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What Workers Want
Studies of highly talented employees reveal certain values that cause individuals to join or stay at their place of employment. These quality employees seek organizations with a strong sense of direction, an empha- sis on training and development with clear opportunities for advancement, an organizational culture and environment that place a premium on innovation and creativity, competitive reward strategies linked to perfor- mance, innovative benefit plans that are designed to meet individual needs, and an open and fair culture that values diversity and respect for individual differences. According to studies by Towers Perrin and the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the desires of top per- formers (that is, those individuals who have the potential to be the best- performing, most successful employees in an organization) today include challenging work, change on the job, opportunities for growth with the employer, performance-based pay, and the autonomy to complete work assignments. These same studies identified what top performers do not want in their jobs: rules, regulations, policy manuals, and long meetings topped the list. Top performers want work to be fun in the sense that highly skilled employees find enjoyment in being able to utilize their skills and expertise. Top performers have very high expectations for themselves and for the people with whom and for whom they work.
Employers who seek top performers must be prepared to meet the needs of this group.8
One more clue that the talent shortage is real: major IT service firms such as IBM and EDS spend about half of their marketing budgets to support recruiting. Apparently they have less trouble finding projects than people to perform them. That is why results from a study of IT personnel practices in 32 organizations in the United States concluded that companies should shift their focus from myopic HR remedies (such as one-time inducements or bonuses) to more holistic or systemic solutions such as better management of workloads, rewards, and training and development.9
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steps can be significant but is not likely to be more expensive than the turnover costs already described.10
Recruitment efforts, which have traditionally focused on enticing indi- viduals to accept available jobs, now have to first find interested individuals to entice. The demographics of today’s workforce have evolved to a point that traditional recruitment and retention strategies have lost much of their effectiveness. Approximately 30 percent of American workers are in non- standard work arrangements (part-time jobs, temporary jobs, on-call jobs, independent contractors, contract employees) and many of these employ- ees desire this type of work arrangement. Some of them are the “project nomads” written about several years ago in the Wall Street Journal.11
Clearly, the shift in the way many of us view our work (as life, not as
“just a job”) calls for a corresponding shift in the way companies treat people, from the very first contact. We can no longer afford the kind of cheap, off- hand bureaucratic procedures that have become standard in hiring. In developing a pool of candidates, the following suggestions will be helpful.
Cast a wide net — Friends, colleagues, consultants, professional asso- ciates, board members, ex-employees, search firms, trade groups, and Internet job sites all help to proactively locate talent. Stay on the lookout all year, whether or not you have an open position. Search newsgroups on the Internet for people with the skills you need. Develop partnerships such as relationships with academic institutions.
Use an employee referral program — Employees will not refer peo- ple unless they want to work with them. One firm reported that as many as 60 percent of its new hires came from internal referrals. In the year 2000, 71 percent of all managers surveyed by Meta Group ranked internal referrals as one of their top-three IT recruiting methods.12
Recruit from within — Promoting from within boosts morale because it tells other employees that they too can be promoted. Internal hires also do not need the extra orientation and training to become familiar with corporate culture.13
Exercise courtesy — When recruiting, make everyone feel respected.
The person you do not hire today may be the person you need in six months. Basic manners are seldom followed in dealing with prospective hires: that is, acknowledge receipt of their résumés, return their phone calls, and communicate about decisions and processes.14
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Do not passively run ads and sort résumés — Top talent probably will not be looking in the want ads. Particularly with project management and technical personnel, to reform the hiring process, instead of reading HR journals and going to HR conferences, recruiters should read industry trade magazines and go to industry conferences. Technical people often write the kind of résumés that recruiters reject because they include clusters of acronyms and jargon. But when recruiters choose well-written, but less substantive résumés, unqualified candidates can get on the short list.
Pare the bureaucratic processes — Talented people do not have much patience for bureaucratic processes; so instead of loading up can- didates with a pile of paper forms, engage personally.
Bring the managers into the picture — In many companies, HR will not let the hiring managers get involved until recruiters have selected a short list of candidates, even though the hiring manager is the person with industry contacts. This is why we recommend that the project office have a dedicated position for recruiting and nurturing project talent. Too often, HR staff members in charge of hiring project managers have never spent time “in the trenches.”15
Keep process metrics — Researchers at Watson Wyatt list recruiting excellence as one of five human resource practices that affect the bottom line, yet few organizations formally evaluate their recruitment efforts. Only 44 percent of organizations surveyed formally evaluate any recruitment outcomes.16
A survey conducted by International Data Corp. (IDC) and Computer- world of more than 70 IT recruiters found that one of the keys to good hiring is keeping accurate statistics and metrics on the hiring process itself.
