In This Issue: "Putting It All Together"
Test for Success
Tools, Tips, & Techniques for Avoiding
Hiring Mistakes and Developing People
From Helm and Associates, Inc.
And Kurt Helm
Published every fourth Thursday of the Month
November 2009; Volume 4, Issue 6
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Word count for this issue: 641
Approximate time to read: 3 minutes
Throughout this year, we have been talking about each part of the
selection process in depth, and I have talked about why each step is
important, what it adds to the process, and quick tips for how to use
information gathered about an applicant at each step to maximum
advantage. It's time now to put it all together.
First, Let's Review
We have talked this year about the resume and application, the
interview, background and reference checks, skills and personality
testing, and drug and honesty testing. You are able to gather
information about an applicant from some of these sources, or from
all of them. If you would like to review any of the articles about
each of them, you can read them at our website. Here's the link that
you can copy and paste into the address line of your Internet
browser; it takes you directly to the list of ezines:
http://www.helmtest.com/newsletter/indexezine.htm.
The basic message about the information that you gather from every
stage of the selection process is simple: don't over-rely on
information or results from any single step or source in the selection
process UNLESS that information is a clear and verifiable
disqualification of the applicant. For example, let's say that you are
hiring registered nurses, and you learn, when you verify an
applicant's license, that the license has been revoked. If it is a
requirement that successful applicants must have current and
verifiable licensure, then this piece of information would disqualify
an applicant, regardless of how otherwise well qualified or suitable
he or she seemed, until the licensure issue was successfully
corrected.
But That's Not All
It's not enough simply to look for glaring disqualifications though;
what you also need to do is to put the information you have gathered
about applicants together, for each applicant who meets minimum
requirements at each stage, and consider the overall picture that
ALL of that information gives you about each person. Your goal
should be to understand as much as you can about how well
qualified each applicant is for a position, and look at inconsistencies
or contradictions in or between all of the sources of information you
have for each person. Then ask yourself what might account for the
inconsistencies or contradictions, if they exist. Remember, there
may be reasonable explanations for any inconsistencies or
contradictions you see in an applicant's information. Always ask
the applicant who is otherwise qualified for clarification and be sure
that the explanation that the applicant offers feels appropriate and
adequate.
The point of gathering as much job-relevant information as you can
about applicants is to form a judgment on which you can base
selection decisions about the applicant(s) who combine as many of
your requirements in a way that is likely to be as harmonious as
possible for your organization.
After You Make The Selection Decision
If you stop your consideration of what you know about an applicant
with the selection decision, you lose extremely valuable information
that can help ensure that a new employee becomes productive as
quickly as possible. Instead, take a fresh look at everything you
know about the new employee from the standpoint of his or her
training and coaching needs. There almost always is information
that can be valuable to trainers in your organization, or to the new
employee's supervisor. Be alert to opportunities to share this
information with the new employee, in a growth oriented way, so
that you enlist his cooperation in developing an action plan for
training and coaching with "buy in" from the very beginning of
employment tenure.
The Final Word
Consistently following a carefully designed selection process may
seem a bit daunting in the beginning, but it yields valuable
information – and a lot of it! – that will pay you back handsomely in
improved hiring decisions and "ready to go" training and coaching
strategies.
About this Ezine and About Your Subscription
© 2009, Kurt G. Helm, Ph.D. All rights reserved. You are allowed to use material from this newsletter in whole or in part provided that you include complete attribution. Please notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read:
“By Kurt G. Helm, Ph.D., of Helm and Associates, Inc. Please visit our website at www.helmtest.com for more information about how to avoid hiring mistakes by using pre-employment testing as part of the applicant evaluation procedure.”
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Until next time, all the best,
Kurt Helm - Helm and Associates, Inc.
Ph: Toll Free 800-886-4356
P.O. Box 130
Helmsburg IN 47435
