Better Recruitment and Selection (Terri Alexander)

Introduction and Overview

Interventions, as defined in Van Tiem, Mosley, and Dessinger (2000), are “deliberate, conscious acts that facilitate change in performance” (p. 62). In applying the Human Performance Technology (HPT) model, after determining the gap in current versus desired performance and the likely causes of this gap, the next step is to decide on interventions or “solutions” to help resolve or improve performance problem(s). Within the Intervention Selection and Design step falls performance support, which considers both instructional and non-instructional interventions. In this paper, I will discuss one viable non-instructional intervention that organizations can implement to improve performance—better recruitment and selection of human capital.

Recruiting and selecting the right person for the job is vital to the success of organizations.  In fact, Van Tiem et al. (2000) states, “Finding desirable candidates is the number one employment challenge” (p. 14). Other related challenges in this area include:

• Retaining desirable employees
• Decreasing staff turnover
• Increasing qualified applicant pool
• Freeing up supervisors’ time spent coaching and training low-performing employees
• Decreasing expenses related to additional training for training low-performing employees, as well as for frequent new hire training expenses resulting from turnover
• Minimizing grievance and legal procedures in the event a employee is fired

The solution to these challenges, including an improved hiring success rate for organizations starts with a well-defined recruitment and selection process.  When this process is precisely defined and consistently implemented, it can not only increase the chances of hiring the right people up front, but also assist in promoting and reassigning people based on their personal repertory (knowledge and skills, capacity, and motives/motivation).

Gilbert’s Behavioral Engineering Model (BEM) suggests that it costs less to change environmental supports (data, instruments and incentives) within an organization than to change a person's personal repertory (knowledge, capacity and motives).

This again, is why in the long run it is crucial for organizations to initially hire and put time and financial resources in the right people for the job.  According to Stokolovitz and Keeps (1999), this recruitment and selection process can be divided into four major tasks using HPT procedures:

Case Studies

Case Study 1:  General Motors Corporation, DDI
http://www.ddiworld.com/real_solutions/gm.asp

Need:
General Motors Corp is the world's largest vehicle manufacturer. GM sold more than 8.5 million cars and trucks in 2002, nearly 15 percent of the global vehicle market. Yet, across the country, minorities own less than 5 percent of auto dealerships. The automaker saw increasing the number of minority dealerships as a key business strategy-a way to create local identity for its cars, trucks, and SUVs. Working closely with DDI, General Motors Dealer Development (GMDD) and the Minority Dealer Advisory Council set four main goals: (1) improve the objectivity and consistency of the minority selection process; (2) increase the overall success of placed candidates; (3) provide the appropriate level of training and development; and (4) reduce the backlog of applicants waiting to enter the program.

Solution:
To achieve those goals, GM embarked on a three-tiered strategy. First, DDI analyzed the skills and behaviors necessary for dealer success and developed a competency profile for minority dealers. The competencies ensure that all candidates are being evaluated on consistent criteria. Second, DDI developed a selection and assessment process to ensure all candidates would be evaluated in a uniform, objective manner. Third, DDI compiled and analyzed all testing, role-playing, and assessment data. GM uses this information to determine minority dealer readiness and development needs. Candidates also find this useful because it gives them an awareness of their standing and how to advance through the program.

Results
Since the process was implemented in 1998, General Motors has met its minority candidate placement goal every year while the quality of candidates is trending higher. GM also has grown significantly the total number of minority dealers at a time when overall dealer population has decreased, while the quality of candidates is trending higher.

Case Study 2: Children's Health System (CHS), DDI
http://www.ddiworld.com/real_solutions/childrenshealthsystem.asp

Need
Based in Birmingham, Alabama, Children's Health System (CHS) is a total pediatric health care network with more than 2,500 employees. In 1999, CHS had a 23 percent turnover rate. Nearly 670 of the then-2,900 employees needed to be replaced every year as a result of heavy recruitment from nearby hospitals, a lack of camaraderie between incumbent staff and new employees, the need to maintain 24-hour shifts, and apparent resistance to a service-oriented culture. In short, it was CHS's inability to hire the right people for the right jobs that led to its retention problem.

Solution
In response, DDI worked with CHS to implement a customized version of Targeted Selection®. The first step was creating competency profiles for each position, which revealed to CHS that company values, such as the ability to work with others in a shift team, were as important as job skills. Then hiring managers were trained in Targeted Selection interviewing techniques.

Results
A little more than a year after the human resource department and hospital managers were trained in Targeted Selection, the turnover rate started to improve. Within two years, turnover dropped from 23 percent to 9 percent, even lower than the CHS goal of 15 percent. CHS also has reaped bottom-line savings because time and money are no longer spent on hiring large numbers of temporary workers. As well, employee morale has increased, adding to the retention rates.

Case Study 3: MS&P by DesignComm, Inc.

I wanted to include the because this is my mentor’s company, who is also an IPT student at BSU.

Need
Morris, Schneider & Prior (MSP), a law firm specializing in foreclosures and bankruptcies, was facing major growing pains. The firm grew from 25 employees in 1194 to over 250 in 2003. In 2001, the attorneys decided they could no longer manage the growing number of employees. They promoted experienced paralegals to supervisory roles in the Bankruptcy, Litigation, Eviction Foreclosure, and collections departments. In January of 2003, they decided to look for companies that could help them train their supervisors. The firm was experiencing low morale which was leading to turnover problems.

