BLACK HOLE

AVOIDING THE

IN HIRING

A new TimesJobs survey reveals the commonest mistakes recruiters and hiring managers tend to make and how these can be avoided with new-age tools

VOLUME-VI I ISSUE 2 I FEBRUARY 2016 www.content.timesjobs.com

For TimesJobs.com articles, expert advice and tips, visit www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, Jobs & Career section

INSIDEP 6 Technology in recruitment

P 8 Treat each candidate as your customer

Apeksha Kaushik, TimesJobs.com

IN a new TimesJobs.com study, 62 per cent hiring managers and recruiters have admitted to hiring candidates who were not the best fits for the positions. Such

mistakes or recruitment blunders have proven costly for organisations. Besides, a bad hire also damages the reputation of a business, hitting its brand value. The TimesJobs study, which had representation from veteran hiring managers, hiring managers who have made a few hires and recruiters working with hiring managers, highlights some of

the prominent recruitment blunders they tend to make, mostly unintentionally. Most recruitment-related blunders are process-related, shows the study. If a recruiter or a hiring manager can ace the recruitment process, the probability of getting a bad hire is reduced drastically. Here are the most common process blunders hiring managers make:

n Relying on old hiring methods By not updating to contemporary/ present-day hiring methodologies, organisations run the risk of not only hiring but attracting wrong candidates. According to nearly 38 per cent of the surveyed hiring managers, they prefer going the traditional way than switching to new-age hiring methodologies. Only 7 per cent managers seem to be active on the innovation front. When the work world is waking up to recruitment revolutions such as gamification, code contests, talent networks and social media, not trying these methods will limit the reach of the organisation to find the right talent. To tap a wider and more meaningful pool of talent which includes passive

talent, organisations need to experiment with the way they approach and hire candidates.

n Ignoring the significance of cultureChoosing candidates only on skill fitment while not taking into account cultural fitment is the biggest blunder hiring managers tend to make, reveals the study. About 53 per cent hiring managers said they downplay the importance of cultural-fitment while hiring candidates.

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RECRUITMENT BLACK HOLE

A seemingly perfect hire can turn into a nightmare when recruiters and hiring managers underestimate the consequence of small mistakes, leading the hiring process into a black hole with no escape

WHAT IS A HIRING BLACK HOLE?The hiring black hole is made

up of myths, mistakes and misconceptions recruiters usually

make but do not acknowledge at the right time. Sometimes, a

candidate can seem perfect for a position but eventually does not

turn out to be the best fit

BLUNDERS RECRUITERS MAKE AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

38%

Which is the most common approach you follow while hiring? 55%

Traditional hiring methods

Creative ways for recruitment

New-age hiring techniques

7%

66% hiring managers feel reporting managers are unable or unwilling to hire people who seem more competent than them

56% hiring managers feel that many managers over-rely on their intuition or gut feel about a candidate

58% hiring managers feel that many conservative managers overemphasise the need for domain skills and experiences even before the interview stage

An earlier TimesJobs study revealed that nearly 66 per cent organisations equally value skills and cultural fitment. Despite that, over 40 per cent ignore the significance of culture during the hiring stage. However, organisations who ignore this while hiring suffer in the long run. Of all the surveyed organisations, almost 40 per cent believe that assessing cultural fitment improves job satisfaction and helps curb attrition. Nearly 37 per cent think it also enhances the new employee’s overall productivity, which further boosts business profits.

n Underplaying the salary-to-skill relation Selecting a candidate because he/she fits the salary range is also one of the prominent mistakes organisations can make. Nearly 60 per cent hiring manager said in the study that salary is given prominence over skill sets while hiring talent, since they have to consider the budget for the vacant position. About 22 per cent said they try to get the talent at a pre-decided package but are open to negotiation if he/she seems to be the best fit for the role. Only 18 per cent organisations seem to understand the salary-to-skill equation. Undervaluing pay scale for a position may eventually lead to a wrong hire and ultimately to the deep dark black hole.

