resourcing

The myth of the external candidate

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I’m always slightly nervous when it comes to comparing internal and external candidates. In many ways it is like moving house. On one hand you have you have the wonderful description of a potential property and beautifully taken photos and on the other, you have your current abode, lived in and known.  You can take a few visits, have a look around, you can even get a surveyor’s report, but it will never amount to the knowledge and experience you have from years lived within, learning the good the bad and the indifferent.

Of course there are ways you can be more objective about the comparison, you can run aptitude tests, profiling and be as structured in the assessment as possible. But I’m not sure you can ever completely counterbalance the opportunity of being unknown. Let’s take something like stakeholder management. An external candidate will give you examples of where they’ve been successful, how they’ve managed competing demands and ultimately you can only assume this to be true. The internal candidate may tell you the same, but you’ll also have the feedback from the stakeholders themselves.

The only way I’ve found to approach this situation is to add in the equivalent of a balancing number. On one hand assume that the external candidate will be 15-20% less good than you assess them to be. On the other add a factor for growth to the internal candidate, based on your knowledge of their current performance.  Then look at the two adjusted performances and try to make a comparison based on this revised approach.

Ultimately, if an internal candidate can get within distance of the external candidate based on this assessment it feels like the right thing to do to allow them to develop and grow. It’s not the most scientific approach, I grant you, but in the absence of anything genuinely more objective, I’ll be sticking to my old school ways.

Are we there yet? The art of onboarding.

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So you’ve made the hire, done the deal, the offer has been sent and accepted. Now you just have to wait until they’re finished in their current gig to join. Job done.

Or is it?

That period between offer and commencement might be a chance to get on with things for you as a line manager or recruiter. But what about the candidate? What is going on for them and how can you possibly help them during that interval?

As a candidate you’ve been through the competition, you’ve landed the prize, you’ve won. You’ve the sense of elation, the satisfaction, the excitement. And now the wait…

It is a funny period of time psychologically, you’re neither one place or another. You have hopes for the future that you can’t fulfil and attachments to the past that are slowly separating. It is the ultimate transition.

First of all, don’t forget communication. Stay in touch by text, by email, with a call. Especially when the notice period is long, maintaining contact can maintain the positive bond that has been made during the recruitment period.

Think about the sorts of materials or information that you can send in advance – are there business reports, structure charts, handbooks or brochures that go beyond the offer pack that would be helpful?

How can you prepare them for day one? What practical and helpful information can you make available to them? Where will they be, what will they do, what should they wear, where can they get lunch, what do they need to bring?

How can you maintain engagement beyond your personal relationship? Think about the opportunities to meet other people, to attend company events, to have a coffee or a breakfast or a glass of wine. Start creating the supportive network before day one.

Onboarding is more than paperwork, it is about the psychological transition from one organisation to another, from one state to another. Done well, it can not only enhance your employer brand, but also increase the speed at which your new hire starts to be productive and at ease in both the organisation and their role.

 

Give better interview

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Let me start this piece with a giant caveat – I know I’m not the world’s best interviewer. I get bored, I have a tendency to wander in to areas that interest me and I want to explore and I have (on the very odd occasions) been known to be judgemental – don’t wear Christmas socks to an interview with me in March.

Whilst I’m willing to accept my own foibles are far from ideal, I’m also constantly surprised by the approach taken to interviewing by HR professionals and business leaders alike. Let me put it another way…

If you were making any other £50,000 investment decision, would you turn up to the investment meeting five minutes late, not having read the investment proposals and make a decision based on a variety of criteria and questions that have little if anything to do with the required product or service?

Ultimately each piece of recruitment, each interview is exactly that – a piece of procurement. And as such there are simple steps we can take to make sure we increase our chances of a better outcome.

  • Looking far and wide for the best providers (recruits)
  • Carry out good research and due diligence on the shortlist (application process)
  • Assessing against relevant and comparable criteria (interview questions)
  • Selecting based on moderated assessments (marking and rating of interviewers)

Too often we approach the interview process through the lens of employment law and regulatory requirements. And whilst this is a necessary consideration it shouldn’t be our ultimate focus.

Best practice is about best outcome and delivering real commercial value, perhaps more than anything else.

5 interview questions that you’re asking (but probably shouldn’t)

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1) Where would you like to be in five/ten years’ time?

Nothing says, “tell me a bag of lies” like this question. Given the chance to answer honestly, most of us would probably say, “on a beach, having won the lottery, without the need to work for any other sucker, ever again”. Instead we say, “I’d like to think my career would have progressed, that I’ve taken on more responsibility and I’m well respected by my colleagues” or if we think we are uniquely funny, “sat on the other side of this table”. *Groan*

Possible alternative question: How do you see this role fitting in to your overall career? What else would you like to do/achieve in your life?

2) If I were to ask your current colleagues what they thought about you, what would they say?

If you really want to know, why don’t you ask them? Because if you ask me, I’m going to tell you that I’m a good team player, I’m well respected and that I have a good sense of humour. In addition, my mother also loves me – but you don’t need to know that either. I get what we are trying to do with this question, but if you’re a sociopathic lunatic, singularly hated by your peers, you’re not going to say that. Are you?

Possible alternative question: How do you go about getting feedback from others? What have you learnt?

3) What are your weaknesses/areas for development?

The Catch 22 question which begs the obvious answer – “I’m a perfectionist”. Are you? Or have you just rehearsed the most clichéd response to the most cliched question ever? Again we’re just asking for a lot of hot air and nonsense, which will give us very little to differentiate the candidates with. If you’re really interested in finding out, try asking them what they’re currently working to improve and how. Try answering perfectionism to that one….

Possible alternative question: What are you working on improving at the moment? What would you like to be better at?

4) How do you handle conflict in the work place?

Let’s go Pinocchio! Are you the ostrich that buries their head in the sand? Or the sewer rat that likes to undermine colleagues in a silent but deadly manner? You’re going to tell me now that I’ve asked the question, aren’t you? You were just waiting for the opportunity to spill your guts on the darkest aspects of your psyche and here is the moment, right now, in the middle of an interview, in front of people who you want to impress. Where else could be more perfect?

Possible alternative question: When have you experienced a situation where there has been conflict between colleagues at work? How did you feel about it? Why?

5) Why did you apply for this specific role?

I have to admit to being guilty of variations on this one (I’m not perfect, ask my mum), but really what on earth am I expecting to learn that would help me differentiate between two candidates? What evidence could I possibly elicit that would be helpful to me in making a choice on who to recruit? This is a classic example of recruiter vanity – I want you to tell me how wonderful we are, how we are the company for you….tell me you love me.

Possible alternative question: Which aspects of this job are particularly appealing to you? Which elements would be the biggest stretch? Why?