It’s expert round-up time again, and this time we’re looking at how to improve quality of hire. According to LinkedIn, quality of hire is still the most valued hiring metric by quite some distance, and yet it’s still one of the least understood.
Without further ado here are the best ten perspectives from around the web, looking at ways to measure, assess and improve quality of hire. For the best online recruitment software on the market, start using Recruiteze. Not only will help improve your hiring quality, but it will make recruiting easier and more efficient. Click here to start recruiting easier!
‘11 Ways To Improve Quality Of Hire’
Lou Adler
Lou Adler is a force to be reckoned with in the recruitment world, so his thoughts on how to improve quality of hire are well worth listening to.
Here goes.
- Define exceptional performance rather than an exceptional person
In other words, Lou recommends, write your job descriptions based on what candidates need to achieve, not what they need to have. In other words, not ‘must have 5 -8 years product marketing experience’ but ‘must launch new product line within 6 months targeting 20% market share in 2 years’.
- Don’t post internal job descriptions
“Starting with stronger candidates is one way to hire stronger people”, Lou writes, and this is self-explanatory. Broaden your hiring pool.
- Turn job descriptions into stories to attract stronger people
We’ve written before about writing stronger job descriptions, and Lou pulls out an important point. If you create a “compelling career story” you’ll get potential candidates excited, so you’ll be attracting a broader range of (more qualified) candidates.
- Embed skills into your career stories
Or, in other words, convert important skills into outcomes as part of your job descriptions. Avoid “must-have” requirements, Lou recommends, as these will “turn the best off”.
- Choose a catchy title for your job advert
If you want to attract the best candidates, you need the best candidates to notice your adverts. This is where a catchy title comes in.
- Create a pitch tweet
You already know how important social media is, so this one is self-explanatory. Plus, if you’re able to distil your value point into 140-characters, you have a really solid idea of what you offer and who you’re looking for.
- Screen on achiever terms
Hiring high achievers is a pretty good indication (although not foolproof) that you will improve quality of hire. When you’re screening, use Boolean search strings associated with high achievers, such as ‘award’, ‘honor’, ‘leader’ and so on to whittle down your candidate list.
- Engage in conversation
In other words, don’t try and hurry top candidates through your hiring funnel. Start conversations, get engaged, let the process take a little time. The best candidates tend not to jump ship in a hurry.
- Modify the job to fit your hire
Cookie-cutter job descriptions don’t work for everyone. If you’re looking for a candidate who truly stands out, you should be prepared to tailor a job description that really stands out to them. Engage your candidates and ask them what they want – and make changes to make your job more closely concord with that.
- Interview on past performance
“If the person has comparable accomplishments and is motivated to do the work required, he/she has exactly the skills and experiences required”… Or, put simply, when you’re interviewing you should be looking for comparable past achievements.
- Assess quality of hire pre- and post- hire
Lou recommends you assess quality of hire both before you hire and afterwards, in their performance on the job. The closer those two metrics are, the more efficient and effective your hiring process is.
For more from Lou Adler, you can read the original here.
‘Technologi es To Improve Quality Of Hire and Hiring’
Blogging4Jobs
Short n’ sweet, this piece from Blogging4Jobs offers three different ways to make sure your candidate shortlists are up to scratch, in order to improve quality of hire. Under each heading, the author offers various tools and technologies that could be useful too, making this piece super-practical, if a little low-brow next to Adler. Free, online recruitment software is technology that can make a huge impact on your efforts. Try Recruiteze today, for free!
- Better Test Your Candidates
Better testing your candidates during the pre-screening phrases is an obvious way to improve quality of hire. The author, Heather Huhman, recommends Smarterer, ShinyNeedle or HireArt as innovative websites allowing hiring managers to test candidates digital, social, critical, problem-solving and technical skills as a stage in the hiring process.
- Check Candidate Recommendations
This point rests on the principle of social proof, which should be as important to recruitment as it is to other marketing activities. Huhman recommends going beyond the LinkedIn recommendations feature and using sites like Recmnd.Me, Zao or Bright to find candidates who come with a dose of social proof attached.
- Try a One-Way Interview
Or, in other words, ask your candidates to submit a video interview as part of the hiring process. The hiring manager simply establishes a list of basic questions and the candidate films him or herself answering them. A great way to save time, although how much this improve quality of hire remains to be seen…
You can find the full piece here.
‘When It Comes To Quality Of Hire, Don’t Play The Blame Game’
Green Job Interview
This article by Greg Rokos considers the complicated question of who’s responsible for quality of hire. Recruiters? HR teams? Hiring managers? Company culture?
Greg points out that the biggest problem complicating accountability is that quality of hire simply isn’t measured as much as it should be. In fact, he points out that only 32% of companies actually track statistics on quality of hire, making it very difficult indeed to lay the blame with any one group of people.
