Over the past three decades, we’ve seen HR transform from a resource-heavy function to an agile and well-oiled machine. Now, learn about the next frontier for HR, which is the ability to measure and maximize success across Talent Management.
Director of Leadership and Organization Development Holly Bunn talks about using a predictive talent assessment to empower nurses on their leadership development journey. At HCA Healthcare, the assessment helps create customizable programs that align an individual’s needs – which has proven much more effective than the traditional one-size-fits-all training or leadership course. In this video, Holly explains how the assessment plays a critical role in getting leadership to their highest level of potential in the fastest way possible:
We provide a developmental report to everyone early on in their career with us so that when they’re selecting a professional development course or mentorship program, they understand their current strengths, and also the areas where they may want to focus on first. That way, they can reach their long-term goals.”
In a perfect world, we would evaluate each and every candidate that put in an application and ensure their resume was viewed by the hiring manager and given an in-person interview. The reality is that recruiters are crunched for time to fill positions as it is and trying to interview each and every applicant would result in the role never getting filled (as well as a very tired recruiting team). That’s why shortlisting is such an effective strategy for recruiters and ensures they’re able to efficiently move their candidates through the hiring process.
What is shortlisting?
In the world of recruiting, shortlisting is defined as the process of finding the best possible candidate from your pool of applicants for an open position and advancing them to the next stage of the interview which is typically an in-person meeting. While it seems straightforward, it’s not. In fact, many leaders in hiring say that shortlisting candidates is the most difficult part of their job.
While many recruiters may come across issues in an effort to shortlist candidates, it doesn’t have to be a lost cause. There are many ways around it as long as you’re willing to work them out with your team and develop a plan of action. Here are some of the most effective.
Figure out what is most important
First things first, you need to figure out exactly what it is you’re looking for. No matter how good the candidate may be, it means nothing if you aren’t able to realize how talented they are in the first place. To make it easy on yourself, pick the most important qualities you’re looking for in your perfect candidate. This means picking the most important qualities in regards to their professional experience as well as cultural fit.
Once you have that list, pick the five most important from each category and look for them as you scour through resumes and cover letters. This way, you’ll have a clear idea of what you’re looking for and will be able to build your list of shortlisted candidates much faster. Just make sure not to develop tunnel vision and completely disregard the other qualities you’re looking for.
Keep an eye out for red flags
Along with their most important qualities, you should also be very aware of what you aren’t looking for. This means job hoppers as well as candidates with inconsistencies in their resumes. While there can be a good reason for an employee moving around from company to company, it may not be the perfect fit if you’re looking for something long term.
Other resume red flags include:
How many candidates will you have time to interview
What you also need to consider is how much time you have available to interview your shortlisted candidates. If time isn’t an issue then feel free to make your list as large as you’d like it to be. But if you’re in a situation where you have to fill as fast as you can, then be mindful of how many candidates you’ll be able to progress to the next stage and adjust accordingly.
Use video interviews
One way to make up for your lack of time is by using video interviewing software to speed things up and interview more candidates than you previously thought you had time for. It works like this, you record your portion of the video interview which includes the questions you want to ask along with any important information regarding the company you’d like to share. This information includes work perks, health insurance information, vacation time, etc.
Next, you send the interviews to candidates for them to complete at their convenience. This way, the candidate can feel more relaxed since they’re in a space they’re comfortable in and will be able to speak of their abilities and past experiences more accurately. Also, you get a first-hand account of how they communicate without having to meet with them in person. With the time saved, you’ll be able to interview more candidates in a much smaller time frame.
Include a short assignment to accompany their application
One way to really have the best candidates shine is by having them complete a short assignment with their application. This can be anything from a quick word problem to a math equation. When you have your applicants complete an assignment, you know the ones that actually took the time to do it are committed and driven to prove their worth for the role. You also know not to consider applicants that don’t complete the assignment because they’ve displayed they’re not able to follow directions.
Last thoughts
You can’t spend all your time evaluating each and every candidate that comes through the pipeline, you’ll get stuck and will never get your roles filled. By correctly employing shortlisting tactics, you’ll be saving time as well as ensuring the best candidate makes it through to the next round.
What happens when business growth threatens to derail your culture “Learn how to effectively manage culture through periods of rapid change in part 3 of our HR Tech Trends series”.
