now may be the time to commit to improving your selection in 2020 with the use of proven assessments.

Oh, by the way...Cutting Edge Information’s financial services "recruiting and hiring report", concludes companies that demonstrate more technologically effective hiring systems also ranked higher in financial performance, productivity, quality, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and retention". The report examines strategies used by financial companies to identify, hire and retain talented employees. If you read our blog regularly than you know this is simply re-stating the obvious!

How to Make Hiring a Repeatable Business Process

tth@SelectionResources.com (Selection Resources) — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 09:05:00 +0000

The 5R's - Refer, Recruit, Recognize, Reward and Retain. The keys to attracting and keeping the people that will drive growth and profitability. We are delivering this brief newsletter to Company Executives, Managers and Human Resource Professionals who have the responsibility of recruiting and retaining the best talent for their organization.

Companies spend enormous amounts of time and money on "best practices" for their businesses. For example, Manufacturers strive for ISO 9000 Certification; utilize Six Sigma principles and Lean Manufacturing fundamentals. All of these help the company consistently manage repeatable processes. Have you made your hiring process a systematic process? Your goal should be to make it as efficient as ISO, Six Sigma, or Lean, repeatable business processes. Here are some ideas on how to emulate "best practices" in your staffing process.

It starts at the top. Management must buy-in to the fact that we are in a labor crisis , staffing with high quality people must be a high priority. Top Management must provide the vision, the commitment, and the resources.
Candidate sourcing needs to be more sophisticated than ever. For example, techniques such as Employee Referral Programs must be implemented to identify and attract those passive candidates who are not actively looking for a position.
Recruiters and Hiring Managers must effectively sell the company mission, vision and the opportunity. They must also convey pride in your organization -- and then assume the responsibility for leading and retaining talent.
Job descriptions must be current, relevant and clarify expectations; they must describe opportunities and challenges, and clearly show how the person taking the job can be successful (not just duties and responsibilities).
The interview process must become more effective by utilizing targeted, behaviorally based interview questions. Manager training in Interviewing will pay big dividends.
Utilize technology. On-line employment applications can save your time and screen out unqualified candidates. On-line Assessments can dramatically improve your selection accuracy and identify training and development needs. On-line background searches, such as criminal, education, credit, motor vehicle records etc. will verify stability and reliability.
Recruiters and hiring managers must be able to communicate effectively, prioritize schedules, & quickly respond to good candidates (they won't be available long!).
Follow up with new hires; the first 90 days are critical to their long term success. Help them adapt to "their new family" and become part of the team.

Conclusion: Every aspect of your staffing system must be designed to attract the quality candidate who has multiple opportunities, not just the one who is conveniently available or unemployed. Regularly examine your processes; keep your standards high; make them as efficient as other parts of your business. The future of your organization depends on it!

Avoiding Toxic Hires

tth@SelectionResources.com (Selection Resources) — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 09:46:27 +0000

What are the 5 R's? Refer, Recruit, Recognize, Reward and Retain. The keys to attracting and keeping the people that will drive growth and profitability. We are delivering this brief newsletter to Company Executives, Managers & Human Resource Pro's who have the responsibility of recruiting and retaining the best talent for their organization.

We all have those colleagues who criticize co-workers behind their back, make rude remarks about dress or demand extra work from everyone but themselves. These toxic behaviors might be annoying and unpleasant, but they're also extremely costly to companies, according to new research. A Harvard Business School study has found that avoiding hiring a "toxic worker" can save companies $12,500 or more.

The researchers used employment data from around 60,000 workers at 11 companies, focusing only on the toxic behavior that resulted in a firing. For the purposes of the study, toxic employees were identified as those whose hostile style or manipulative actions could turn the workplace into a poor work environment.

Toxic employees are so costly because their behavior drives out other workers, drives away customers and forces companies to spend big money hiring and training replacement workers. The bad apples also make frustrated co-workers less productive. "In extreme cases, aside from hurting performance, such workers can generate enormous regulatory and legal fees and liabilities for the firm," the study says.

Conclusion: How do you avoid toxic workers? The simple answer is find out as much as you legally can about an individual before you hire them. The best and most objective way is to use a proven pre-employment assessment. An assessment can help you:

Identify toxic personalities and predict performance before you hire
Replicate your top performers
Stop wasting time with the wrong candidates
Identify future leaders
Better manage and develop your employees
Reduce employee turnover

Leverage the scientific selection of assessments to help you hire a more productive workforce while avoiding the costly toxic hires.

How Pre-Employment Testing can improve your selection.

tth@SelectionResources.com (Selection Resources) — Tue, 18 Jun 2019 08:00:00 +0000

Many recruiters and hiring managers still rely on gut instinct, unstructured interviewing techniques, and qualitative comparisons to make their hiring decisions. This can lead to poor selection, higher turnover, add days to hiring time and risk the loss of the best candidates to the competition (or to their own biases).

This antiquated hiring approach may be causing many companies to lose precious time in their recruiting cycle, but it also provides an opportunity for forward-thinking organizations to innovate their approach and potentially save time and improve job fit. One of the best ways to improve the hiring process is to add a proven pre-hire assessment.

Quantifying candidates: Making pre-employment assessments part of the pre-screening process provides recruiters with an accurate, data-driven approach to selection.

For high volume jobs, assessments can be administered early in the process, allowing recruiters to focus their efforts on candidates with higher scores. This shortens the decision process and reduces time spent with individuals whose traits do not match the requirements of the job or culture of the company. No amount of gut instinct can give you that kind of confidence.

For individual, high-value roles, assessments provide quantifiable metrics to compare candidates and to understand where their strengths and weaknesses lie. For example, if two candidates for a senior sales role with similar backgrounds, but one candidate has higher scores for energy and problem solving, choosing between them just got a lot easier. This kind of data can be vital when considering a handful of similarly qualified candidates.

Conclusion: Pre-hire assessment data takes the uncertainty out of hiring decisions and frees hiring authorities to spend more time engaging with top candidates in interviews, woo them to the company and begin the background screening. In an era where talent is what drives productivity and profits, leveraging every tool to accelerate and improve selection only makes good business sense.