Thank you for the compliment. You and I would probably enjoy working together very much.

There is a reason that I’ve chosen to focus my business on helping small employers. I made a conscious decision to avoid the quagmire that exists in most large-company HR departments. It can be very defeating, for the HR staff as well as their customers.

I have a more progressive view of HR and what it can truly accomplish by being open-minded and embracing change. My small-employer clients, by necessity, already think that way. Consequently, we are able to come up with solutions that really work for their businesses.

It’s unfortunate that so many larger corporations, who have money and resources, don’t take advantage of the power they hold to change the face of HR practices.

In the example you gave, it is possible that HR was simply providing an excuse. It is also possible that HR was lacking a critical piece of information about voice types until late in the process.

Either way, the process sounds cumbersome, and lacking in consideration for the candidate.

What use were the interviews? Your colleague now knows that her voice type might be an issue when applying for similar jobs. If no one at the next employer mentions it, then she should. Also, if she did well in the interviews, she should use people from the team to expand her professional network.

Even bad interviews can teach candidates valuable lessons. Even if it is just what NOT to look for in an employer!

Thank you for your thoughts. You sound like one HR person I would love to work with. True, HR does not have the budget to easily correct interviewing ills, nor the blanket authority to institute widespread change.

Unfortunately, the HR people I most often work with perpetuate the problem, and either do not recognize, or will not admit to, the serious flaws in their hiring system. As an outsider, it seems obvious that HR and Hiring Managers are not communicating well in many instances. Removing the lines of battle between those two factions would be a great first step.

Thanks, again, Pamela. I very much respect your view.
Jim

I appreciate your views and respect them as well. But what would you say about this incident.A colleague of mine underwent three rounds of interview for which she had to take leaves/half day’s off from her current employment.She cleared tech rounds, HR rounds,meeting with the Team manager etc,only to be told later that due to some policy change in HR they can’t hire her as she has a ‘husky’ voice unsuitable for telehonic sourcing.why didnt they put this point forth in the begining so to save all the hassle.

What were those interviews worth?

Regards,
Sandra

I can’t dispute that HR is in the unlucky position of promoting processes that flat out don’t work. Especially in large companies. That doesn’t sit well with a lot of us.

But, do keep in mind that HR in large corporations exists as a support function that is generally viewed as strictly overhead-generating by executives. The extensive change required to ‘blow up’ the interview process requires incurring costs and instituting wide-spread change – two things that are not usually viewed as popular coming from a support department.

True, HR has the responsibility of quantifying its worth, and gaining perception as a strategic business partner. But that’s a whole other topic!

If you really want HR to be successful in changing things, be a supporter, advocate and partner. We can use all the help we can get!

a) Be careful what you ask people to do. It should be something you would expect day one, not something they would learn on the job. For some jobs this is easier said than done, and some people have great POTENTIAL, even if they haven’t performed that exact task before. Would you have recognized Shaq as a potential basketball great before he ever picked up a ball?

b) People aren’t going to stop using interviews, at least not anytime soon. Given that, we need to emphasize to hiring supervisors that they use best practices such as job analysis and using reliable interview practices (every candidate gets every question, approximately the same time, etc.). As you point out, there are things we can do to make interviews better–for the candidate and the employer.

The real challenge lies with turning your interview process into something valuable. That takes enormous effort on the part of HR and enormous support from upper management: extensive management training, and a constant HR presence throughout the process to provide support and quality control. However, the payoff is worth the effort.

The key to creating a valuable process lies in the very last paragraph of the article: give them a tryout. If the interview process is structured around asking the candidate for real-life examples of how they’ve demonstrated skills in the past, and providing the candidate with exercises that allow them to show what they can do in your work environment, you can gauge a candidate’s real capabilities.

I’ve had the good fortune to work with companies that allowed me to design interview processes that really worked. One of the key elements is telling candidates up front that the goal of the interview process is to provide them with a real picture of life at the company, even the challenges. In return, I ask that they be honest, and that they be fearless about asking questions of the interview team. Candidates seem to find this approach refreshing and comforting. The results have been extremely positive, and have set the tone for a healthy working relationship before people are even hired.

As an owner of a search firm, these problems were so obvious even a dozen years ago. Yet, now as then, if it is brought to HR’s attention in even the kindest approach, one will be sharply rebuffed with the generic response, ‘That is our system, and it works!!!’, followed by some reference that any suggestion made by an outside recruiter is obviously self-serving.

So, we shall continue down the path of developing ever-more complex interview models, supported by endless metrics. The study of interview models will likely evolve as a career. All the while, the Hiring Manager will cry, ‘WHY CAN’T WE JUST MAKE A DECISION!!??’