Did you see Simon Swans article in the latest edition of Management Today*? Simon talks about the importance of interviewing and quotes Harvard University research that says that new hire failure costs can amount to five times salary. I thought the costs understated and suspect that Simon’s probably taken a fixed cost of salary and direct expenses but not included the lost opportunity costs that result from a new hire failure.

At this point you probably might discount my own research as being inflated, if I included it here, so let me point to Brad Smart’s book “Topgrading” ,as evidence, where he wrote that his research into new hire failure could amount to 24 times the salary. Much of these come from lost opportunities which, depending upon position, include lost sales, projects not met and so on

I thought it interesting that Simon’s solutions to the problem was to ensure that the Resume (CV) was accurate and that the interview process robust. All good stuff. However, a crucial part of the process is the six months that a company spends integrating the individual into the new job. 

* 5th August 2011

I’ve recently heard suggestions that the
more interviews and hoops candidates are expected to jump through…the
better the final quality of hire. Then a similar question was asked on LinkedIn and I thought I would repeat the answer in my blog.

The proposition is WRONG 

Very sorry, but it’s wrong. Let me clarify: I have spent the last ten years talking to CEO’s about
hiring and integrating people into their firm faster and more
profitably. Asking a candidate to do more and more tests and interviews simply clouds the process. Two interviews, one assessment and a follow up meeting to negotiate terms is enough. In my experience having a new hire failure or poor hires has more to do
with the lack of interview experience by the interviewer, an inability of interviewer to assess candidates correctly and
poor integration by the business.

Interviewers training
Directors that interview people for a job do so about two or three times
a year. Hardly enough time to gain great expertise or to maintain that
ability. This may be a reason why businesses rely on more and more interviews and tests. However, again in
my experience, tests are only as good as the ability to understand the
results. (Too many people will fix on one statistic from a test and base their
choice on that as opposed to a rounded assessment).

One solution is to encourage interviewers to undergo some training
before undertaking important interviews. Then to have some experts on
the interview panel that can provide focussed views.

Cost of failed hire can be shedloads of money off the bottom line
Interestingly the COSTS of NEW HIRE FAILURE can be huge and my research
confirms Brad Smart’s research that the cost of failure can range from
10 – 24 times salary.

So if you’re hiring at a salary of $45,000, choose a multiple and see how much a new hire failure could cost your business!

Links:

• 
  http://www.youtube.com/user/stephenharvarddavis?feature=mhee

The film on Sales and Marketing questions broke the 2000 views barrier this weekend.
The series on asking and answering interviewing questions has been a great success and in particular those on sales.

In total my YouTube channel has has over 9000 views and you can access all the films HERE
So for those that missed “Sales and Marketing Interview Questions” here’s another chance and more films are being planned
 

Sales and Marketing interview questions
www.stephenharvarddavis.com

Some weeks ago I was speaking to a group of Directors about to undertake interviews for a senior sales position within their business. They had collected a great list of candidates to interview.

Don’t lose the ideal candidate to the competition
After reviewing the characteristics of the ideal candidate they were looking for, the competencies that were needed to meet the job and the results expected I asked, “And what questions do you expect to be asked by the candidates and how have you planned to respond”.

I was met with a stony silence. The interviewers considered that they were in a prime position as having a job to offer with jobs being so difficult to find. That was until I observed that they might be upset if they found the ideal candidate, who then chose to join their competitor’s business because they did a better job at “selling” the attractions of working for their firm, it’s career path, benefits and culture to their ideal candidate.

To help I shared the video on the questions a candidate should ask the interviewer that we made a few month ago and it’s shared here. There followed a review of the information being given to the candidates to make the company more attractive to the “ideal candidate” they hoped to attract to them.

“This firm sounded much more attractive”
Yesterday, I heard that their ideal candidate had confessed to his new boss that he had been interviewed by their competitor and had been offered a similar job. The reason for not taking the competitor’s offer was “because this firm sounded so much more attractive to work for”.

Questions you should ask the interviewer

Last week I was flattered to have been contacted by a company to compliment me on the content of my YouTube Channel  and particularly the films on interviewing questions and answers. It’s always nice to be appreciated until they asked if I had considered using a female presenter as it would be “softer on the eye”.

After only five months of regularly using video on my blog over 2000 views. The most popular have been those on asking and answering interview questions for sales jobs. Perhaps in the current financial climate that’s not surprising but it has encouraged me to upload more videos on recruiting and managing sales teams.

Most viewers come from The UK, USA, Canada, Kuwait, Australia and I hope that everyone will continue to find them useful.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been talking to some sales managers over the type of questions to ask prospective salespeople. The questions on motivation were interesting because most candidates won’t be entirely truthful when asked “What motivates you?”

Motivation interview questions for Sales people

Over the past few days I’ve had lots of people ask me about the Equality Act (UK) and specifically the type of questions that can and can’t be asked at an interview.

This video clip may help to identify some of the questions you shouldn’t be asking at an interview. The Act rightly identifies the reason that it’s the candidate’s qualifications, experiences and ability to be able to perform a job satisfactorily is what’s relevant and not aspects of home life, age, gender, sexual preference and so on.

Equality Act (UK) interview questions you must NOT ask

The Act covers many areas of discrimination at work, not covered in this video clip, and there is a huge amount of information on the web. We always always advise that you ask your professional advisor for help if needed and in preparing to hire talent.

I’ve had so many comments on the first sales job interview film clip that I’ve decided to make another that includes some of the questions I’ve been asked to include. The popularity of the first film probably means that sales is an area that I should explore more in future video clips.

Thanks to Paul, Derek, and Sarah, thanks for supplying the questions:

“Do you enjoy working with people?”
“What is it about sales that you like?”
“How do you manage with different types of buying styles?”
“What’s your approach to selling?

Best wishes and contact me if you want a specific interview question answered.

If you are looking for tips on “Interviewing” visit my YouTube channel at stephenharvarddavis

More Sales Job Interview questions

A number of people in my network have complained that I am forgetting those that tend to interview people as opposed to being interviewed.

They also, correctly say that, unless you are interviewing regularly the skills and techniques are often lost through lack of practice and would I upload some advice on “How to interview”

So here goes

Interviewer’s mistakes