HR Guidebook - Best

The selection process involves evaluating and hiring qualified applicants for open positions.  A specific methodology is used for collecting information about an applicant in order to determine if that individual should be hired. The following summarizes several selection methods available to employers.

Interviewing.

  Interviewing is one aspect of the total selection process that aims to uncover as much relevant information and evidence as possible through personal interaction with the applicant. More specifically, it provides the opportunity for the mutual exchange of information. Similar to reference checking, it can be a valuable method of obtaining first-hand information and evidence concerning an applicant’s qualifications and suitability for the position. Simultaneously, it enables the applicant to obtain further information about the position and the company to enable him/her to make an informed decision as to whether or not there is a proper fit. 

Notwithstanding these benefits, companies must make a reasonable effort to minimize opportunities for bias and stereotypes to enter the interview process.  They also need to ensure that interview questions used are job-related. Thomas H. Nail, SPHR and Dale Scharinger, Ph.D., authors of Guidelines on Interview and Employment Application Questions suggest, “the guiding principle behind any question to an applicant is, can the employer demonstrate a job-related necessity for asking the question? It is the intent behind the question that is important, as well as how the information is used that the EEOC would examine to determine if any discrimination has occurred.”  Industry experts suggest that employees involved in the selection process should be trained to prepare for and conduct interview sessions in a legal manner. Topics covered should include, at a minimum:  the appropriate use of different types of interview methods, how to develop and use selection criteria and related documents in evaluating applicants, acceptable and unacceptable questions, how to eliminate biases and stereotyping, and how to put the applicant at ease during the interview.” 

Once the job requirements and selection criteria for the position have been determined, employers are immediately faced with a decision— how to generate the applications needed to fill its labor needs. Whether or not a particular vacancy should be filled internally or externally typically depends on the nature of the job, availability of qualified candidates, company policies, and recruiting costs. Some employers find it necessary to use several recruiting sources in order to generate a sufficient number of qualified applicants. This is especially true in tight labor markets or when searching for specialized skills. 

Although similar in many respects, internal and external recruiting sources differ in terms of planning, effort and time required to implement, and cost. Therefore, every employer should weigh the pros and cons of recruiting employees through each source based on your company’s own needs. Irrespective of the source(s) selected, employers must use fair and consistent practices that comply with applicable regulatory requirements. The following briefly evaluates some of the merits of using internal and external recruiting sources:

Internal Sources for Recruitment

Many employers try to follow a “promote from within” policy when filling job vacancies because:

• They can capitalize on investments made in recruiting, selecting, and developing current employees. 
• Promotions reward employees for past performance and motivate them to continue their efforts.
• Job opportunities created by promotions help protect other employees from layoffs and send a positive message that the company supports career development. 
• Management is already aware of the job history and capability of internal candidates, which may be a more accurate predictor of the candidate’s success than data gained about outside applicants through the selection process.
• The use of internal resources may facilitate compliance with EEO/AA requirements, maximize prior investments in existing human resources, eliminate the need for orientation, minimize training time, and reduce recruiting time and associated expenses.

While many companies find this option to be a valuable resource, it assumes the availability of qualified internal candidates. However, specialized skills or experience may not always be readily available within the company. This is particularly common in smaller companies. Applicants hired from outside of the company may also be a source of new ideas and knowledge, which could help to expand the company’s internal capabilities and prevent the inbreeding of ideas and attitudes.

Companies who decide to use this recruiting method need to develop a system for locating and enabling qualified job candidates to apply for the position. This involves establishing formal procedures for using and communicating system requirements. Two of the most common methods used to maximize the motivational value of a “promote from within” policy are job posting/bidding and skill tracking. Posting internal jobs is effective only when done before external job postings are made available. Employees should be made aware of vacancies by placing notices in areas where employees regularly frequent such as lounges, elevators, and near time clocks. Postings should also be placed in circulating publications (newsletters, memos) and on company bulletin boards. A system of internal job postings will allow for the upward and lateral mobility of employees.

External Sources for Recruitment

Companies typically use external recruiting sources when they have exhausted their supply of internal candidates, are recruiting specialized talent or higher level positions, or have made a conscious decision to recruit externally. An array of sources exists to choose from including, but not limited to: newspaper and trade publication advertisements, educational institutions, labor and community organizations, job fairs, employee referral programs, state agencies, professional search firms, on-line recruiting sites, employee leasing, temporary agencies, billboards, and past employees. The amount of time, effort, and cost involved varies by source. The first five sources stated require the company to take a more active role in the process, while the remaining sources inherently limit the company’s role.

