Asking the right questions

Good interview technique is not just the candidate’s responsibility: managers also need to hone their skills in order to secure the best person for the job.

Acquiring talent continues to rank highly on the list of concerns that keep CEOs awake at night. Organisations have to invest heavily in sourcing, attracting and hiring high-calibre people, particularly when it comes to niche or senior roles. Although recruiters are innovating in response to technological advances and trends, the face-to-face interview remains a key part of the process.

Interviewing is still the most common method of candidate selection

The CIPD/Hays Resourcing and Talent Planning 2015 Survey confirms that interviewing is still the most common method of candidate selection – and becoming more popular still. A total of 83 per cent of the organisations responding to this year’s survey said they used interviews to select applicants, whereas just 68 per cent relied on it in 2009.

Clearly, employers see interviews as a crucial hiring tool. Conducted fairly and thoroughly, they are an effective and efficient means of gathering relevant information upon which to make a sound decision. But is there an assumption that it’s only the candidate who has to do all the hard work and preparation? Given the reliance placed on interviews to pull in talent, what effort is made on the employers’ part to ensure managers are consistent and competent in their technique?

In any organisation there will be pockets of good practice, says Dr Jill Miller, Research Adviser, HR Practice Development, at the UK’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). “Some will be very experienced at interviews, and others will need development and support. The key for HR is knowing how to spot really good interview techniques and making sure these are spread across the organisation.”

Getting it wrong

Incompetent interview habits can have a detrimental impact on internal culture

Successful companies are all too aware of the value that can be lost through poor interview technique as a result of inexperience or lack of skill. Most obvious is the failure to secure the right candidates. However, there are potentially wider consequences for an employer’s reputation in the recruitment marketplace.

Ineptly handled interviews can send out a damaging message about the employer and what it’s like to work there, deterring talent from applying for jobs there in future.

Howard Sloane, Group HR Director of Peel Ports, explains that incompetent interview habits can have a detrimental impact on internal culture, too.

“You can’t really put a figure on the true loss of value from a bad resourcing process, because it includes the direct cost of a hire and then that of a re-hire if the first candidate isn’t suitable. Crucially, if you don’t get the interview right, you are losing out on great candidates.”

Counting the cost

The average cost of hiring an employee in the UK is £2,000

One figure that is easy to pin down is the steep initial cost of hire. The Resourcing and Talent Planning Survey reveals that the median average cost of hiring an employee in the UK is £2,000. That rises to £7,250 for a senior manager.

HR involvement in interviews is vital, Sloane stresses, because they have more in-depth training and can support managers. For example, HR professionals are often trained to be alert to language as a means of assessing a candidate’s fit in terms of values or culture. Words such as ‘our’ and ‘we’ can signal that the person is a team player, Sloane says. “An HR professional will pick up on those and can then advise managers accordingly.”

Like many organisations, Network Rail deploys a range of methods for selecting candidates, one of which is competency-based interviews. Group HR Director Ian Iceton says all managers are required to undergo training before they can take part. “This ensures consistency, so that interviews are structured and fair, and that all managers know what they are looking for in a candidate,” he says.”

He concludes that leading organisations do recognise the importance of ensuring a consistent approach to interviews because it can be a source of differentiation. “Professional organisations will put the time behind it because of the steep consequences of getting it wrong, on both the individual and the company.”

If you enjoyed the above blog then you might also appreciate these other articles, which too originally appeared in the Hays Journal:

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• Why talented Chinese graduates are aiming high in Dubai
• Establishing an effective middle management tier
• Managing external resources
• Four pillars of people
• Family values