Some of the metrics suggested include:
How long it takes to hire a person. Having a clear understanding of the hiring timeline helps managers approach hiring in a system- atic manner.
How many applicants one needs in the pipeline to generate a hire.
The IDC/Computerworld survey found that the average company chose 26 qualified résumés to yield three interviews before hiring someone.
Where the best hires have come from. The survey found that the most efficient channel for hiring (in terms of offers accepted per résumés gathered) was employee referral.17
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Interviewing Strategies
Approximately half of companies of 100 employees or less do not have established policies and procedures describing criteria for new hires.18 These criteria must be established long before the interview takes place;
but assuming that they are in place, the first contact with a new member of a company or team begins with the interview.
Interviews have some weaknesses as a method of selecting employees.
Their validity and reliability is relatively low as a way of predicting future performance. And stereotyping by interviewers, in addition to the generally subjective nature of the process, may allow biases to creep into the selection process, especially if the interview process is not standardized.
(This is why most HR management experts now recommend performing validated testing of candidates to add an element of objectivity to the hiring process. See Chapter 3.)
The unstructured interview is a free-for-all conversation that typically begins with a request such as, “So, tell me about yourself.” Such interviews are susceptible to “contrast effect,” in which applicants are compared to the person who was interviewed just before them, or “first impression effect,” where a snap decision is made. Unstructured interviews showcase
“impression managers,” who skillfully direct the conversation to irrelevant topics such as sports or travel. While such conversations might be enjoy- able, less than 20 percent of the workforce hired by this method are top performers.19
However, companies that take interviewing seriously can sidestep some of these pitfalls. Structured and competency interviews ask interview questions relevant to the job and, working from a competency-based role description, each interviewee receives the same set of questions and is scored using suggested responses. A five-point performance-based rating scale is used to evaluate the completeness and correctness of applicant responses. The following are some guidelines for performing structured interviews.
Develop a range of targeted, core questions that you ask all applicants.
In addition to inquiries designed to assess general project management and industry knowledge, gauge an individual’s interpersonal skills and
“fit” with your firm’s corporate culture (see Table 5.2). Hypothetical job- related scenarios also can reveal a lot about the applicant’s enthusiasm, attitude, and ethics.20
Read résumés in teams. A team of three to five people offers about the right mix of multiple perspectives. Approximately 60 percent of applicants should never be granted an interview in the first place, some experts say. Because interviewing too many unqualified applicants can interrupt productivity, carefully read résumés and match candidates to job descriptions. Watch out for big changes. Is the candidate moving from a
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small organization to a large one? Is the person moving from an entre- preneurial culture to a very structured one? While this should not disqualify anyone, it should spark some questions.21
Prepare for the interview by allowing plenty of time — one or two hours — when interviewing technical and managerial positions. Limit distractions such as phone calls.
Put the candidate at ease. Come out from behind your desk, encourage the use of first names, and share something personal with the candidate to break the ice.
When doing a structured interview, armed with a list of suggested responses available for each question, do not “lead” the candidate by using the suggested responses as a checklist. If you ask applicants if they have experience with any of a list of skills, they almost always say, “Yes, I can do that,” but this can be misleading.
Starting questions with “Why,” “What,” or “How” generates mor e expansive responses. In addition, ask the candidate to respond to a few hypothetical questions relating to your organization or the project. Ask all your questions at once. If you hand the candidate a set of printed
TABLE 5.2 Searching Questions
When I call your references, what will they say?
What accomplishments are you particularly proud of?
What motivates you? How do you motivate people?
Why are you in the job market?
What are the best, and worst, aspects of your current position?
How do you resolve disputes?
Have you ever gone out on a limb on a project? Tell me what happened.
What is the biggest mistake you have made in your career?
Describe your current organization chart and how you fit into it.
Describe your participation in team efforts. What worked, what didn’t?
Have you ever been terminated from a job? Why?
Tell me about a project experience in which you had to use good communication skills.
How many levels of management have you interacted with? How many different departments?
Have you ever made an unpopular management decision? What happened?
If you could have made improvements in your previous position, what would they have been?