Well-developed selection criteria can assist in attracting candidates with the appropriate qualifications and provide employees involved in the selection process with a uniform and consistent method for assessing applicants. Experience has shown that the most common mistakes occur when:

• The criteria does not relate to the essential tasks required of the job. This creates the potential for subjective decision-making and thereby, the opportunity for discrimination to occur.
• The metrics used to measure an applicant’s qualifications are too low.  In this scenario, most candidates will satisfy the requirements, which makes it difficult to discern who is truly qualified.
• The metrics used to measure an applicant’s qualifications are too high. This can discourage qualified candidates from applying, and encourage candidates with inappropriate qualifications to apply.
• Inappropriate metrics are used to assess applicants.  For example, selection criteria may include a requirement for a minimum of five years of supervisory experience when a more accurate measurement would be a candidate’s demonstrated ability to supervise.  Having served in supervisory role for five years at one company does not guarantee they can perform successfully at another company.  The reason for this is there may be a disparity in the essential duties required by one company as compared to another.

Your selection criteria should be developed, prior to initiating the recruiting process, by:

• Reviewing the specific requirements contained in the job description.
• Determining the level of skills necessary to perform essential and desired tasks.
• Selecting metrics that measure whether or not a candidate meets the requirements for the job.
• Testing whether the selection criteria are capable of measurement.
• Avoiding the use of discriminatory language or statements concerning gender, race, etc.

The rule of thumb in developing selection criteria is that it needs to be fair, objective, measurable, and directly related to the inherent requirements of the position. 

Hiring practices are typically deemed to be “valid” when a clear relationship can be demonstrated between the hiring activities and the job itself. Therefore, once a hiring policy and procedures are in place and the decision to recruit for a position has been made, the next step in the planning process is to identify the specific knowledge, skills, experience, and qualifications the ideal candidate needs to possess to successfully perform the essential functions required of the job. Essential requirements include the knowledge, skills, abilities, experience, and qualifications a candidate must possess to perform the job successfully. Desirable requirements include the knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications that would be beneficial for a candidate to have, but are not essential for performing job tasks satisfactorily.

Your job requirements should be analyzed and documented using clearly written job descriptions, prior to initiating the recruiting and selection process. This will help to ensure your company’s hiring practices remain focused on recruiting and selecting qualified candidates and not on just merely hiring.

Hiring Policy

In order to facilitate compliance with regulatory requirements, an employer’s hiring practices should be consistent and directly related to the inherent requirements of the job, without regard to age, gender, race, religion, national origin, disability, ancestry, religious creed, marital status, veteran status, and disability. The only legitimate exception to this requirement is when a bona fide occupational qualification exists. Consequently, the first step in a company’s planning process should be to establish a hiring policy and supporting procedures that:

• Provide a consistent approach for recruitment and selection activities;
• Ensure hiring practices neither intentionally nor unintentionally eliminate applicants from protected classes; and
• Guide employees in understanding, implementing, and complying with hiring requirements.

Sample Hiring Policy

COMPANY will make reasonable efforts to recruit, assess, and select job applicants based on predetermined qualifications that do not arbitrarily discriminate against any qualified person.  It is the COMPANY’s intent under this policy to hire individuals based on their overall qualifications and ability to perform the essential functions of a specific position, with or without reasonable accommodation. 

It shall be the responsibility of the Director of Human Resources to develop recruiting, assessment, selection, and related hiring programs and procedures to ensure that this policy is carried out in the most efficient, timely, and lawful manner reasonable in each case of a hiring decision.

Once you have prepared your company’s Workforce Plan, you are now ready to begin developing specific recruiting and retentions strategies to help support it. The following guidelines will assist you.

Best Industry Practices

The following is a list of some of the strategies companies are currently using in our area to contend with recruiting and retention challenges:

Look for in-house talent. Companies trying to hire in a competitive market often overlook qualified employees within their organization. Hiring from within also sends a message to employees that they too can be promoted, which can help increase retention efforts.

Redesign jobs.  If you are experiencing difficulty recruiting for particular positions, why not redesign the role. Consider converting a full-time job to two part time positions, modifying work hours, offering training, hiring for weekends only, or hiring an applicant or employee with less experience who has future potential. Simple changes can help you to cast a wider net and may even have some overall cost advantages to your company (e.g. lower benefit costs, starting salary, etc.).

Tap hidden talent. Consider benchmarking other similarly situated companies and tapping other hidden talent such as past employees, retired and older workers, disabled workers, etc. To locate best practices in your industry, consult local chambers of commerce and resources such as trade associations, AARP, Working Mothers Magazine, Business Week’s listing of Best Work and Family Companies, Fortune Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For.

