Attracting, Hiring, and

Keeping Top Talent

Presented By:John PaladinoVice President of Client Services InterSystems

My Most Important Lessons

1. I Am Responsible for Hiring Top Talent

2. I Must Understand the Process and Tune It to My Needs

3. I Must See the Process from the Candidate’s Point of View

The Story Begins

Sometime Around 5 BC

The Story Begins

My Old Process

1. Wait for Recruitment to Find and Present Candidates

2. Technical and Psychometric Test

3. Escalating Interviews

4. Present for Approval

New Demands

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

US$ M

1978 2010

Employee Opportunity

Support Specialist Sales Engineer

Product Manager, HealthShare

Employee Opportunity

Support Manager

Product Manager

Employee Opportunity

Product Manager

Sales EngineerSupport Specialist

Employee Opportunity

Support Specialist

Technical Architect

Employee Opportunity

Support Manager

(WRC)

Support Director

(TRC)

Too Much Opportunity!

WRC Director

OMG,

This is MY

Problem!

Realization of My Problem

• Recruiting is Recruitment’s Job

• They Never Present Top Talent

• People Must Want to Work for Us

• Don’t They Understand That I’m Very Busy?

Step 0 - Understanding

• I Took Recruitment Under My Wing Temporarily

• I Spoke with Other Managers

• I Thought About What to Do

Step 0 - Understanding

1. I Must Explain What I Want

2. I Must Understand What Recruitment Does

3. I Must Address the Process Bottlenecks

4. I Must Use Rejections to Learn and Improve

5. I Must Understand the Candidate’s Experience

Step 1: Definition of Top Talent

1. Extremely High Degree of Aptitude

2. Entrepreneurial Initiative

3. High Degree of Professionalism• Grammar

• Respect

• Empathy

• Accountability

• Integrity

• Commitment to Understanding

4. Impressive Passion and Energy

Traits of Top Talent

• Just as Picky as We Are

• Want Careers not Jobs

• Demand Respect

• Want to Work With Other Talented People

• High Position on My Relative Ranking

Step 2: Interview Short-Circuit

• I Conduct the First Formal Interview

• Immediate Decision

• Invitation to Check Us Out in More Detail While Waiting for the Offer Letter

• Special Package for Successful Candidates

• Personal Follow-up with Candidates

• Immediate Feedback to Recruiter

Step 3: Develop a Pipeline

• Hire Professional Sourcers

• Select Exclusive Agencies to Partner

• Collaborate to Refine Targeting

• Develop a Script for Recruiters

• Develop Scalable Qualification/Testing Process

• Develop an Applicant Package

Sources

• MIT, Grove City College, WPI, RPI, Stonehill College, SIGSE

• Alumni Communities

• Create a Web Identity - Social Media, Our Own Website, Other Websites (Universities, InterSystems Job Connection)

• Posting boards - Linked-in, Facebook, Twitter, Monster, DICE

• Professional Recruiter Network

• Employee Referral Program

Step 4: Scalable Process

• iCIMS Candidate Database (www.iCIMS.com)

• Remote On-Line Testing

• Central Administration of Workflow

• Recruiter Provides Prompt Feedback

Tools That Yield Scalability

• Daily Pipeline Report

• Technical Employment Test

• Professional Employment Test

• Predictive Index

• Templates

Technical Employment Test

• 30 minutes

• 20 problems with sample answer/solution

• Technical logic test, not a programming test

• Passing score is 17 / 20 for technical roles

• 89%+ fail rate

• Scores are either very low or very high

Professional Employment Test

• 30 minutes

• 20 problems with sample answer/solution

• Business logic test

• Passing score is 17 / 20 for non-technical roles

• 76% fail rate

• High TET scores do not correlate to high PET scores

Predictive Index

The Predictive Index Assessment

Predictive Index

• Administer in 5-10 Minutes On-Line

• Indicates Behavioral Traits When Under Pressure

• Uncanny Accuracy

• I Get a Deep Understanding of the Candidate in Minutes

• Useful to Validate Interview Assessment

• Improves Retention Due to Motivational Match

• All Managers Are Trained at PI Interpretation

Candidate Qualification

• Must score 34/40 on TET and PET (10% of all tested)

• Technical Candidates: TET >= 17/20

• Non-Technical Candidates: PET >= 17/20

• PI: Corporate Hook is a Bonus, Low D is a Concern

• Candidates with 38/40 or Better Are Fast-Tracked

Templates

• Welcome Letters

• Testing Preparation Letters

• About InterSystems Material

• Prospective Hire Kits

• Repeated Follow-Up’s

Welcome to InterSystems

New Employee On Boarding

• Welcome Video with All Senior Managers

• Handbook for New Employees

• Systems Training On-Line

• Report Upon Arrival to Learning Services

• Tailored Training Roadmap

• Administered by Learning Services

• Skills Monitoring

Keeping Top Talent

• Innovation Drives Learning Opportunities

• Growth Drives Career Opportunities

• Culture/Values Drive Loyalty

The Results

34 offices on 6 continents

2010

1050

2006

Business Impact

2008 2010

Start search when position opensContinuous pipeline of qualified

candidates worldwide

Months to hire good candidates 24 hours to 5 weeks

Hired 9% that Passed Test Hired 27% that Passed Tests

Inconsistent Criteria Managers Unified

$11,000 / hire $3,000 / hire

No Management Confidence Complete Confidence

My Recommendations

1. Make Recruiting Your Responsibility

2. Clearly Define Top Talent

3. Make Sure That Your Company is Attractive

4. Please, Engage Us to Help

My Problem Isn’t Unique

GOOGLE TRIES NEW ANGLE ON HIRING

“ Google is seeking to streamline its famously convoluted and quirky hiring process as it aims to recruit record numbers this year and increase its intake of people with entrepreneurial, rather than purely intellectual, talent..."

Richard Waters, Financial Times

February 6, 2011

Dilbert’s Definition of Top Talent