n Overstating v/s understatingNearly 55 per cent hiring managers said in the study that they tend to go overboard with job descriptions (JD) and exaggerate job requirements since it helped them attract competent and skilled candidates. However, this is a myth. Just as superficial elements in a resume can spoil the chances of a candidate getting the right job, embellished job descriptions also ruin the chances of getting the talent you are seeking. But understating job role requirements in JDs is also wrong. About 45 per cent of the surveyed hiring managers said

they do not mention responsibilities and challenges in JDs. The ideal way is to create a balanced JD. It is important to set the expectations right at every step of the recruiting process. It also helps at the salary negotiation stage and when you are making the final offer, ensuring that there are no disappointments or unwanted surprises from either side.

n Not being quick and responsiveWhile nearly 65 per cent of surveyed hiring managers said they do respond to every applicant, candidates have a different story to tell. In a previous TimesJobs.com study, nearly 70 per cent candidates claimed they receive responses from recruiters or hiring managers only if they are called for interviews. In fact, 86 per cent candidates said they do not receive any response or explanation from recruiter/HR manager if their candidature is rejected. Almost 80 per cent job seekers labelled most organisations as unresponsive to them

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VOLUME-VI I ISSUE 2 I FEBRUARY 2016www.content.timesjobs.com

Yes it helps to get niche talent

No, not always

Never

55%

30%

Do you tend to exaggerate requirements in job postings?

15%

Do your job descriptions explain the roles in detail and the challenges involved?

Yes

55%

No, not always45%

40%

Do you tend to ignore the value of cultural fitment while hiring?

13%

Yes, since there is an urgency to fill

the position

No, we assess cultural fitment

for every hire

Yes, it doesn’t seem that important

47%

Do you hire candidates because they fit your budget?

22%

Yes, most of times since the budget is fixed

No, for the right talent, there is no upper limit

Yes, but we negotiate if they

are the best fit

18%

60%

45% hiring managers feel very few managers

properly assess soft skills of a candidate and experiences

52% hiring managers feel that

most managers are unable to

get over the first impression

(positive/negative) of the candidate

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VOLUME-VI I ISSUE 2 I FEBRUARY 2016www.content.timesjobs.com

and 55 per cent said they will not apply to a company that has ignored their previous applications. The takeaway for recruiters here is that when people look for a job, they don’t want to be kept waiting. Moreover, today’s workforce is restless and aggressive. While you contemplate on which candidate to hire, he/she would have found another job.

n Relying too much on reference checks While reference checks are essential, you shouldn’t relay on them too much. Nearly 58 per cent hiring managers claimed they do reference checks for every single applicant. They also said 10-20 per cent of applications are rejected based on background checks. Over 70 per cent hiring managers said they rely on reference checks for quality hires. However, about 20-30 per cent candidates tend to fake references. For the same reason, relying too much on just reference checks can be dangerous. Multiple-level checks should be in place and hiring decisions should be made based on assessment scores and interview performances.

PROBABLE SOLUTIONSWhat’s stopping you from finding the right talent is your unwillingness to put the best foot forward. It is a tough and competitive world out there and to stay ahead, you have to play on your strengths than be worried about you weaknesses. Present your organisation’s best attributes and make sure those are a part of the recruitment pitch. Also, use your workplace elements as a selling point to the perspective hire.To reduce the risk of making hiring blunders, managers can adopt some of the following practices in the hiring process:

n Video interviews: Nearly 52 per cent HR managers said they are moving to video interviewing from telephonic interviews. Telephonic interviews used to be the first touch-point with the candidate. Replacing them with video interviews is helping them gauge the real facts at the screening level. Since it is difficult to lie or make up facts when you are face-to-face with the interviewer, the chances of getting authentic information at the screening level increases.

n Social footprint: Much has been said about building and maintaining a social footprint. Today, its significance in the hiring process has increased. Social media has been voted as the most-used tool to screen candidates by nearly 63 per cent recruiters and HR managers. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that 92 per cent companies that use social media screenings check professional networking pages of potential hires while 58 per cent check Facebook and 31 per cent check Twitter activity. When used in conjunction with other techniques, social media activity provides a well-rounded understanding of a potential candidate.

n Pre-hiring assessment: There are numerous behavioural and personality assessment tests available today. These offer evaluation of candidate’s skills tests, general aptitude, personality and also provide job-specific assessment. These offer insights that help filter out unsuitable candidates. By using new-age tools and techniques, making the best use of technology and being attentive about collecting every possible bit of information about prospective candidates, hiring managers can avoid blunders leading to bad hires and creating a black hole of recruitment bloopers.