Use marketing departments or firms.  Much like selling your company’s products or services, recruiting in today’s tight market requires savvy marketing skills. Many companies are finding it advantageous to utilize the efforts of their in-house marketing team or an outside firm to develop recruiting campaigns and messages targeted toward the needs of specific candidates.

Use technology.  Many companies have found that using job boards (i.e. find a job/post a job, worknepa.com, monster.com, hotjobs.com, etc.) can significantly increase the number of applications for a position. While this method can be an effective tool, be prepared to handle the barrage of resumes and provide relocation assistance. 

Don’t overlook the power of your own company’s web site either. In fact, a recent Work & Play survey conducted in our region found that the vast majority of workers between the ages 15-34 currently utilize web sites, job boards, and other Internet resources to locate and apply for positions. To be effective, ensure your site is as hassle-free as possible for candidates to find and apply for jobs online.

Use recruiting and retention metrics.  Metrics are the most commonly used building blocks upon which recruiting and retention decisions, strategies, and plans are built. Without these tools, it is impossible to develop meaningful strategies or determine the effectiveness of those strategies. So what should you be measuring?

• New hire quality – The hiring manager should determine this metric before recruiting is initiated. Thereafter, a performance assessment should be conducted during an employee’s first 90 to 180 days on the job.  This is after the easiest and hardest periods of new hire assimilation and also before organizational influences typically impact the rating.
• Source distribution – the number of job applicants and new hires per recruitment source.
• Time to fill – This metric measures the number of days between when a new job requisition is opened and when a candidate accepts an offer.
• Customer satisfaction – Most recruiting time is spent on filling positions while little, if any, time is spent on evaluating whether or not the candidate selected truly met the job qualifications.  Gathering manager preferences prior to recruiting and evaluating staffing performance post hire will help to minimize turnover and enhance the quality of the hiring process. 
• Recruiting cost ratio – This ratio is more valuable than the traditional cost-per-hire metric because it takes into account more factors that affect cost (i.e. geographic differences, industry differences, functional differences, and differences in job level). Calculate the total recruiting costs and then divide by the total compensation recruited.  Total costs are determined by adding fixed overhead recruiting expenses, source advertising fees, recruiting fees, internet posting fees, signing bonuses, travel, relocation, and visa expenses.

Offer telecommuting and flexible work scheduling.  Telecommuting and flexible work schedules are rapidly becoming effective tools for tapping hidden talent. Potential advantages for employees include saving on transportation, parking, and clothing costs, less stress, and more flexibility to meet family care needs. Potential disadvantages include a lack of face-to-face contact and networking, employees may feel they are out of the mainstream, it can be difficult to draw boundaries between work and home life, and employees may lack discipline needed to work uninterrupted and efficiently.

Potential advantages for employers include expanded recruiting areas, reductions in overhead expenses, enhanced worker efficiency, and reductions in sick time expenses. Potential disadvantages include flexible schedules may be difficult to manage, employers must still comply with regulatory requirements governing telecommuter offices, some tasks are difficult to perform virtually, employees may be less efficient, and potential worker burnout may occur since most employees are constantly exposed to the work environment and tend to work far beyond a normal workday.

Leverage your benefits package.  Keep your company’s benefits above industry standard and add new benefits as you can afford them. Educate employees about the cost and value of their benefits so they appreciate how well you are looking out for their needs. You can’t be an employer of choice without a good benefits package that includes standard benefits such as medical insurance, retirement, and dental insurance. Employees are increasingly looking for more cafeteria-style benefit plans in which they can balance their choices with those of a working spouse or partner.

Enhance Referral Programs.  One of the most effective recruiting tools readily available to companies today is their current employees. They can recommend excellent candidates, assist in reviewing resumes and qualifications of potential candidates, and help interview people to assess their potential “fit” within your company. Employees who participate in the selection process are also more likely to be committed to helping the new employee succeed. 

Other suggestions offered by industry experts include:

• Develop relationships with individuals who can refer applicants such as realtors and property managers who may be aware of recently relocated spouses seeking employment
• Offer extended or non-traditional hours in which eligible candidates may apply
• Aggressively promote referral programs using your web site, stationary, and pay stuffers
• Spark interest in your referral program through contests that offer a big prize such as a TV or a mini vacation.
• Train employees to recruit for you.  Teach them about the types of applicants you are searching for. Then provide them with a generous incentive plan to encourage their efforts.
• Go to where applicants are.  Do not wait for them to come to you.

