IIM ROHTAK H U M A N E - R CLUB P re s e n ts
H R BULLETIN VOLUME 64
humane.r@iimrohtak.ac.in
HUMANE-R|VOLUME64
HR BULLETIN
The A to Z of testing before hiring Before diving into the how and why of testing before hiring, it’s important to understand the objective behind it. What’s the goal of testing before hiring? Many hiring managers view this as the magic bullet that is going to get them the perfect hire, while some view it as a necessary hurdle to closing positions. However, mostly it is important to enhance the interview process and remove bias from it to hire the right fit. Because in an average interview many things are oversold including both experience and work accomplished, so testing can help us see though some of this fog, equip a trained interviewer to ask targeted questions and understand the responses much better, and remove bias from the hiring process. In an exclusive webcast in association with Pearson, Yuri Roy, who heads Talent Acquisition at Tech Mahindra Business Services, shared insights into the A to Z of testing before hiring and why it becomes imperative in an interview process.
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Defining the primary objective of testing before hiring Before diving into the how and why of testing before hiring, it’s important to understand the objective behind it. Yuri shared that testing before hiring is a very individual activity-as an organization you need to decide what is the purpose the testing needs to serve. Testing is a very archaic model-when we peg these tests, we generally look for technical skills and put a cutoff on them which the organization deems a right one. When they look at the testing scores, the tests can either give a binary answer or a linear progression. But stack ranking on testing may not be the correct way to get the best person. That’s because the difference between a person who gets 9/10 in a test is very minute from someone who scores 10/10 and uneventful for the course of a business. Removing bias from the hiring process There are various ways to select people for an organization and the traditional interview process is like democracyit’s not the perfect system but it’s the least broken system. But what happens in a person to person interaction is that a lot of bias creeps in. One is the conscious bias and all organizations should avoid people who display this bias. The other one is the unconscious bias, which is less visible and people are not aware that they have this bias. However it does affect the way they select or reject people depending on their caste, gender, or maybe even how far they stay from office. However, organizations need to make sure they select people only based on their ability and how they will meet your bottom line or achieve your KPIs. So in an interview, you should have calibrated people-people who know they have an unconscious bias and are constantly checking it, so that they can continuously evolve over time. Applicability of testing based on roles Broadly, tests can be divided into technical assessment or skill assessment tests. From a softer side, there are integrity tests, cognitive ability tests, personality tests, and emotional intelligence tests. One such tool is Pearson TalentLens whose assessments help you recruit and develop the best talent for your organisation with some of the best tests around communication, cognition, and personality. However, all of these are not silver bullets. These tests merely give you scores and the person doing the interview needs to understand what to do with the outputs of these tests. For instance, if you are looking for a Senior VP or Director, there is no point in taking a technical assessment test because the person would already have 15-20 years of experience in the field. Asking him a technical question would only display incongruence in your hiring strategy and the output that you desire. So when you are doing testing, it is essential to understand what kind of testing you would need for somebody. For instance, for someone coming in for a very junior role, technical testing is essential. But it does not mean that he needs to know 100 percent of everything. Similarly, when you look at the softer personality tests, there’s no right and wrong here. It needs to be matched with the company culture. So suit your tests accordingly so that the people who join you are happy to be there. In addition, one should also remember that a JD for a role only accounts for the stated needs but unstated needs of the role amount to some 50-70%. So if you are looking for someone creative, you will depend more on the personality tests. Tools for testing In the current scenarios, organizations are concerned about cheating by individuals when it comes to testing. There are various ways around it such as proctoring tools, camera setups that measure your eyes movement or facial movement. From a rudimentary sense, organizations can also do the initial homework during the interview by understanding if an individual knows about the content he will be tested on. Yuri mentioned that what Mahindra does is largely that for every process or skill they hire, they look at if it is something that a test would help. If a test would help and has a tangible benefit, then the organization includes it. Otherwise, they do not include the test. So if you have a better way of separating the weed from the chaff, his advice to organizations is not to spend too much time on a bundle of tests…
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/talent-acquisition/the-a-toz-of-testing-before-hiring-30928
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Developing a culture of learning innovation: Roundtable insights How should organisations approach upskilling and reskilling? At a recent virtual roundtable cohosted by People Matters and Udemy Business, the discussion surfaced three key points: have a strategic plan, implement it well, and don't be too quick to lay people off. For many organisations, upskilling and reskilling has become a business imperative. Figures from Udemy Business show that in 2020, there was an unprecedented spike in the demand for upskilling globally. While some of this can be attributed to the pandemic and the urgent need for many workers to pivot into new roles, there is also a growing recognition on the part of organisations that skilling is no longer just a nice-to-have. Udemy's 2021 Workplace Learning Trends Report identified six major trends in upskilling: •Much greater value placed on self-mastery skills •The need for remote collaboration skills, including communication skills •A shift from computer literacy to data literacy •A growing demand for data automation skills •The evolution of technical roles to become hybrid and multi-skilled •An urgent ongoing need for cybersecurity skills How are these trends playing out within organisations? In June, HR and L&D leaders from around Southeast Asia came together at a virtual roundtable hosted by People Matters and Udemy Business, to share perspectives and best practices. The discussion surfaced the need for strategic long-term planning when skilling the workforce, and the components of such a plan…
