Managing Recruitment Risk Steve Girdler, Managing Director, EMEA and Asia Pacific
The Greatest Recruitment Risk‌
Hiring the Wrong Person ยง The average cost to large firms of forcing out CEO is US$1.8 billion in shareholder value
ยง 46% of companies rely on personal recommendations when hiring for senior positions
Hiring the Wrong Person
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But it’s not just senior hires you need to consider
Securing the Right Person‌
1. Effective Recruitment Processes The best way to minimise risk in recruitment is to have a really robust selection process… a good candidate will have more respect for an organisation that tests them through the recruitment process than one that simply courts them. Jonathan Briggs, Head of Talent Acquisition, Thomson Reuters
§ One-third of UK HR Directors say they use a different process every time they recruit a new board member
§ Candidate Experience is now more important than ever § Effective processes compete with time to hire Good Candidates are in demand. Organisations that are decisive and move candidates quickly through the process will snare the best talent. Steve Wing, Director of Strategic Dimensions
2. The Clear Brief If a rocket’s fired and is one degree off course, you don’t notice it much in the first couple of seconds, but at 30 seconds it can be a kilometre or two off course. It is similar with the hiring brief – it sets the direction for everything you do. Scott Fitzgerald, Talent Acquisition Specialist, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
§ Don’t assume you need to hire someone with the same skills as the person departing
§ Define the Job profile with precision – be clear about who and what you need
§ Where is the business going? Does the role need to be changed in support of key changes? Every vacancy should be an opportunity to rethink the role Gary Knight, Group Head of Strategic Resourcing at First Quantum Minerals Ltd (FQML)
3. Accountability Managers are not very good at interviewing, they default to interviewing people based on their technical skills and base their decisions on whether or not they like them Gary Knight, Group Head of Strategic Resourcing at First Quantum Minerals Ltd (FQML)
§ Ownership of the recruitment process and the division of responsibilities
§ How good is your interview process and the interviewers? § Internal v External candidates, one rule for one… To strike the right balance requires good relationship management with all parties, both internally and externally, and making sure that when you’re defining the process you put in a clear timeline right from the onset
Scott Fitzgerald, Talent Acquisition Specialist, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
4. The Global Challenge If you’ve got someone who’s worked in Angola, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan in the past five years, it’s going to take longer to check on their employment history or their credit and criminal history than it will if they’ve never worked outside the home country. Steve Girdler, Managing Director EMEA and Asia Pacific at HireRight
§ Central Policy v local interpretation § Vastly different hiring rules and practices around the world § Cultural nuances
All of the countries we operate in are different. All of the roles we are hiring for are different and require different levels of intervention, so we don’t have a one size fits all approach Gary Knight, Group Head of Strategic Resourcing at First Quantum Minerals Ltd (FQML)
Summary ยง Define the recruitment process clearly, and establish accountability. ยง Think global, act local. ยง Get the brief right. ยง Explain and communicate. ยง Train your interviewers.
Summary § Beware gut feel – test thoroughly. § Work on the new hire’s weaknesses. § Good, ethical behaviour counts just as much as skills. § Talk with your corporate risk manager. § Make rigour in recruitment your organisation’s selling point.