What is the most interesting or challenging project you have been involved with in your career?
Tell me about a situation at work in which you had to suddenly reschedule your time and reprioritize projects.
Source: Adapted from Great Expectations: How to Hire Top Performers, Cali- fornia CPA, July 2001, by Max Messmer.
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questions, it forces you to listen, and it allows the candidates to see the road map. As the candidate answers the questions, the interviewer can occasionally ask for more information or examples.
Take notes. Research has shown that the first person interviewed often has the least chance of getting the job because hiring managers might not recall their thoughts about him or her. Develop a rating system to simplify comparisons of each applicant’s skills and abilities. Note when further amplification is needed. Ask why the candidate left (or wants to leave) a previous employer. Note accomplishments, or the absence thereof.
Try to evaluate personal qualities such as insight. When has he or she has faced adversity? Does he or she display honesty and humility? Ask the interviewee to describe his or her weaknesses and steps taken to overcome them. Ask about peak experiences. What does the candidate brag about? What would he or she do during a hypothetical 12-month sabbatical? Identify productive traits. When has the candidate flown in the face of convention? Look for curiosity and creativity.
Tell candidates that you will check references. Ask, “What will we hear from your detractors?” If this type of question is followed by a long silence, be patient.
Listen carefully. Ask prospective candidates what projects they are par- ticularly proud of, or look at their résumés to see what projects they have listed. As the interview draws to a close, a candidate will usually say something very important in the last five minutes. Do not rush this phase.
Put problems on the table. All candidates have them; and if you have not discovered them, then you have not paid attention.
When closing the interview, consider giving an assignment. This allows you to see the caliber of work and eliminates candidates who are not motivated enough to follow through.
Save time for the candidate’s questions. The quality of the questions will tell you a lot about the candidate. If candidates appear uncertain about accepting a job offer, do not jump to the conclusion that money is the problem. As discussed later in this chapter, money is rarely a knowl- edge worker’s prime concern. Ask, “Are there aspects of this job that concern you?” Make sure candidates know that you appreciate their interest and let them know when to expect to hear from you.
After the interview, review your notes in a timely manner. Make a balance sheet (plusses and minuses). List questions to be addressed during reference calls or as part of a second interview. Then check references.
To get more than “name, rank, and serial number,” ask finalists to encour- age their references to provide you with feedback. Do not automatically rule out an applicant because of one negative reference. Try to verify any criticisms with other contacts.22 One simple and legal method of getting better-quality information is to call a reference when you are likely to
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reach voicemail. Say, “John (or Jane) Doe is a candidate for (the position) in our company. Your name has been given as a reference. Please call me back if the candidate was outstanding.”
Finally, hire for attitude. One can teach specific skills to someone who has a thirst for knowledge and sound judgment. However, one cannot teach a positive outlook or the aptitude for interpersonal skills.23
Yet, hiring a top performer is only the start of the journey. It is a myth that high performers are more reliable, longer-term employees. An employee can be extremely capable; but if that person is bored or unhappy with co-workers, he or she will soon be out the door.24 Table 5.3 displays the personal characteristics of a high performer.
TABLE 5.3 Hire an ACTOR
When screening for leadership positions such as project managers, you want ACTORs — people who are:
Adaptable. Leaders must be adaptable to change. A leader’s job is to allow change to occur and, in some cases, be the catalyst. The last thing a leader wants is to be the keeper of the tradition that creates the roadblock to progress.
Considerate. Leaders can no longer think in terms of “the end justifies the means.” Leaders must consider the personal effect of their actions on followers if they are to build the commitment that is required for long-term success. Leaders do not use their position to gain special perks. What is good enough for followers should be good enough for leaders. Leaders should also look to celebrate the successes of their followers as often as possible. They recognize, reward, and praise them frequently.
Trustworthy. Chances are good that if they view the leadership as being trustworthy, the organization will also be considered a trusting place to work. Creating a foundation of trust encourages commitment among the followers that will generate incredible loyalty toward the leader and the organization.
Optimistic. Leaders must provide a positive vision of the future. They model the way.
Resourceful. Leaders should provide the required training to ensure that their followers are prepared for their jobs and responsibilities. They encourage collective intelligence and working with others. They break down walls within an organization. Being resourceful can be almost anything in the context of getting things done. Leaders view any failure as a learning event.
Source: Adapted from Your best leader — an ACTOR, Workforce Magazine, October 2002, by Ed Rose.
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