5 criteria to meet when hiring.
by steven e. sacks
the new fundamentals: practical guidance for today’s accounting firms
over the past several years, there has been significant job growth and a large part has been attributed to the private sector, which includes professional services firms, businesses, hospitality, education, and health.
despite what appears to be robust employment with new opportunities across a broad swath, companies on the hunt for talent are still facing the challenge of finding the perfect candidate.
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companies are using third parties to assist them in their quest to get the “right fit” because their goal is to build solid teams. the team approach ensures that there is consistency in attitude and performance within and between departments. this is not to suggest the goal of creating automatons or cultivating groupthink.
however, a recruiter considers not only whether the individual is competent but also if he or she will be compatible with the other players.
as has been documented repeatedly, costs associated with turnover are not insignificant. the prospect of beginning the candidate search from scratch is not only expensive but can have both tangible and intangible costs, such as loss of productivity and reduced morale, respectively. to avoid this misstep, companies take a more deliberate approach to hiring, or in the case of turnover, replacement.
from my experience there is a common roadmap for job candidates. the first step in the interview process requires the candidate to be sufficiently prepared. this includes a comprehensive research of the cpa firm, including its services, newsworthy achievements and marketplace visibility. there have been times i have sat in front of a candidate whose only knowledge about my organization was its name. this meant that there was no knowledge about the organization’s function, its mission and goals. to be sure, this makes it apparent the meeting will be useless within the first 90 seconds.
“making a strong first impression is as important as ever, especially when meeting face to face.” – joseph abboud
let’s say, however, the candidate has a working knowledge of the organization. it is now up to the hiring manager to approach the candidate with effective questions to uncover any hidden quirks or personality foibles. for the interviewer, it is better to find out sooner rather than later. innovative companies, like google or amazon, may use puzzles, case studies or scenario planning to identify the creative and quick-thinking individual. there may be multiple levels of interviews that include conference or skype calls and in-person interviews. during this process, the expectation is something new about the person will be revealed. if that revelation negates the initial positive impression made, the extra time and effort will have been worth it.
using this approach, however, assumes that the interviewer has the capability to make an accurate assessment. to accomplish this, the company has to consider in advance the criteria it wants to measure. without this step, the process will be ineffective.
build the interview structure
if a company had a previous bad and costly hiring experience, it should employ an interview strategy to identify the most effective line of questions. after the candidate has left, those involved in the interview can build a composite profile to gain an overall impression.
the interview is like a credentialing process. it includes a review and acceptance of the application and an accompanying resume, any necessary tests to evaluate technical and communication skills and assessing personality traits – and may even involve role-playing. companies will refer to one-to-one meetings, group discussions, research and presentation, and other elements to form an overall opinion. this is a two-way investment, though nothing says the interview process will always go swimmingly.
as part of the interview strategy, the hiring group should agree on what are “acceptable responses” relative to collaboration style, work habits, industry knowledge, and overall personal conduct – even including body language.
hiring people or vetting them for making referrals, i always sensed a level of nervousness. it was always my plan to create a climate conducive to a quality conversation. i considered the room layout and seating, lighting, and the availability of beverages. it is important to treat each candidate as a potential colleague, so showing courtesy and respect will project a positive image of my organization and myself.
sometimes i would find a more casual location, such as a coffee shop, to observe the person’s social skills. this element cannot be overlooked, particularly in the accounting profession where client-facing interaction is crucial to gaining and earning the confidence of others. i would also add the importance of employing a strategy to ensure that all candidates would go through a consistent approach. this is done to create a “template” that accurately assesses the similarities and differences of all the candidates. my advice: decide on an interview and assessment approach and apply it to all candidates.
it is important for firms to examine their interviewing techniques and make improvements where necessary. if the usual approach has been to “wing it,” substitute it for more structure. different questions or areas of discussion from one candidate to the next will limit the ability to make effective comparisons between the current candidate group – and even between the candidates and recently hired employees.
a candidate for it director will and should be asked questions that are different from a candidate for controller. because operations and processes (and of course, technology) have changed over the last few years, be sure the questions you ask are relevant for today’s business world. this means that the questions you ask the it candidate reflect on today’s protocols and tools. and don’t forget to continuously update the criteria used for all candidates.
once you have agreed on the environment and the criteria, focus on the skills to evaluate and make sure that everyone who will be participating understands the criteria and can correctly measure them. if others in the hiring process need to be trained in interviewing techniques, make sure they can perform them effectively. if rehearsals are needed, then rehearse. the interviewers should not only be insightful and aware, but they should also be friendly and have the right interpersonal skills. remember, the interview process is a two-way proposition. a particular candidate may be perfect, but he or she may be turned off by your interview process or by individual attitudes.
last, consider the time frame to successfully complete the hiring process. while some companies give the perception that the process has no determinable end, candidates’ time and effort have value. if the time it takes for you to make a single hiring decision is disproportionate to the position’s level, or the effort is not yielding the desired results, then it is time to overhaul the hiring process.
if the position needs to be filled, make sure it can be done in a cost-effective manner that allows for careful and accurate measurement against strategic criteria. this will eliminate the hazard of uncertainty that leads to a selection based on questionable “intuition.”
if your hr department is the “gatekeeper,” the person who will decide whether the candidate is qualified to have a phone interview or in-person meeting with the hiring partner, then there need to be some qualifiable criteria to meet:
- why do i need to fill this position?
- have i accurately described the requirements for the position?
- are there quantifiable metrics i can use to determine the potential value a candidate can bring to my firm?
- are there other potential benefits that a candidate has that go beyond what the position calls for?
- do i see this candidate not only filling an immediate need, but one who can eventually be the managing partner, or at least part of the senior leadership within the firm?
to be sure there are other questions to consider, but these should form a solid foundation for the recruiting effort. firm leaders in concert with the hr department need to know the who, what, why of potential hires. a haphazard approach to finding talent (and retaining it) cannot be done on an ad hoc basis. it will become apparent to the candidate, who may then tell his or her contemporaries about your firm’s inability to articulate its needs and create a career path for its staff.