Read resumes in teams. You will find that different people will focus on different aspects of a resume, whether it is a gap in employment history or the fact that the candidate can speak more than one language. Using teams is a great way to obtain multiple perspectives and also enable process resumes more quickly.

Use behavioral based interviewing techniques. Most interviewers hire a candidate because they like the person’s attitude in the interview. “Interview behavior does not equal job performance,” says Barry Shamis, principal of Selecting Winners, Inc., a recruitment and retention consulting firm in Mercer Island, Wash. “Believing how a person acts in an interview can lull you into thinking that’s how they will act on the job. That kind of thinking can force you into a higher percentage of mistakes. The best predictor of how they will do when they come to work for you is to find out how they’ve done in past situations that most closely resemble your environment.”
Evaluate a candidate’s cultural fit.  Evaluating candidates solely on education and experience increases the likelihood they will leave the company. Many industry experts believe that companies miss the “cultural” preferences of the candidate when interviewing, which can result in an improper fit.  For instance, if you’re a formal bureaucratic organization and the candidate prefers working in a more open, loosely structured environment, that person may have trouble adjusting. Finding out what kind of organization a candidate prefers and worked for successfully will help to minimize the likelihood of turnover.

Conduct background checks.  Industry studies have shown that nearly one-third of applicants lie to some extent about their backgrounds, with the most commonly cited discrepancies being inaccurate employment dates and education completed.  While you may only be able to confirm only basic information, it can still help to uncover even minor gaps and inconsistencies in information provided by the candidate. 

Become known as a great place to work.  Becoming known as a great place to work can help to increase your attract and retain qualified employees because prospective job candidates will believe employees before they believe your corporate literature.  What constitutes a great place to work?  According to the Great Place to Work Institute Inc., credibility, respect, fairness, pride, trust, and camaraderie top the list.

Other Methods Used

*  Temporary to hire arrangements
*  On-site personal services (i.e. dry cleaning)
*  Clothing allowances
*  College tuition for children
*  Internships
*  Sign on bonuses
*  Career development opportunities

If qualified applicants aren’t beating down a path to your door or your long-time employees are suddenly leaving for greener pastures, then it might be time to rethink your company’s recruiting and retention strategies. The trends mentioned in the previous section demonstrate that your company’s efforts need to be more creative than just simple advertisements or campus recruiting. A sound workforce plan can help increase your company’s chances of success.

Planning Process

• Step 1:  Review your organization’s strategic goals and objectives
• Step 2:  Conduct an internal inventory of available workforce resources
• Step 3:  Scan the external environment for changes affecting labor supplies
• Step 4:  Forecast shortages and surpluses
• Step 5:  Develop recruiting and retention goals
• Step 6:  Evaluate your progress at defined intervals to benchmark progress

Ask any company what issues are high on their priority list these days and most will invariably say “attracting and retaining qualified workers” is one of them. In today’s highly competitive labor market, traditional recruiting and retention strategies just don’t seem to be as effective as they once were. National and state workforce studies indicate there are several primary reasons for this:

Education.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in occupations requiring at least a bachelor’s degree is expected to grow 21.6 percent; jobs requiring an associate degree are projected to increase by 32 percent; and those requiring a postsecondary vocational award will grow 24.1 percent. All but two of the 50 highest paying occupations will require a college degree. New jobs will increasingly require both general and occupation- specific skills, will be more demanding, will involve more teamwork and worker participation, and will be in occupations that allow people to think and be creative on the job. The need for more skills will in turn create an increased demand for adult education, the need for better workplace training for existing workers, and the need for retraining of older and dislocated workers.

Diversity.

  The workforce is becoming increasingly diverse. In fact, by the year 2008, minority groups are expected to comprise a larger portion of the labor force. Asians and African Americans are expected to account for approximately 11.7 percent while Hispanics will increase their share of the labor force from 2.1 to 2.8 percent. These changes will lead to the need for corporate policy changes and the necessity for learning Spanish. They will particularly impact the service industry such as health care workers, educators, and public safety officials.

Demographics.

The first of the baby boomers also will begin to reach retirement age. This will heighten the existing labor shortage problem especially when considering the number of younger workers available to replace retirees is declining. It will, therefore, become increasingly important to keep older workers actively involved in the labor force, at least part-time.

Additionally, more individuals with disabilities are also taking part in the workforce due to advances in technology, the impact of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), greater participation in the education system by people with disabilities, and increased social acceptance. 

Lastly, members of Generation Y will have as much of an influence upon society as the baby boomers. Members of Gen Y, defined as those born from 1977 through 1997, are entering the workforce and bringing their own values, such as total comfort with technology and a more global and tolerant outlook. They have very strong opinions about the ideal career path, aren’t as interested in climbing the corporate ladder as previous generations, and often begin their careers with the assumption that they will change jobs frequently.

