Beyond the Mould - The New Normal

...continued

Finding True North

Even as we head back to the office, it’s never going to be the same again. With over 10% of employees preferring pure remote working and more than half preferring hybrid, we now know that this has to be the direction we head towards.

The Covid-19 epidemic has caused a radical change in the way businesses function, amplifying the pressing need for a dynamic workforce. Carrying over from the last article in this series, having a blend of internal and external hires will create a more inclusive atmosphere. These diverse personalities will also serve to cover gaps in knowledge employees may have. One employee’s weakness can be another’s strength.

What do we gain from the right mix of internal and external hires?

1. Increased diversity in the ranks
2. Differentiated expertise in each team
3. Knowledge gaps between employee’s expertise tend to cover each other up
4. Healthy competitiveness and career progression keeps stagnation away

But with such a delicate balance, and all these different considerations, what’s our North Star? What’s a possible way to guide us to greener pastures and better hiring?

The North Star

One possible method to explore is conducting reviews after a set period. Performance reviews for each individual hire after a defined time frame would allow employers to track how each employee has contributed to the advancement of the company.

Some companies adopt the “One” system. Simple quantifiable reviews after 1 week, 1 month, 1 quarter, 1 year post hire. Other opt for a simpler (1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year) review.

However, this is exactly where most companies stop. You can find your North Start metric, by comparing this to pre-hire assessments. You would then be able to definitively assess if an employee is doing well or needs a little push to raise quality of work.

This allows the quantification of the quality of hire. A quality of hire review at the end of this period will allow recruiters to refine their hiring guidelines. Once these new benchmarks are set, hiring can be less ‘gut-feel’ and more systematic. This not only benefits employers but employees as well in the long run.

The benefits are plentiful:

1. Objectively track your individual hire statistics
2. Observe how tweaks to your Recruitment Funnel and screening affect your quality of hire
3. Deep insights into the type of people that perform in your teams, but more importantly, the type of people that don’t
4. Reporting to management on the numbers that actually affect all organisational goals: Growth, Cost control, Profitability, Performance.

Internal

For external hires, conducting reviews every 6 months or even annually to track performance would enable you to achieve a lower exit rate, better hiring decisions and coherence within the company. Any new candidate that is onboarded would know exactly what to expect and what requirements he/she needs to meet.

External

For internal hires, conducting this same performance review would have a similar effect but more importantly would start bridging the gap in pay. A high performing employee can be given a raise/bonus and a low performing employee can be given suggestions on how to boost performance. As an employer, pitting a high achiever against an employee who has not shown as much potential would allow you to start profiling new hires to fit your ideal candidacy criteria.

All this is possible simply through diligent quality of hire reviews.

Talent has to come from a mix of both internal and external hiring. Learning where that balance lies for YOUR company is how you should hire. Hire for the future, not the present.

This brings us to the close of our series on ‘Hiring for the Future’, to serve as a quick recap:

1. Short term needs vs. Investing in long term hires
2. Why Freelancers might be the saving grace your company needs
3. Internal Hiring – The hidden potential we’re all missing
4. Measuring your quality of hire – If you’re not tracking progress, you’re losing progress.

We only recommend what we know. While working with our forward-thinking clients, we have realized that tying together pre- and post-hire data is invaluable. This is something we, at Vita, truly believe in and have helped several organizations incorporate our Quality of Hire system into their hiring process. Through a combination of Quality of Hire tracking and enhanced screening capabilities, the aim is to give you the tools, to put the power back into your hands.

If you’re interested in implementing such a system in your organisation, learn more about how you can at vitaverify.me.