It’s easy, Greg writes, to blame recruiters when hires go bad but often this is a result of “perfect fit syndrome and unrealistic expectations”. Even if it is the recruiter sending in bad candidates, it might be a problem with how the corporation in question hires or briefs their candidates – not with the recruiter him or herself.
The major hurdle, Greg observes, is for companies to reassess how they handle the hiring process: “it’s ultimately up to you and your organisation to improve quality of hire”. First, he notes, you should measure quality of hire (before and after the interview. Second, you must keep your process consistent so changes in quality of hire can be meaningfully interpreted.
Thirdly, companies should pay attention to how they brief recruiters. Don’t hand recruiters “a list of impossible skills and requirements and a salary 20% less than the other guts are offering [and expect them] to fill that slot quickly”.
Lastly, companies should try and re-imagine how they view their top candidates, instead using a performance based hiring approach (as advocated by Lou Adler). Ultimately, Greg concludes, “What you shouldn’t do is pick someone to blame. Focus on improving yourself at every turn instead of pointing the finger. Only then can you truly transform how hiring at your organization is done”.
3 Tips To Boost Quality Of Hire During The Talent Crisis’
Recruiter.Com
In the face of ever continuing (or at least, ever talked-about) talent shortages, this piece from Recruiter.com offers three tactics to improve quality of hire – without dramatically increasing your time to fill.
Here goes.
- The grass is greener on the inside…
In stark contrast to Adler’s point about removing the internal job descriptions, this article recommends putting emphasis on internal hiring. “Internal applicants outperform external applicants and are more profitable” apparently, while often having a shorter time to fill. Hmm. Dubious but worth considering…
- Rely on insight over instinct
No great surprise with this point, but worth mentioning nonetheless. If you’re developing your candidate profile based on instinct instead of data-driven insight, you’re not likely to be as consistent or accurate. Big data – get on the bandwagon already.
- Emphasise personality fit
A counterpoint to the recommendation above, this article reminds us that personality fit is one of the most important factors in overall performance on the job. While data might be important, make sure to screen your candidates according to cultural fit or you’ll be unlikely to get the best out of them.
The full piece is here for you.
‘How To Improve Quality Of Hire’
Stefan Petroons, Accord Group
Quality of hire, the author writes, is an on-going concern for 2016. While “time to fill” has increased slightly, quality of hire continues to be the most important hiring metric for hiring professionals this year, one which 2/3 of managers believe is handled ineffectively.
The problem, the author observes, is that “most assessments developed to assist in taking hiring decisions only have a limited predictive value” A key point is introduced here: better candidate selection means increasing the quality of the hiring decisions, which is how you will improve quality of hire.
To increase the quality of these hiring decisions it is necessary to introduce a hiring measure that is able to measure the ability of our candidates in contrast to the complexity of the role we’re asking them to do.
This allows us to measure three things:
- Can the candidate understand and address the role’s challenges appropriately?
- Does he or she have the personality traits, talents and drivers that will enable him or her to align with his or her environment? Does the candidate ”fit” the role?
- Does the candidate have the knowledge and experience that will allow him or her to maximize his or her ability fully?
This, the author notes, is where the value of a great recruiter lies: in being able to draw these parallels in order to improve quality of hire.
In all, the most important takeaway from this piece is a shift of attention towards the ability to deal with complexity as the most important contributing factor to improve quality of hire: “Improving quality of hire thus means hiring for mental processing capability”.
This is the biggest factor recruiters and HR factors should take into account if they aspire to improve quality of hire.
‘Recruiter Focus: Using Social Media to Improve Quality of Hire’
Recruitment Buzz
We’ve written numerous times about the importance of social media, so it’s little surprise to see it come up to help improve quality of hire. Without further ado, this piece discusses 3 reasons you should be using social media to improve your quality of hire.
- Networking…
… because there’s no candidate better than the pre-qualified candidate who comes with recommendations. Plus you’re increasing the size of your talent pool. Win/Win.
- Evaluating Cultural Fit…
… because you don’t really know someone until you know how they interact in a casual social environment.
- No pressure hiring…
… because social media allows you to connect to potential candidates in a much more casual, less intimidating way.
This piece then goes on to offer 4 recommendations to help you improve quality of hire the social way.
- Know your target audience…
… because shouting about yourself doesn’t cut it. Find out how your audience talk, and what they talk about.
- Understand your brand/your client’s brand…
… because you can’t present a united front if you don’t know the brand you’re representing. Strong self-image is critical to attracting the right candidates.
- Use hashtags…
…because hashtags help you increase your reach. No more explanation needed.
- Build relationships…
… because social media is not about the quick win. Build rapport and seek longevity. It will pay off.
‘The Minimum Requirement For Improving Quality Of Hire’
Recruiting Blogs
