s.g. cowen: new recruits obhr - e100 march 3, 2009

S.G. Cowen: New Recruits

OBHR - E100

March 3, 2009


Recruitment Goals & Priorities

• Attract large numbers of candidates?• Attract highly qualified candidates?• Attract candidates who will accept offers?• Fill vacancies quickly?• Fill at minimal cost?• Hire high performers?• Hire people who stay?• Generate positive perceptions, feelings,

spillovers?


Recruitment Philosophy

• Internal or External Sources?• Fill current vacancies or hire for long

term potential?• How important is diversity?• Are applicants commodities or

customers?• What recruitment practices are

unethical?


Note on Hiring - Roberts

“Executives make up their minds about whether they like a candidate in the first 20 seconds and spend the next half-hour justifying their decision. It’s called the `halo effect.’ Once you have formed an opinion, you only see what you want to see”



Are the personal characteristics for which they are searching a true reflection of the qualities needed to perform the job, rather than being merely a reaction to the kind of person you like as a friend or tennis partner?



Objective:–Fit between individual and job’s

requirements

–Find persons whose skills, abilities and personal characteristics suit job



Requires…• Fleshing out position requirements, accurately, completely

• Assessing applicants’ fit with requirements



Two factors for analyzing requirements and fit

• Background – education, experience

• Personal factors – intellectual, personality, motivation



BACKGROUND• Education

• Experience

= WHAT a recruit does/has done



Experience • Industry

– “Specific knowledge” required

• Functional– Focus on skills, not title

• Company– Culture matters

• Level– Scope, decision making, responsibility



PERSONAL FACTORS• Intellectual ability• Personality• Motivation

= HOW a recruit does/has done his/her work



Intellectual Ability• Analytical ability – problem

definition, resolution

• Creative ability – new ideas, solutions

• Decision-making style



Personality• Behavior is linked to personality• 4 Basic Traits

– Dominance – exertion of power over people, events

– Extroversion – social interactions– Patience – pace of activity– Formality – attention to rules, structure


“Big Five” Personality Dimensions (Fisher, et. al.)

1. Extraversion --- introversion2. Friendliness, agreeableness ---

hostility, non-compliance3. Neuroticism --- emotional stability4. High conscientiousness ---

low conscientiousness 5. High openness to experience --- low

openness to experience



Also think about:• Types, set of tasks performed• Traits that will translate into good

performance• Personalities and management styles of

peers, superiors, subordinates



Motivation• How much effort will he/she apply?

• Goals

• Interests

• Energy



The Interview• All appear successful!

• Digging behind to get facts

• Forming opinion of success patterns

• Must have an agenda



Agenda• Verify and expand on information

• Have agenda: don’t let resume be it

• = only opportunity to probe personal factors

• Probe responsibilities

• Look for translation to success



Interview Strategy• Topic opener: “Tell me about…Describe..”• Self-appraisal

– Follow up to opener– Specific behavior, thinking– Particular qualities leading to success– Test link between self-assessment and behavior

• Situation-based questions



Situation-based Questions• Problem – how dealt with• Continuum – self-assessment (patient v.

demanding)• Comparison – ask for views on different

situations related to job• Future assessment – projecting

performance


Effective Structured Interview Formats

• Situational Interview– What would you do if two of your

subordinates were having a conflict?

• Behavior Description Interview– Tell me about a time two of your

subordinates were having a conflict.• What did you do?• How well did it work?• What else did you try?


Figure 8.7 Cone Method of Semistructured Interviewing


Assessing Job Candidates: Tools for Selection

• The Selection Process• Application Blanks and Biodata• Tests• Interviews• Physical Testing• Reference and Background Checks• Selecting Managers• Criteria for Choosing Selection Devices


The Interview

• Interrater reliability of interviews may be low• Validity of interviews depends on structure

– Unstructured interviews are least valid– Semi-structured interviews have some pre-planning and

some tailoring to the candidate– Structured interviews (same questions asked of each

candidate) based on a job analysis are most valid


Interviewer Errors and Biases

– Similarity Error– Contrast Error– Overweighting of Negative Information– Race, Sex, and Appearance Bias– First Impression Error– Halo Error– Nonverbal Factors– Faulty Listening and Memory


Improving the Interview

• Base questions on a thorough job analysis• Use a more structured format• Use situational and/or behavior description questions• Have interview conducted by a trained panel of

interviewers• Assess only qualities that are visible in interviews


Selecting Managers

• Assessment Centers– Multiple assessees– Multiple assessors– Multiple exercises: In-basket test,

leaderless group discussion, interview, tests

• Valid but expensive


Benefits of Careful and Strategic Selection

• Tradeoff with training/socialization– Hire more carefully, less training may be needed– Hire less carefully, train more afterwards

• Improved performance• Effective strategy implementation

– Hire the kind of people needed to implement strategy

• Sustainable competitive advantage– Match strategy to the unique human resources

you have

s.g. cowen: new recruits obhr - e100 march 3, 2009

Documents

motivation slide

responsibility slide

style slide

structure slide

hiring roberts objective

hiring roberts executives

hisher work slide

jobs requirements