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/culture/developing-aculture-of-learning-innovation-roundtable-insights-29926
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On the road to recovery: Employee experience sits on top of HR agenda Organizations are compelled to look at each and every issue and decision from the human angle first. If they aren’t, they should. Over the past year, many things have changed when it comes to creating a meaningful engagement model for employees. As countries across the globe are going through different waves of the coronavirus pandemic, employees are continued to be advised to work from home and that has a huge impact on how companies interact with their employees. Organizations are compelled to look at each and every issue and decision from the human angle first. If they aren’t, they should. Furthermore, they had to quickly transition to remotely managing their employees’ physical and mental wellbeing, keep them interested in work, ensure a healthy work-life balance and also provide them with a sense of security. The importance of well-being was being discussed even before the pandemic but the crisis cast a new light on the concerns employees might face when subjected to risk. There was a pressing need for dynamic solutions that can better support the human strengths and enable the larger organization to flourish. As a result, new trends have emerged that represent how organizations are cultivating their employees’ experience virtually. Here are some of those trends we think are setting new directions for work. Integration of wellbeing into work Employees appreciate their organizations making proactive steps to help them manage work efficiently. Blending wellbeing initiatives into work itself can actually help organizations achieve quality and innovation. Some examples of such initiatives are: •Building digital wellness and productivity by preparing work schedules so employees can focus on what’s important...
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/employee-relations/on-theroad-to-recovery-employee-experience-sits-on-top-of-hr-agenda-29934
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How Superset helped a multinational step up campus recruitment through COVID-19 After implementing Superset’s platform, one French multinational firm saw an 85% reduction in time spent on operations, 60% reduction in money spent, and 46% increase in the number of applications they received during campus season. The company absolutely had to continue hiring aggressively. With the demand for IT services skyrocketing day on day, slowing down hiring was not an option. But to do so, they needed the ability to manage data better, to connect all the dots and monitor their entire hiring process centrally for instant action and reaction. The local Indian campus leadership explored the few options in India and decided to go ahead with Superset, since it is the only platform that has it all. The French headquarters then carried out days and weeks of extensive platform evaluation from an information security point of view and Superset received the approval. The Superset team was up to the task. Within 15 days of getting approval from the French headquarters, Superset was live for the company. Superset's platform, which has been available since 2016, aims to streamline the immense amount of work that college placement cells and HR teams otherwise have to struggle through, by automating all tasks in the campus recruitment process and making it easily manageable from a single platform. Its popularity shot up when the pandemic hit, with over a dozen large corporations and hundreds of small ones turning to the Superset platform to handle their campus recruitment process and roll out tens of thousands of offers…
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/campus-recruitment/howsuperset-helped-a-multinational-step-up-campus-recruitment-through-covid-1929928
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Will you wait for the future to happen, or take a hand in shaping it? The COVID experience has reset what mattered in the past and definitely changed the course of the future. As we emerge from the pandemic, businesses, non-profits, governments, and educational institutions have all undergone significant changes. The COVID experience has reset what mattered in the past and definitely changed the course of the future. In the future, many organizations may look at hybrid working models for their people. When people return to their offices, they may want to prioritize health and well-being above all else. If the ways of working have changed, shouldn’t the ways of leading change too? The future of work and leadership I strongly believe that the future is for transformational leaders who are decisive, build resilient organizations and manage the dynamic nature of the world of work. What we have witnessed during this pandemic and learnt from is that change is the only constant. A dynamic, unprecedented situation like this may not demand stereotypical leaders. What it needs is leaders who understand the human condition. So, what does it take to be a transformative leader? The definition of a transformative leader Transformative leaders bring together purpose, values, and the leadership behaviours the world needs right now all together. But one should not restrict themselves to a pre-defined set of behaviours. It’s about the way we each realize our purpose, connecting head and heart, fostering deep connectivity through empathy and confidence. It’s how you provide the leadership the world needs. Navigating this new normal Leaders must be prepared to navigate this new normal. With an increased focus on soft skills and empathy, leaders of today and tomorrow need to demonstrate connectedness…
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/employee-relations/will-youwait-for-the-future-to-happen-or-take-a-hand-in-shaping-it-30945
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