This episode is an adaption of a session I did for the MISTI IT Audit Management Summit earlier this year. #InternalAudit #Audit #hiring
That presentation related to IT Auditors, but the approach I outline is applicable to any employee hire.
I’ve refined my hiring process over the years mostly as a function of necessity. My current employer’s headquarters is in a small town (population 18K) in a remote part of Arkansas. Finding a candidate and getting them to move can be challenging.
Why Good Hiring is Critical
- A bad hire increases turnover
- The cost of turnover can exceed 200% of the employee’s salary
- Lower productivity
- Training costs
- Recruiting and interviewing costs
- A bad hire adds unnecessary overload/stress on your existing staff
- A bad hire reflects poorly on the whole department
- A bad hire doesn’t know they’re a bad hire.
View Hiring as a Strategic Imperative
- Hiring is a great way to obtain resources necessary to meet your internal audit strategy (training takes longer)
- Aligning resources to strategy allows you to know where your gaps are:
Winning Against Human Resources
- The key role of Human Resources is to keep people costs, particularly G&A staff as low as possible
- Understand how job title and job description affect salary range
- When tied to strategy, it is easier to sell higher title/salary
- Maximize the key skills you need to acquire
- Easer to hire at a higher salary than to give salary increases later
- Help Human Resources get the types of candidates you need
- Understand where they are getting candidates
- Activate other resources
- LinkedIn
- Local IIA/ISACA chapters
- Your peers at the company
- Recruiters
- Follow the rules until there is a good reason to break them. Involve HR in the decision to break the rule.
Screening
- There are typically four layers of screening in the hiring process
- Resume/CV
- Phone screens
- Office interviews (one or more)
- References/background checks/drug test
- Screening – Resume
- The resume makes it easier to exclude than to include candidates
- Attention to detail
- Screening for key words as determined in the job description
- Top Ten Lies on Resumes (source Marquet International)
- Stretching dates of employment
- Inflating past accomplishments and skills
- Enhancing titles and responsibilities
- Exaggerating education and fabricating degrees
- Unexplained gaps and periods of “self employment”
- Omitting past employment
- Faking credentials
- Providing fraudulent references
- Falsifying reasons for leaving prior employment
- Misrepresenting a military record
- Screening – Phone Screen
- Use the phone screen as a way to draw out things the resume may be missing (or embellishing)
- “Please tell me about a specific thing you are proud of that might not be fully reflected in your resume.”
- Does the candidate’s pride match your job?
- Listen for words such as I, we, they and us.
- Do the details align with the understanding from someone who did the work?
- Screening – Office Visit
- The office visit should be more about personality fit than skills
- Limit the number of candidates you bring into the office (3 – 5)
- Get a good interview team together
- Capture the “Airport Test”
- Screening – References/Background Check/Drug Test
- References are the final way to differentiate candidates
- Even if you have a favorite, it is worth contacting references
- I view my hires as future leaders of the company, so I require background checks and drug tests
- The background check may identify resume lies
- You should also look at other resources
- Google
- LinkedIn
- Facebook
- Twitter
The Five Job Values
- Compensation
- Job location
- Opportunity to do cool things
- Opportunity to get promoted
- 360 Trust Relationship
Making an Offer
- Working with HR to develop a compelling offer
- Focus on the job values that matter to the candidate
- Types of offers
- Verbal (contingent) offer
- Written offer
- Negotiation
Plan B – What should you do if you lose your best candidate?
- Does your second candidate meet your key skills and fit your organization?
- If not, don’t settle (strategic approach)
- Outsource for key skills
- Resubmit for additional candidates
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