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Making permanent recruitment decisions is one of the most important things a manager does. Unfortunately, mistakes are common. Every manager has stories of new hires that turned out to be completely incompetent. But it's not just these extreme cases we should be concerned about. Every time a company hires a mediocre employee instead of a strong one they are compromising the future of the company. An investment in more reliable permanent recruitment processes can pay off faster - and for longer - than many other investments. A great marketing campaign adds value this year; a great marketing hire can add value for a decade.

Why Companies Make Hiring Mistakes

One of the most common reasons companies make mistakes in permanent recruitment is because they tend to rush a rather ineffective process. When an important position is vacant managers may insist that HR "get me a body" rather than initiating a process that will get them a top performing superstar.

It's understandable that managers are in a rush. They have targets to reach and spending quality time on recruitment in an already busy day is difficult. Managers just want to have the position filled and get back to normal. But no one who really understands the cost of a poor hire will want to make compromises in quality. A star programmer is not just a little better than a mediocre one; they write code many times faster. A star sales representative doesn't just deliver slightly better sales than a mediocre one; they win the best accounts from the toughest competitors. Furthermore, the costs of turnovers are typically estimated at six to 12 months of annual salary for professional jobs - so a hiring mistake really hits the bottom line.

Permanent recruitment is made even more difficult by the presence of what we call "counterfeit candidates." This refers to people who are very good at interviewing but not so hot at working. There are now websites that coach candidates on hiring processes so counterfeit candidates know the questions you are likely to ask and the answers you want to hear. Well rehearsed applicants know how to sell themselves in the interview - and can fool managers into making the wrong choice.

What managers need are recruiting tools that can help predict a candidate's performance when actually on the job.

Predicting Performance

The best way to predict performance is to look at behaviours, not just qualifications. Managers often ask for candidates with very specific qualifications; for example, an MBA and five years' finance experience in the retail industry. While it's true that a certain baseline of technical skills is a requirement, the difference between superstars and average performers, between great fits and poor fits, is driven by behaviour.

Many people are familiar with behavioural interviews and these remain a key tool for predicting performance. However, fewer people are aware of the power of testing for successful permanent recruitment.

The solution Drake uses, both internally and with its clients, is called P3. This psychometric instrument looks at the five primary behavioural drivers: Dominance, Extroversion, Patience, Conformity and Conscientiousness. These well established psychological traits are stable, measurable and predictive.

Behavioural testing can provide information on a candidate's relative strengths, personality, motivation, likely team-role behaviour--and many other characteristics--more rapidly and reliably than extensive interviewing.

Implementation

Drake doesn't recommend using the P3 test in a generic way. The first thing to do is to look at existing high performers and use Drake's P3 to build an ideal role profile. The ideal role profile captures the behavioural traits and personality for a person to thrive in the job and fit in that particular organization. The P3 is then used to judge applicants against that ideal profile and identify the most promising candidates.

When it comes to permanent recruitment no one tool - even a powerful one like the P3 - is sufficient. Many sources of information including behavioural testing, interviewing, CVs and reference checking should be used. It's looking at a potential employee from many angles that distinguish truly high performers from counterfeit candidates.

The payoff of better permanent recruitment processes shows up in terms of lower turnover and higher performance. An Hr Consultant, or the in-house finance department, can help HR departments estimate the return on investment of new recruitment methods based on the number of hires, the type of jobs and an assessment of effectiveness of the current process. A simple back-of-the-envelope calculation is often enough to demonstrate that the payoff is substantial.

The P3 solution is a particularly good investment for mid-sized firms because it adds reliability while being easy to implement and deliver, taking pressure off the HR department and saving time for busy managers.

Effective permanent recruitment methods exist; it's just a matter of putting them to work.