We often talk about
how expensive turnover can be for companies. It has been estimated that the
cost of replacing a single employee can run up to 150
percent
of that employee’s annual salary.
A lot of things
factor into that estimated cost, not the least of which is the time commitment
of those tasked with finding and hiring the replacement employee in the first
place. The longer an opening remains unfilled, the more a company loses which
makes refining your interview process a truly valuable endeavor.
Cut Your Applicant Pile Down: Far too many hiring managers make the mistake of leaving an
opening posted for weeks at a time, accumulating hundreds of applications they
then need to weed through. For jobs that
will be highly sought after, set an end date no more than two weeks out as the
last day applications will be accepted. Then, create a list of “must haves” for
the newly hired employee – and don’t hesitate to push resumes aside that do not
adhere to that list. If you are still looking at a large pile of applicants
after that process, add a few more “must haves” to your list and do it again.
In the end, you should have no more than 10 to 15 applicants you are truly
considering, depending on the job.
Start with Phone Interviews: Conduct brief phone interviews to get a feel for the
applicants and an idea of who may be a good fit. Ask all the applicants the
same questions, and be sure they are questions that relate directly to the job
at hand. For instance, rather than asking these applicants over the phone what
they believe their biggest strengths and weaknesses are, instead describe to
them a difficult aspect of the job and ask how they would address those
challenges. Consider the phone interview to be an extension of your earlier
weed out process – this should be more about identifying the applicants that wouldn’t be a good fit, rather than
about selecting the one who would.
Combine Interview Phases: A lot of companies conduct their interviews in phases.
First, the applicant meets with a member of HR. Then, they meet with a hiring
manager. Finally, they meet with the company president. Each of these rounds
results in a reduction of applicants, and there may only be two or three who
make it to the end. By combining some or all of those rounds into more of a
panel interview, you can save company time and allow those interviewers to
evaluate applicants as a team. Obviously, that may not always be possible – the
company president may not have the time to sit in on the five interviews that
make it past the phone interview round. But combining rounds one and two is
usually doable – and your applicants will be appreciative of a more streamlined
process.
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