Do you respond to every job application, even the rejected ones?

65%

35%

Yes

No

5-10% fake it

10-20% candidates fake it

20-30% candidates fake it

More than 30% fake it

40% recruiters

28% recruiters

How often do you encounter fake references?

20% recruiters

12% recruiters

Do you ask for references from candidates while hiring?

Yes

25%

No, not always

75%

VOLUME-VI I ISSUE 2 I FEBRUARY 2016www.content.timesjobs.com

5

<2 years

2-5 years experience

5-10 years experience

10-20 years experience

Over 20 years experience

LOCATION

EXPERIENCEINDUSTRY

PROFILES

16% Chennai

15% Chandigarh

Over 30% Jaipur 2%

Karnataka

28%

-1%-3%

-3%-16%

2% Healthcare/ pharmaceuticals

1% IT/telecom

16%

5%1%

Doctors/medical professionals

Hospitality Human resource

Healthcare, IT drive talent demand in Jan 2016

RecruiteX data for Jan 2016. Trends based on month-over-month analysis.

LATEST RECRUITMENT TRENDS

12

8

4

0

-4

-8

-12Jan 2015 Jan 2016

-3%

11%

-12% May 2015

8% Jul 2015

-9% Nov 2015

3% Travel & hospitality

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EACH person hired in an organisation represents the belief that the person hired was the best

possible choice. But how can we be sure?Many people use only their gut to

evaluate a candidate. By tossing a coin to make a hiring decision, there is 50 per cent chance of the candidate being successful. By studying successful hires made by the C-suite of a top organisation, they were horrified to discover that their successful hiring record was far below the coin toss method. How did this happen?

They had never tracked the leaders’ skills in interviewing. Leaders were using their own heuristics to choose candidates. When the new hire turned out to be a poor performer, they blamed the candidate and never stopped to think that the decision to hire that person was theirs.

Poor decisions can often be traced back to lack of preparation by the interviewing panel. Research shows that more than four people interviewing a candidate do not yield better insights. Apart from being better prepared and reviewing research to improve the hiring process, leveraging technology at every stage of talent acquisition improves the outcome.

Here are three things that can help improve the hiring success: n TRACK INTERVIEWERS

A new hire takes a few months to settle down and find ways to navigate their way around. So when the new hire quits within a few months or worse still remains a poor or at best an average performer, it is an opportunity to rethink the skills of the interviewers. Go back to the hiring panel’s comments about the candidate and see if any interviewer had raised a flag that others missed.

When a new hire shows great potential and turns out to be a top performer (or a poor hire), go back to identify the panel members who made the hiring. Soon you will be able to identify who are your best talent evaluators.n ELIMINATE BIASES

A decision supported by data should aim to eliminate biases. When musicians were asked to play their audition pieces behind a screen where the judges could only hear them play but had no way of knowing the person playing, more women and minorities got selected. In several countries, candidates are told not to put their photos, disability details, marital status and any other personal information not relevant to do the job.

Google gets hundreds of terrific resumes each year. Each resume is screened by an algorithm to shortlist the candidate pool. The algorithm has been built to look for criteria that successful people in Google have in common. n ANALYTICS

By leveraging statistical tools and algorithms, data scientists can predict which candidates have the greatest chance of succeeding. Many interviewers use academic performance to shortlist candidates at campuses. There are enough research to show that academics do not predict success in a job. A professor who has had an enviable academic record may not turn out to be effective in the classroom. Teaching is not just about transferring knowledge. It is as much about motivating and inspiring the learner. This is where talent analytics can help craft models that take into account other factors that could predict effectiveness. n MAN AND MACHINE

Many websites that teach people how to code have discovered that more than 30 per cent of their top coders have no formal education in computer science. They are just curious learners. By tapping into these communities, one may have a great view of candidates whose skills have been ratified by unbiased experts.

