Article summary and critique:

"The Definitive Guide to Recruiting"

Submitted by: GROUP 5 Ankita 2013PGP052 Annimalla Vaibhav Ananya 2013PGP057 Anthony Murmu - 2012PGP054 Bhuvneet Raheja 2013PGP106 Karthick G 2013PGP179 Salil Aggarwal 2013PGP338

ARTICLE SUMMARY

The Definitive Guide to Recruiting in Good Times and Bad The article The Definitive Guide to Recruiting in Good Times and Bad highlights the most effective ways to hire top-level managers based on the relationship between recruiting and long-term corporate performance. The article describes the recruiting practices for top three levels of organization that are known as the top-x group who are: C-Level Executives, The direct reports to these Executives and One level below this.

The current scenario had a lot of loopholes in terms of hiring hence this article brings forth 7 steps to be followed for an effective recruitment. The loopholes identified were as follows: 1. Reliance on personal preferences of the hiring team 2. Differing attributes given importance among different set of people for hiring 3. Hiring only on the basis of interview performance and not giving reference checks due importance. 4. Different criteria for recruitment for different executives The line managers should be educated and there should be right support from the HR to meet the challenges. Also the article highlights 7 steps for solving this problem. The 7 steps to meet the challenges are as follows:
1. Anticipate the Need

2. Specify the Job

3. Develop the Pool

4. Assess the Candidates

5. Close the Deal

6. Integrate the Newcomer

7. Audit and Review

1. Every two to three years, the organizations must review their high-level leadership requirements and thereafter develop a plan to know the number of people required and what are the qualities desirable, etc. so that the organizations reduce their recruiting costs and also the employee transitions are smooth. 2. A full range of job-skills need to be specified for a top level employee which is known as Portfolio model of human capital. The basic tenets of the portfolio include:

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Job-based Competencies: Job-specific skills, job-dynamics Team-Based Competencies: team building, political dynamics sustenance Firm-Based Competencies: Culture-fit, resource management To know how different people tackle different jobs, it is important to know the perspective of several candidates and then select the right one rather than selecting the one and only shortlisted candidate. The four type of people should form the pool of prospective candidates, that is: Outside-insider Inside-Outsider Insiders Outsiders Improving the quality of assessments is more profitable than just increasing the size of the candidate pool, hence a good assessment surely brings forth a good candidate. The ROI on recruiting a good candidate is much beyond the negligible costs incurred in assessing the capabilities of the candidate. The assessing should be free from any first-impression biases as well. To make the process of assessment hassle-free an organization must have: The Right Interviewers The Right Number of Interviewers The Right Techniques The Right Organization Support A number of factors play a major role in determining whether the offered role would be accepted by the candidate or not. A few of the factors are as follows: The Organizations Commitment The Job The Boss Compensation The new employees must be integrated into the companys culture by necessary introductions and proper briefing. The companys unrealistic expectations, failures to grasp how things get done, poor communication with the immediate supervisors, lack of a sense of belongingness are some of the factors that lead to a companys top-level employee resigning. Whereas the organizations which assist employees in getting integrated into the culture enjoy lower turnover rates. Regular audit and review is necessary to keep a check on any hiring mistakes that might have been committed and hence removing any employee who is not fit for the organization. Recall of the candidates who managed to be in the final shortlist to be recruited but were rejected for some reason. Also periodic reviews can help identify those who are particularly adept at assessing talent.

Critical analysis:

1. The article begins by talking about how during recession companies cut hiring and release employees to cut cost. Generally, these employees are at the lower strata of organizational hierarchy and similarly during hiring phase, maximum concentration is at this organizational level only. The framework as mentioned by article is only for C-level executives, their direct reports and layer below that. 2. In industries like IT/KPO outsourcing, where hiring is majorly based on projects in pipeline there surely are times when hiring is according to the situation at hand. Even though the anticipation of need step is generally fulfilled but the speed with which the hiring is required might not encompass all the steps as they can be time consuming and business opportunity might be lost. 3. The article says that identify the team with which the candidate will work after recruitment, prior to selection. But, sometimes selection of candidates is generally based on his skills and abilities and recruiting on the basis of team with which he/she will work will become a daunting task defeating the main purpose of recruitment. E.g. while recruiting layers below the direct report of C executives hiring can be general and might not necessarily based on the team. This is seen in IT industries where managers are recruited not for a specific team but for projects in pipeline. 4. To take suggestions from the candidates peers may lead to exaggeration of the merit, inherent biases and skewed judgements. 5. The article mentions that letter of reference can be taken from the past employees of the candidate under consideration for an opening. This can be cumbersome and sometimes even impossible because the candidates appearing for selection interview generally dont inform or mention this to their present organizations. 6. The article mentions that most people report that the worst and most stressful aspect of their job is their immediate supervisor. To take care of this situation the article mentions that in the hiring managers must be involved in the closing stage of hiring process. We dont feel that this can solve the issue completely. There needs to more concrete parameters or solutions to take care of this issue and these solutions should come much before the closing stages of recruitment. 7. Employing rigorous behavioural event interviews might not yield fruitful results because training for these kinds of tests also becomes available and hence it is difficult to find out the truth or merit of the answers of the candidate. 8. The audit ad review step says that if organization has made hiring mistake then its best to remove bad hires within one year. It becomes really difficult in real situation if there is a contractual obligation and even if there isnt, removing employees puts the companies hiring policy under bad light if this becomes a regular practice. 9. Apart from this the article mentions that company can keep a tab on external and internal finalists who were considered for an opening. This can be done for internal candidates but becomes operationally very tough for external candidates.