In the third and final part we cover steps 6, 7 and 8.

Step 6. Interview and Select the Candidates

Six, interview and select the candidates.

You’ve met the candidates, you’ve completed the interviews, now to take stock and select the successful applicant.

The hiring manager (and where applicable, the line-manager) make the selections. Depending on your organisation, such as a country manager reporting to head office, sometimes a more senior person might have to approve the outcome.

Step 7. On-Boarding, Probation & OJT

Contrary to what some sales people might think, a sales is not complete until they receive the payment.

Similarly, hiring is not over until your new employee clears probation. That’s the seventh step.

The hiring manager and line-manager handle the following stages of the hiring process:

• On-boarding
• On-the-job training
• Probation

Step 8. Confirmation

If the new employee successfully completes the probation, the line-manager recommends confirmation and the hiring manager/business owner approves.

This in a nutshell is a typical 8-Step Hiring Process.

Next week, we discuss the elements of a typical Probation.

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Copyright @ Eric Alagan, 2019

Continuing from last week, here are steps 3, 4 and 5.

Step 3. Short List the Candidates

The third step is to shortlist the recruited candidates.

If you use an employment agency, they’ll handle the first round of short-listing.

But if you’re recruiting, then you need to shortlist the pool of candidates for the interviews. If you’re the business owner or office manager, you might be the one handling this human resource function.

Better still, there is a simple short-listing template coming up in a blog post. An admin-assistant can handle the short-listing.

Step 4. Maximise the Interview Event

Fourth comes the interviews, something you’ve been building up to.

In a short time, within an hour or less, you need to spot and select the right person. You can well imagine, the more preparations you’ve made, the higher the chances of finding a good fit.

The person you want and for that person to want to work with you. It works both ways.

Have two people carry out the interview—the hiring manager and the line-manager. If there is no line-manager, then have a second person (perhaps the office assistant) make the pair. A second opinion helps moderate the selection.

Step 5. Contact the Candidates

Fifth step, contact the candidates. Why is contacting the candidate a step by itself?

Because the interview starts when you make that first contact—not when the candidate first walks into your office.

There is a method to making first contact—something that most hiring managers ignore. More of this in later blog posts.

In the next post, we conclude this 3-part series with steps 6, 7 and 8.

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Copyright @ Eric Alagan, 2019

Can you guess the 8 steps in a simple hiring process? In a 3-part series of blog posts we’ll cover all 8 steps that a typical small business owner could mirror.

Step 1. Define the Job Requirements

Define your requirements regarding the job and the candidate—in the order of importance:

• The job scope—what you want the person to do
• The candidate’s qualifications—hard skills, soft skills and expertise
• The job title—position in the business hierarchy

Notice that job title comes last. Most employers start with the job title and build in the problem from the word—Go!

In many small businesses the office manager or the owner himself might define the job requirements.

But—this is important—if you destine the new hire to work for/report to a particular line-manager, then involve that line-manager when defining the job requirements.

You’re the boss; the engine under the bonnet; the hands on the steering wheel, driving the business. All true. But every business is a team effort. At the very least, a second opinion helps with moderation. Moreover, you’re paying good money for that line-manager. Maximise your money. Tap that line-manager’s input. Plus, he has to work the new hire. Give him a say. Get him to buy into the hire.

Step 2. Recruit a Pool of Candidates

Recruit a pool of candidates and remember, the larger the pool the greater the choice. This is the class from which you will choose the best.

There are various avenues for recruiting: via advertisements, referrals and internal recruitments. Increasingly, organisations outsource recruitment to professional agencies—head hunters, as they’re sometimes referred to.

Join me next time for Steps 3, 4 and 5. And keep count of how many steps you guessed.

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Copyright @ Eric Alagan, 2019

For some jobs, such as sales/marketing/business development—individuals can stand on their track record.

But how do you identify track record/expertise where people work in teams? Think of the shirker in your old college project team. Has the candidate applying for the job hijacked his team’s success as his own? Worse, is he blamed for his team’s failure?

But some hiring managers rely on “years of experience” as a proxy for “expertise”.

Scenario or situation-based questions are the best means to identify expertise.

If you’re a HR manager seeking someone for a HR function, you know the questions to formulate. You have the job-specific skills to pull this off.

If the scenario question is specific to a line function invite that line-manager to construct the questions. He knows best the problems and the help he needs.

Here is a sample scenario question for a hydraulic systems technician in the automotive, industrial, aviation, or marine sector:

System pressure is low. The pressure gauge is not defective. Full reservoir; and the system plumbing is not leaking. What could be the problem?

This is a common trouble-shooting scenario for hydraulic technicians. He might have worked in a workshop for many years. But was he mopping the floor and topping up the oil? Or was he in the thick of things? A scenario question will nail his level of expertise and experience.

Caveat: Do not allow line-managers to waste the interview session by having them cover questions which the HR person can handle. Questions such as what is your strength; what is your weakness; and similar generic themes.

In fact, when the HR or hiring manager is interviewing the candidate, the line-manager should keep silent; study the candidate’s body language; and pick up hints regarding his character.

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Copyright @ Eric Alagan, 2019

Here is an outline to identity, measure and grow your team’s human capital.

List 3 to 5 soft skills you desire or reflects your management style, business needs, and corporate culture. Take a team approach (from multiple stakeholders) and draw up this list.

Construct questions to identify the soft skills and proficiency tests to verify expertise you seek. Do not rely on mere “years of experience” as time spent on a job does not equate to expertise. Proficiency tests could be multiple choice or short-answer questions and scenario based questions.

Establish a baseline with internal staff. Interview and test your existing staff. Assign numerical scores (for example, give scores of 1 to 10) for the interview questions and proficiency tests.

To minimise subjectivity (the bane of interviews and selections) use the same questions and sequence for all candidates. Use a template to keep the interview and selection process consistent.

To further minimise subjectivity, have at least two interviewers and average their scores for each interviewee.

Collect the scores and establish your team’s average score. You have a numerical target.

To ensure growth in your team’s human capital, every new employee must exceed the team’s average score (the numerical target).

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Copyright @ Eric Alagan, 2019

Businesses require 3 types of capital:

Financial Capital

Money grabs the most attention and the large corporations, with their deep pockets, enjoy a clear advantage.

Time Capital

Time is money. Unlike spent money, you cannot recover spent time. Moreover, everyone has the same 24 hours: an individual, a mom-and-pop shop or a huge corporation.

Human Capital

People working in an organisation contribute their talent for rewards. And the more human capital a business accumulates, the better its chances of success.

What is Human Capital?

In simple terms, human capital comprises 3 components

1. Hard skills (training and qualifications)
2. Technical expertise (includes experience)
3. Intangible qualities (soft skills)

When members of your team possess all three components in the right proportion, your team’s human capital grows.

Ensure that you interview and select the right people.

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Join me next week for an outline to identify and grow your team’s human capital.

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Copyright @ Eric Alagan, 2019

Managements and human resource (HR) experts are great fans of performance appraisals because of the benefits.

Here is a list of the 10 goals:

1. To reward exemplary performers.
2. To motivate under performers.
3. To identify training needs.
4. To improve communication.
5. To decide on staff retention or termination.
6. To validate training & development programs.
7. To test effectiveness of recruitment & selection.
8. To measure gaps in targets and results.
9. To establish forward goals.
10. To comply with statutory and/or union awards.

The benefits are compelling and real. In its most basic form, and one that the vast number of organisations adheres to, the annual performance review is central to performance management.

Sound human resource management demands that your performance review protocol meets all 10 of the above goals.

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Copyright @ Eric Alagan, 2019