By looking at how much content the person has created, it may be possible to predict the candidate’s written communication skills and their ability to be a team player. Using publicly accessible social media data, it is possible to filter people who are not culturally aligned with the organisation’s values.

No matter how fast we run, we can significantly improve our ability to cover long distances in relatively shorter time when we use a vehicle. The same goes for hiring. Technology can help us scale our efforts, make it significantly faster and eliminate human biases. The insight an experienced interviewer can bring to the table can become even more powerful with the right tools.

Abhijit Bhaduri,

Chief Learning Officer, Wipro

Is technology the answer to improved hiring?

Guest column: TECHNOLOGY IN RECRUITEMENT

VOLUME-VI I ISSUE 2 I FEBRUARY 2016www.content.timesjobs.com

VOLUME-VI I ISSUE 2 I FEBRUARY 2016www.content.timesjobs.com

Q. What can be the biggest blunder a recruiter or hiring manager can do during the hiring process? n The biggest mistake is not preparing job descriptions for job advertisements properly which leads to resume-candidate mismatch. Many times recruiters discover the competencies/skills required for the job only during the interview and then try to match these against the resume.n Rejecting the candidate on first impression is another blunder recruiter make. There are good candidates who are shy and open up after some time, especially in the tech domain. This calls for a mature assessment process. n Mostly, the interview panel has an attitude that the candidate is at the receiving end. It is crucial that hiring managers should treat each candidate like a customer. The candidate may

not come on board this time but the experience matters and it will always give him/her a reason to come back. n Hiring managers must provide accurate description of the company culture so that candidates are prepared to survive.

Q. How can recruitment black hole (mistakes) be fixed? n There is always scope to improve the recruitment process through continuous learning. The most important thing is to write down policies -- right from getting the approval for hiring and the person joining in. And a HR head should ensure these are followed firmly. n Another thing is continuous training of recruiters. And the interview panel should be groomed on how to present themselves in front of candidate. Displaying the right aptitude, attitude

and communication is important as the candidates are also judging you.

Q. What is the role of HR head in ensuring that hiring is error free? Right from writing JDs, advertising them, sourcing resumes and on-boarding candidates, the role of the HR head is to firm up the process. The person also has to make sure the process is enforced at all levels — from talent managers to line managers. HR heads should also keep reviewing and revisiting the processes for errors.

Q. How can training & development programmes help HR ace the hiring process?Training recruiters, especially the interviewing panel, is critical to fix recruitment errors. As the interviewing panel keeps changing and belongs to different areas/departments, getting them together is essential. We train them via classroom trainings and also ask to them to observe the seasoned interview panelists. It is also essential to have a set of standard questions for each job role/competencies/skills/functions. This helps in judging candidates against standard criteria against technical, behavioral and role specific competencies.

Q. Is tech a boon that can eliminate the hiring black hole or is it a curse since not many know how to use it to their advantage? Technology has helped in automating the hiring system to make it efficient. HR analytics is one such tool through which a HR head can keep a track on ROI in terms of amount, resource and time spent to fill a position. It also helps in collaborating data on hiring done directly or via vendors and job sites.

As told to Neha Singh Verma

Disclaimer: Information provided in this newsletter shall not be reproduced, published, re-sold or otherwise distributed inany medium without the prior written permission of TimesJobs.com and a clear acknowledgement to TimesJobs.com.Contact: TJinsite, TimesJobs.com, Plot No 6, Sector 16A, Film City, Noida, 201301. Write in to editor@timesjobs.com

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“MANY TIMES RECRUITERS DISCOVER COMPETENCIES FOR THE JOB ONLY DURING THE INTERVIEW AND THEN TRY TO MATCH THESE AGAINST THE CV ”

Treat each candidate as your customer

Interview: Gyan Daultani Vice President HR & RMG Nihilent Technologies