Sanjeev Phatak shares what one should look at while recruiting middle or senior level managers
In today’s highly complex world, recruitment screening tests have become the most important aspect of any HR function. Whether it is recruitment of raw hands at entry levels or lateral recruitment, companies are spending huge amounts of money for selecting the right candidates. For they consider it an essential investment in the long-term interest of the organisation.
Recruiting the right managerial candidate with the potential to develop into a leadership candidate is a highly critical task for HR departments. In addition to domain knowledge a candidate must also have certain skills that are so essential for him to work efficiently and effectively in the corporate world.
A study shows that major multinationals spend as much as $ 800 per candidate recruited. Once onboard, he/she needs to be put through the organisation’s induction/orientation programme and brought up to the mark & become billable. This attracts considerable additional expenses too. Organisations are looking for ways to reduce this onboarding and induction cost, without compromising on the quality of recruits.
Today, employers expect that the new recruit not only comes pre-equipped with necessary skills, but also the requisite competencies. Here, competency means skills multiplied by knowledge. Let’s take a look at the various competencies an employer looks for from the recruits.
Working in a team: It is important in today’s collaborative environment that a new recruit should be able to work in a cross cultural, cross geographical team. He/she should be able to make his/her point in a team, accept and implement the suggestions/action plans suggested by the others, get the teammates to buy his/her own ideas,and lots more. This attribute or interactive skill is actually somewhat more important than even interpersonal skills.
Decision-making ability: It is one of the most important factors in the growth path. Many employees lag in this attribute, while many others are capable of taking decisions but afraid of executing/implementing those due to fear of failure/acceptability. Or they are simply not ready to be accountable for the output resulting from their decisions.
Risk taking ability: In today’s world, business scenarios are so complex that traditional or conventional methods/rules might have become outdated or useless. One must make bold as to risk taking a different path in order to succeed.
Synthesising skills: Nowadays, a lot of data and information is available with businesses. There are different tools available to analyse that data and get the inference. One must not stop only with analysis. He/she should be able to go further and synthesise different kinds of information in seeking the best way forward.
Stress managing capability: In the globalised scenario, with cut-throat competition in every sphere work, stress is a commonly encountered phenomenon in any organisation. If a person is not able to manage the stress, he/she will not be able to perform efficiently and deliver.
Mental and physical courage: With clarity in thinking, the employee should be able to ask “Why” and be able to say “No” equally firmly if the situation demands.
The above competencies aren’t necessarily inherent in a person. However, a well-designed and customised test with an in-built psychometric component could easily assess candidates for certain traits and help identify the right person who could in the long run develop into the leader so desired by the organisation. Employees selected through such tests fit into the organisational culture and can be groomed easily. Studies show that the normal success ratio of such tests is 55 to 60%.
The writer is director, Centre for Management Services, AIMA