The gig economy offers freedom and flexibility for workers, but what does it mean for employers? See how the gig economy is disrupting HR, and learn how traditional employers can compete for talent in an increasingly freelance workforce.
In part 2 of our HR Tech Trends Series, learn why predictive analytics is LIGHTYEARS AHEAD of basic reporting, and find out what HR needs to do to catch up with data-savvy peers in marketing, finance, healthcare, and more.
Machine learning is quickly moving from research to real-life, with powerful business applications on the horizon. What does this mean for HR? Learn about exciting possibilities and potential pitfalls in part 1 of our HR Tech Trends Series.
Employers around the world are realizing that the traditional one-size-fits-all development program isn’t effective – it’s not ‘sticky,’ and it doesn’t support the individual needs of the leader on his or her development journey. But that’s all changing. Learn how you can transform leadership development in your organization from a program to a daily practice.
The thought of rehiring an old employee may leave you with a definite no in your head, but with more people choosing to switch jobs around than ever before. The idea of rehiring a past worker shouldn’t be so looked down on.
In fact, bringing back a past team member may be very beneficial to your organization.
In order to figure out whether or not rehiring a former employee is a good idea for your company, read on as we go over the advantages as well as the disadvantages of bringing on a past hire.
But before we go any further, it’s important to note that we’re only referring to the employees that have a good standing with your company and have proven themselves to be a beneficial part of your organization.
Any past employees that were let go for reasons related to bad performance or behavior shouldn’t be considered for rehiring.
Positives of Rehiring Former Employees
Already familiarized with your company’s operations or inner workings
One of the biggest advantages of bringing back an old employee is that you don’t have to spend as much time bringing them up to speed with how you all operate along with getting them adjusted to your company culture.
Since they’ve already worked here, they’re already familiar with what it takes to be successful along with how things are carried out on a day-to-day basis.
We all know how long the process takes for a new hire to hit full productivity, so bringing someone along that is able to be fully productive much earlier is definitely a strong benefit that should be considered.
With that said, don’t assume that they’ve remembered each and everything you’ve ever told them regarding the job, they will likely need some refreshing as well as being filled in on any new operations.
New skills and experiences
Keep in mind that rehiring an employee doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to be the exact same person from which you previously worked with. In the time that they were away, they were working at a different position, went back to school, started their own business, etc. so they’ve garnered a number of new skills that they can now bring to the table.
Not only that but if they were working for a competitor in the same industry, they could bring over industry-specific information that could better your company and could aide in bringing over new problem-solving skills.
Boosts employee morale
When you give a past employee a chance and choose to bring them back on, other employees take note and realize that they’re working at a company that is willing to reconsider an old employee and didn’t harbor any resentful feelings towards them.
Along with that, current employees seeing an old employee come back lets them know that their current position is a good one since people are willing to come back to it.
All of these work to increase your level of morale in the workplace which will result in an increase in productivity among your employees.
Less risk involved
Whenever you bring on a new employee, you are taking a major risk that they won’t jump the boat and decide to leave in the middle of training and cause you to repeat the entire hiring process all over again. Also, there’s a chance of onboarding someone that isn’t as qualified as their resume makes them out to be.
That’s why hiring someone that was previously with your organization is less risky than bringing on someone new. You’re well aware of what the employee is capable of along with knowing that they’re able to function well in your company’s environment.
Higher retention rates
Although it may seem backward, employees that choose to leave and come back are actually much more likely to stay than the typical employees. This is because they’ve learned that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, so to speak.
Now that they’re back at their original position after working another job for some time, they understand how good they have it and appreciate the company much more than they did beforehand.
Negatives of Rehiring Former Employees
Always a chance that they will leave again
Now that we’ve gone over the benefits of bringing on a past employee, let’s go over some of the negatives that can occur. The first being that there’s still a chance that they can change their mind and leave again.
Although they may show plenty of signs of maturing as an employee, if they were willing to leave your company once, then there’s really no reason to think that they wouldn’t do it again.
Having feelings of entitlement
Although they’re still considered to be a new employee, they may not see themselves that way which can lead to feeling that they have seniority and are owed certain perks that come with being on the job for a longer period of time.
May not necessarily be the best candidate for the job
Seeing a past employees resume in your inbox may intrigue you enough that you really don’t pay enough attention to your pool of candidates that are also vying for the position. Even though that pool of other candidates may contain someone that is more qualified for the role than they are.
