STUCK IN THE PAST, CONSUMED IN THE PRESENT
Think of a time when you hired an employee who exceeded your expectations. Think of when you hired someone who didn’t turn out to be the employee you expected or hoped for. Compare these two instances and try to find out what you did differently. Was there any difference in the interview process? Was it the thoroughness of the background check? Was it your instinct??
In 30-plus years of my professional life, I’ve come across managers who can’t manage, salespeople who cannot sell, and senior executives who aren’t capable of leading. There are “customer service” representatives who are frustrating customers, “quality” programs that can’t produce quality products, and “empowered” work teams made up of workers incapable of collaborating on anything of substance. The real tragedy is that many businesses have come to believe these things are normal, and CEOs merely shake their heads and say, “That’s just how our industry is.”
Is that really the norm? Or is it because these organizations are using traditional talent acquisition and management methods that have led them to this so-called ‘normal’ state of affairs? Their hiring processes are stuck in the past, leading them towards almost certain doom.
I’m not trying to discredit past practices. When resumes, background checks, and reference checks are part of the hiring process, your odds of hiring a top performer reach 26%. 46% of resumes contain false information. 27% of job applicants provide fake references, and 40% state inaccurate salary claims. Other common resume exaggerations include dates of employment, job titles, criminal records, education, and professional licenses. Sometimes, the names of entire companies that never existed were fabricated.
While background checks are often required, and I highly recommend them to my clients, you must never forget that even the best background check companies only catch what has already been caught! So, how do you know how to hire right – and what mistakes can you avoid during the interview??
Let’s discuss conscious and subconscious mistakes that many HR teams and hiring managers make during the interview process.?
WHAT TO AVOID IN AN INTERVIEW?
While reviewing resumes and carrying out background checks represent a potential employee’s past, an interview can best assess their present state. When conducted properly, an interview can increase your chances of hiring a great employee by 14%. For decades, I’ve heard hiring managers say, “I can pick ‘em,’” or they say, “I’ve got a few tricks I use to hire the right person.” However, the truth is that most interviewers aren’t trained to conduct structured or behavior-based interviews.
Interviewing has often been described as an art; one goal is assessing past behaviors related to specific work competencies. The interview process is usually perceived as a one-on-one ‘chit-chat.’ However, interviews should be multi-rated, and I suggest be conducted by no less than two people.?
You want to eliminate bias. Don’t fall for stereotypes or assume things based on things written in the resume. Don’t jump to conclusions based on first impressions. You also have to avoid making ‘similar-to-me’ hires, better known as the dreaded “Halo Effect.” This occurs when an interviewer sees something in the candidate that reminds them of themselves.
60% of hiring decisions are made in the first 15 minutes of an interview.
According to research, almost 60% of hiring decisions are made within the first fifteen minutes of an interview, which is less than half of the scheduled interview time.?Interestingly enough, these decisions are based on something other than the qualification of the candidate or their ability to perform the job. Instead, these decisions are made on first impressions.
The phenomenon mentioned above is attributed to social categorization, a process through which a person sorts other people into groups. There is no logical reasoning behind this categorization, and it is an outcome of the biases mentioned above that occur during an interview. Let’s begin with stereotyping before discussing other biases and how each plays a distinct role in the interview and hiring processes.
STEREOTYPING
Let’s be honest and admit that we stereotype other people based on fickle characteristics, like how they appear or act in a particular place. When we do this during the hiring process, we are influenced by things that have no bearing on the job itself or the interviewee’s ability to perform. It’s a danger and risk for some hiring managers to further stereotype others based on their gender, race, religion, or other associations. The resulting aftermath is highly illegal, and discriminatory practices put the organization in legal jeopardy. For example, it is easy for an interviewer to stereotype someone with children as a person who will take a lot of time off.?
You should never ask about age, birthplace, citizenship, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, family pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, or religion. These are just some examples of how stereotyping in an interview can cause you a world of pain, not to mention can get in the way of hiring someone who may be the perfect candidate for the job. I'd like to encourage you to consult a labor attorney to review your interview practices.
The halo effect occurs when an entire interview is influenced by just one positive characteristic of the candidate. For example, suppose the candidate has graduated from a prestigious university with a good GPA. In that case, it is easy for the interviewer to think of them as highly competent and the right fit for the job, but this might not be the case because they possess one positive attribute does not necessarily mean they are the best fit.?
On the flip side, the halo effect could prevent you from hiring a suitable candidate because they displayed one negative characteristic during the interview. The interviewer ignores all positive aspects of the candidate, potentially causing the employer to lose out on a future employee with the skill and enthusiasm to contribute to the organization’s culture and bottom line.?
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NONVERBAL BIAS
Nonverbal bias comes into play when the hiring manager forms an impression of a candidate at first glance. These first impressions are based on the candidate’s body language, personal appearance, or dressing style, and these factors can influence the interviewer’s perception of the candidate positively and negatively. Nonverbal bias in interviews is often a significant factor in a company not hiring the best candidate.?
THE SIMILAR-TO-ME SYNDROME
The so-called ‘similar-to-me’ syndrome is a bias that causes the interviewer to see a candidate as the best fit for the job because their personality or style reminds the interviewer of themselves. It is human nature to favor people who are similar to themselves. When this happens, the interviewer may believe someone to be the best candidate for a job if the candidate has similar styles, personalities, experiences, or interests. Unfortunately, this judgment is based on personal preference rather than job-related criteria, skills, and ODNA? fit attributes. At times, the candidate having the same educational background or area of research as the interviewer can also ignite the ‘similar-to-me’ syndrome in the latter. Often a candidate will intentionally identify something in your office, and they notice a golf club in the corner of your office and initiate a conversation about golf. Maybe the interviewer and interviewee went to the same university. You can imagine what happens next as the entire interview shifts into a discussion of mascots, sports, or other unrelated criteria.?
Numerous hidden biases call into question the validity of the traditional interview process, some of which we’ve already discussed. But it is about time that we counteract these biases in interviews. This can be done by avoiding an unstructured interview and planning in advance. You also need to understand the role you are hiring for and the technical skills and academic credentials desired in a candidate. By preparing in advance, you will know the qualities, skills, and experiences the ideal candidate should possess. Doing so will put you well on the path to hiring or promoting your next top performer.?
In this information age, there is a ton of contradictory data collected in dubious, unscientific methods, making arriving at the right interviewing strategy and set of interview questions hard to tackle. Alternatively, when you add the Occupational DNA? process to make the right hiring decisions, you are free from any bias or errors in human judgment. Why? The ODNA process will create safe, targeted behavioral interview questions for each candidate during the interview.?
Lastly, if you feel confident about your interviewing skills, try Googling “how to beat the interview.” At present, you find approximately 208 million search results. Next, run a search query for “How to conduct a job interview,” and you’ll see about 15 million results. In other words, most of today’s candidates know as much about interviewing as your hiring managers, if not more.
To learn how our assessment can equip your hiring team with the tools to make better hiring decisions call 1-800-434-2630 or visit www.theassessmentcompany.com
Copyright ? 2023 John P. Beck, Jr
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“Breaking the Code: Hiring Strategies, Occupational DNA, & the Modern Organization”
Copyright John P. Beck, Jr
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