All of these changes are now requiring employers to rethink their current recruiting and retention strategies to ensure they tap all available labor pools.

Family Design.

The nature of families is changing. The fading of the traditional American nuclear family consisting of a married, heterosexual couple and kids-with a working father and stay-at-home mother-has been catalogued by numerous studies. Today, reports from the Census Bureau indicate that married couples make up only one-half of the population, and married couples with children account for less than a quarter of U.S. households. And those married couples also present a more diverse population, bringing together couples with multiple marriages and children from different relationships. Meanwhile, the number of families headed by single mothers increased about 25 percent over the past decade, to almost 12.5 million, and the number of families headed by single fathers tripled since 1980, to almost 4 million. Demographers now predict that more than half of the youngsters born in the 1990s will spend at least part of their childhood in a single parent home.

Additionally, the number of primary caregivers working outside the home is greater than ever before. As a result, company policies regarding pay, fringe benefits, time off, pensions and other family-related issues may need to be modified to allow for job sharing, more flexible work hours, and employer-sponsored childcare.

Moreover, individuals are waiting longer to get married and, as a result, many couples are having children at older ages. This will affect employers in several ways. First, as couples trying to conceive become older, the odds increase that they will have reproductive problems requiring costly fertility treatments-procedures the employees will want their insurance to cover. In addition, new data from the Census Bureau suggests that older mothers-those from 30 to 44 years of age-may be more likely than younger women to leave the workforce after giving birth.

Work Culture.

  An economy that is increasingly based on information and service industries, wide access to technology, and a “get-it-done-yesterday” culture have blurred the lines between work and non-work for many workers. Mobile phones, personal digital assistants and laptop computers are ubiquitous, and high-speed Internet connections are rapidly becoming available at work, home and even coffee shops. The hyper-competitiveness of a global economy and slim profit margins have created a culture where managerial and professional workers are expected to at least be available to work at any time. At the same time, societal and demographic changes have increased the number of dual-earner families, and the pressure of work and family are raising stress levels and decreasing productivity. The blurring boundary between work and non-work that results from around-the-clock work will create new sets of challenges for employment policies and government regulations.  More specifically, it will lead workers to demand more flexible and increasingly individualized employment relationships so that those who are expected to work regardless of time and location are treated equitably when it comes to compensation and benefits.

Employee Benefits.

  While cost containment of benefit programs will remain an issue for employers, employee benefit programs will need to undergo drastic changes to attract and retain workers. The aging workforce will be seeking better prescription coverage and long-term care benefits. In order to better accommodate shifting demographics, family design changes, and an evolving work culture, particular emphasis will now need to be placed on offering work/life benefits such as flextime, adoption assistance, telecommuting, and dependent care flexible spending accounts.

Technological Advances.

Technological innovation is continuously and pervasively altering the way in which work is performed. The U.S.‘s older workforce could experience difficulty in readily adapting to these developments. Consequently, the retraining of both older and dislocated workers will become vital for any company to succeed.

Industrial Landscape.

  Changes in the industrial structure of the economy will play a major role in determining employment growth or decline in occupational groups. More than half a million new service producing jobs will be created by 2008, with the lion’s share of this growth in the major industry division known as services. This expansion will be fueled by gains in the health, business, education, and high-tech service industries. Changing demographics and the aging of the population will necessitate an increase in health care. Likewise, advances in the medical field, which continue to improve the life expectancy of many patients, will have hospitals looking to expand their staffs. Educational services will continue to benefit from the strength of the U.S. economy. The driving forces behind gains in this industry will be an increase in the number of adult students enrolling in colleges and universities. In the goods producing sector, construction is expected to continue its steady expansion while the manufacturing industry is expected to remain static.

Please keep in mind that the purpose of this Human Resources Guidebook is to provide general information and sample policies to regarding human resources/personnel issues that frequently arise in the workplace.  This Guidebook highlights issues which are frequently raised, and is not intended to be, and is not, an all-inclusive manual on human resources issues.  This Guidebook is not intended to be used in its current form as an employee handbook or policy manual by any businesses.  Many policies discussed herein vary based on the specific circumstances of an organization, and some employment laws and regulations apply differently to employers depending upon their size and other factors.

Due to the intensive nature of policy development and implementation and the numerous federal, state, and local laws and regulations which apply to employment issues, businesses are urged to consult knowledgeable legal counsel prior to development and publication of any manual, policy statements, or employee handbook.