This is why rehiring someone may not always be such a great decision, the benefits of bringing on an old employee (less time spent training, quick assimilation to company culture, etc.) tend to overshadow the competition even though another candidate may be a much better fit.
Don’t want to reignite issues with past employees
Before you bring someone back on, you should be sure that they don’t have any issues with any of your current employees and vice versa. Although it isn’t always stated, a big reason as to why people change jobs is because of a toxic work environment caused by a coworker that they don’t get along with.
So make sure that any issues they had with any past teammates (if any) are straightened out before you make your final decision.
Not interviewing them as thoroughly as you interview other candidates
This one isn’t necessarily a negative as much as it is something that you need to pay attention to if you’re considering onboarding a past employee.
Don’t make the mistake of glossing over certain interview subjects or questions just because you feel like they aren’t necessary.
In order to be sure that your rehire is the best candidate, you have to put them through the wringer as you would with any other candidate. This includes reference checks, skills tests, etc.
Last thoughts
So is hiring a past employee a good idea?
It really depends on many factors revolving around the situation and the relationship that the company has with the employee, but as more and more employees choose to stay at their jobs shorter than they previously used to, it’s best that you don’t jump to any harsh conclusions regarding the candidate simply because they have a couple of short stints on their resume.
For a company to be successful, you need people from all walks of life to come together and bring their strengths and expertise so that your organization is prepared to tackle the challenges that come with a 21st-century economy. This means that diversity is held to a high standard at most firms and is seen as a necessity.
With that said, companies still need a certain level of homogeneity within their employees to assure that their standards of work are kept up and their workplace culture is safe. One way of doing this is by assuring that their hiring for “culture add” along with making sure that their candidates are qualified.
What is “Culture add”?
“Culture add” is a term used to describe people who not only value the company’s standards and workplace culture but also bring an aspect of diversity that positively contributes to your organization. Changing the mindset to “culture add” also helps change the recruiting mindset from “What doesn’t this candidate have?” to “What can this person bring to the table?”.
Is“Culture add” the same as “Culture fit”?
“Culture fit” can be described as how well a candidate is able to conform and adapt to the values and behaviors of the organization. The rise of “culture add” is a direct result of companies rejecting the ideas that “culture fit” stands for. Although it may seem harmless, over the last few years, people have noticed that it has been used as an excuse to bring bias into the hiring process.
This has motivated hiring leaders to make the shift to “culture add” rather than “culture fit”.
How to make sure that candidates are a good “culture add”?
When evaluating candidates, ensuring that they’re a good “culture add” should be one of your top priorities. One way to do this is by adopting a set of recruiting strategies that are good for bringing in talent whose culture would be a good addition to yours. Here are a couple of strategies that are great for bringing in workers that would be a good “culture add”.
In order to recruit candidates that are a good “culture add”, you first need to make sure that you have a clear understanding of your company’s core values and beliefs, as well as what it expects from its employees so that you don’t end up just adding your own biases to the recruiting process.
Once you have clearly defined your company’s workplace culture, make sure that it’s clear to your hiring team so that you don’t have to worry about any biases interrupting your flow of talent. Once you’ve established your values, make sure that you search for people that not only reflect these values but can also flourish within your company’s culture.
Getting your current employees to refer candidates is a great way of finding people that are a good “culture add”. Your employees are already aware of the type of person that will get along well with your team, and they will be motivated to refer people that will do well because they know that the person will be a direct representation of them. Take steps to emphasize how vital “culture add” is to your organization then explain that you’re not only looking for candidates that have the necessary skill set, but will also thrive and add to your company’s culture. To give your team more of an incentive, you may want to add a monetary or another type of gift to employees that successfully refer a candidate that ends up being a quality hire.
Another avenue of ensuring that you find candidates that are a good “culture add”, is by asking questions that evaluate their emotional IQ and gives you a better idea if whether or not they’d be right for your organization.
Here are a couple of questions that can be used to evaluate a candidate’s emotional IQ:
Last thoughts
The last thing you want is to worry about your company falling behind the curb on certain trends, so make sure to dump the term “culture fit” from your workplace and replace it with “culture add” so that you can be sure to reap the rewards of a truly diverse team. Along with that, make sure everyone understands the benefits that come along with it so that you’re sure everyone is on board.