Friday, August 3, 2012

TIME FOR THE INTERVIEW

In previous blogs we have discussed the tremendous cost of recruiting employees in our industry. Just to review, it costs in excess of $500 just to recruit one employee for your payroll. Keeping that in perspective, if you have 50 employees and made 100 W-2's last year you had 100% turnover and it cost you $25,000 to put those 50 additional employees on your payroll. To take it even further, the industry turnover average is 325% and if you are one of those you really spent some big dollars in bringing people onto your payroll.

So let's talk about the actual interview of prospective employees. As we said, up till now you have spent an enormous amount of energy, time, and dollars to utilize various procedures for bringing people in your door for an interview. Now is the time you have the opportunity to "sell" the benefits of someone beginning a career with your organization. Don't blow it.

One thing I have learned in all the years I have been in this business is that employees and prospective employees will mirror your image of the industry and your company. If you are negative and think of their position as only a part time short time job, that is exactly the way they will view it. If you are positive and demonstrate that you have career positions available with a great organization, you have a much better chance at securing long term employees. After all, if you don't extol the virtues of this great industry then who will. After all, you are in this industry and should be showing people the great opportunities that exist.

The people that walk in your door to complete an application are your CUSTOMERS and should be treated with the utmost respect. If they don't return the favor, you won't be employing them but don't prejudge them before the interview begins.

It is also important to remember that different nationalities may have different customs when they apply for work. For instance, in the United States we have long been told that if someone won't look you in the eye when you are talking to them or they to you, you probably can't trust them. In some countries the people are taught that out of respect when applying for work never look the interviewer in the eye. To do so would show a great deal of disrespect and will hinder severely the chances for obtaining employment.

If you are a company that is actively recruiting different cultures, I urge you to do some homework on the customs they have grown up learning.

I have had the privilege to work with many different companies and observe the way they do the interview process. It has been very interesting for me to observe the good, the bad, and the ugly. Not long ago I sat in on an interview where a branch manager was interviewing someone he was hoping would join his management team. His interview went something like this,

"How long have you been married? Will your wife object to the evening hours? How old are your kids? Won't they miss daddy? I heard a rumor you were arrested for drunk and disorderly, is that all behind you now"? You get the picture. It is the worst interview I have ever sat through. The prospect chose not to accept the position, the owner of the company I was consulting with took the manager to lunch and bought his to go. To the best of my knowledge, this individual had been given thorough training on the correct interview process on several occasions.

As you are probably aware, there are certain questions you just cannot ask in an interview. Because of space limitations I will not list them all here but in my book, Finding, Training, and Keeping GREAT Service Employees 101 I list a majority of them and in today's world there are always new ones being added so be sure you keep up with what you can and cannot ask. By the way, our rule was that if you think it may be question you shouldn't ask but aren't sure if you can, DON'T ASK IT. Rather be safe than pay the price later.

But there are some ways you can get answers to questions you would like to ask but can't. Let me list some of the questions we asked that got answers without having to ask a nonaskable question. (nonaskable is a new word you here here first).

1) Why are you considering leaving your present position (if they are working)

2) Tell me in detail what you did/do at your last (current) position.

3) What did you like to do best?

4) What did you like to do least?

5) What do you consider your greatest accomplishment in life to this point?

6) What do you consider your greatest disappointment in life to this point?

7) What type of person is hardest for you to deal with?

8) Tell me about the boss you liked best.

9) What sort of work would your family like to see you doing?

These are pointed questions but I found many of the answers I was looking for usually came as a result of these few questions. I didn't fire the questions at them but rather asked one and then had a conversation with them about it. In that way it didn't appear to be an interview but rather a friendly conversation and it's amazing what they will tell you in a conversation that they won't tell you in a formal interview although that is what you are conducting. We then moved on to question 2 etc.

I also used an informal applicant survey that we asked them to complete. They were under no obligation to complete it but nearly all did. This survey, along with a completed application and answers to the questions above gave us a pretty thorough insight into the applicant and whether they would make a great member of our team.

Now your question is "How can you take that much time with each applicant? I am only hiring a line worker to clean a building four, six, or eight hours per night etc."? Exactly, and my response is that one of the reasons we have such a high turnover in this industry is that we don't do the job right up front. Once you get the system down you can go through the process very rapidly and the reality of the matter is that many applicants won't measure up by the time you get through 2 or 3 of the questions and the interview is terminated. But those that do make it through all the questions just might be your next shining star.

The entire process of the interview is so critical to a company's success yet so many treat it in such a haphazard way. I sincerely hope your company is one that understands the importance of the process and is constantly working to improve. Believe me, it will determine the success, or failure, of your company in the long run.

I know when I said it will determine the success or failure of your company, I have some people reading this who will argue that point but let me ask you a question. Ever had a customer terminate your service and tell you something like this, "I know you want to do the job for us but your turnover is just terrible. It seems like every other week there is someone new in my facility". Or worse yet, they terminate your service and don't tell you why. Bad service? Maybe. If so, could that be because of a high turnover and untrained employees?

Please don't underestimate the importance of getting the right employees into your organization. It will enable you to build a quality long term organization.

Be sure to tune in to the upcoming tripodcast where we will be making a major announcement about the upcoming BSCAI convention. It is stunning and you won't want to miss it. Go to www.tripodcast.com on Monday August 6.

Till next time.





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