Solution
Design Comm took a holistic approach and looked inside the organization to identify major issues and root causes before suggesting any interventions. After conducting an organization al analysis, two focus groups, analyzing extant data, and observing employees, it was determined that at least one of several areas was contributing to the gap in performance was the capacity. MS&P was hiring (or moving/promoting) many people who did not have the right skills for the jobs. Also, they were hiring some people who had bad attitudes.

Design Comm recommended a 3-phased approach to help improve problem areas (2 or described in part below):

• Phase 1 involved gathering metrics, building stronger communication lines between departments etc.  This phase also addressed orienting new hires, documenting workflows and dependencies, and creating an employee development program.
• Phase 2 involved encouraging managers to create job description for each role and mentoring and coaching the leadership team on how to use behavioral interviews to hire candidates more effectively. 

Results
The results were very positive and included, in part, included supervisors stating they are having a better experience in matching people to the talents and skills needed for the job now and that they are using Behavioral Interviewing Matrix and list of questions to ask based on the skills desired.

Primary Consultants/Researchers

Seth N. Leibler and Ann W. Parkman, Center for Effective Performance, Atlanta, GA
Seth is president and CEO and Ann is the co-founder, executive VP, and managing partner of Center for Effective Performance, an Atlanta-based company that supports organizations throughout the world in engineering job performance to meet manager’s standards.  Seth has a doctorate in educational psychology and has been in the business of improving human performance for thirty years. Ann has more than twenty years of experience working with private and public organizations in improving human performance and is the former director of the award winning Instructional Division of the Centers for Disease Control.  Seth and Ann wrote an article on personnel selection that was published in the Guidebook for Performance Improvement and in Introduction to Performance Technology. They also authored chapter 18 in our class text (S&K) entitled Human Resource Selection.

Richard Wellins, Ph.D.: Senior Vice President of Global Marketing DDI
He obtained his Doctorate degree in Social/Industrial Psychology from American University, and is a member of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and the Instructional Systems Association. He has written for more than 20 publications and published six books, including the best seller Empowered Teams, Inside Teams, and Reengineering’s Missing Ingredient.

Sheila M. Rioux, Ph.D. and Paul Bernthal, Ph.D is research consultant and manager respectively with DDI-CABER. They have conducted research and published their findings in academic journals (some of which can be found in the Sources for More Information section of this paper, attend professional research conferences, and serve as liaisons between the research community and DDI.

Trends in HR Recruitment and Selection

Trend: Both selection systems and selection criteria will focus more on “soft” skills.
“There will be increasing interest in measuring applicants’ “soft” skills, constructs such as attitude, ethics, energy, motivation, and interpersonal or “people” skills. Minimum Qualifications will increasingly become Desirable Qualifications. Work samples may be used as a form of measurement” (CPS, n.d.).

Trend:  Companies of all sizes are starting to outsource many of their HR and recruiting activities.
“As with other business areas, they are calling on outside experts to help streamline and optimize the process of finding, attracting, hiring, and retaining capable and qualified employees.  According to a recent Gartner report, the HR outsourcing market in the United States is expected to grow at a rate of 21.9% annually.This means that by 2005, HR outsourcing will be a nearly $60 billion industry! The strongest areas of growth are expected to be in the areas of recruiting, education and training, and personnel administration — essentially, those HR capacities which have a direct impact on overall corporate competitiveness” (RMS, 2004)

Sources for More Information

For worked examples/case studies of documented recruitment and selection process adopted and implemented by an organization:  http://www.ddiworld.com/real_solutions/clientsuccesses.asp

Recruitment and Selection Practices By Sheila M. Rioux, Ph.D., and Paul Bernthal, Ph.D.
http://www.ddiworld.com/pdf/ddi_recruitmentandselection_es.pdf

Retaining Talent: A Benchmarking Study By Paul R. Bernthal, Ph.D., and Richard S. Wellins, Ph.D.
http://www.ddiworld.com/pdf/ddi_retainingtalentabenchmarkingstudy_es.pdf

Human Resource Management Guide Network
http://www.hrmguide.net/hrm/chap8/ch8-links7.htm

Development Dimensions International
http://www.ddiworld.com/research/benchmark.asp

http://www.ddiworld.com/products_services/by_targetedselection.asp  --this page specifically deals with targeted selection and includes their behavioral-based selection system.  Still an even more detailed summary is on this PDF: http://www.ddiworld.com/pdf/ddi_targetedselection_fs.pdf

Books:

Bernthal, P. R, & Wellins, R. S. (2001). Retaining talent: A benchmarking study. Pittsburgh, PA: Development Dimensions International

References

Cooperative Personnel Services of California Government, n.d.  Future trends in human resources.  Retrieved October 17, 2004 from the www at http://www.cps.ca.gov/resources_directories/DaveTrends.pdf

Development Dimension International (DDI). Client successes.  Retrieved October 17 from the www. http://www.ddiworld.com/real_solutions/childrenshealthsystem.asp

Gilbert, T. (1978). Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance. International Society of Performance Improvement via Copyright Clearance Center.

Recruitment Management Services (RMS) 2004.  Recruiting trends.  Retrieved October 17, 2004 from the www.  http://www.cps.ca.gov/resources_directories/DaveTrends.pdf

Stolovitch & Keeps, eds. (1999). Handbook of Human Performance Technology. 2nd ed . San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger. (2004). Fundamentals of Performance Technology  2nd ed.  Washington, D.C: ISPI.