navigating hr, pt. 1: interview &hiring

Navigating HR, Pt. 1: Interviewing & Hiring A NAVIGATE WHITE PAPER Monday, September 12, 2016

As we interview potential

employees, they are also

interviewing us. The duties and tasks of HR management can be

frustrating from time to time; however, the positive impact

made from HR practices on your company’s success and

bottom line typically outweigh the negatives.

� Navigate Affordable Housing Partners �1

MEET THE AUTHOR

Dale Marcus has been the Human Resources Director at Navigate Affordable Housing Partners for almost 15 years.

She is well-versed in Employee Relations, Workforce Planning and Talent Acquisition.

What is HR?

BusinessDictionary.com defines Human Resources as:

“The division of a company that is focused on activities relating to employees. These activities normally include recruiting and hiring of new employees, orientation and training of current employees, employee benefits, and retention. Formerly called personnel.”

Why CHOOSE us?

We know Public Housing.

We know Affordable Housing.

We know HUD, and HUD knows us.

We are housing experts with centuries of experience.

http://businessdictionary.com

http://businessdictionary.com


Some of you are the CEO, the COO, the HR Director, as

well as the chief cook and bottle washer of your

organization. No matter your job title, the fundamental

issues and challenges of hiring the right people are

universal regardless of the size of your office or your

company.

I’ve been invited to share some of my tips on the hiring

process.

A 2015 article from Ere Media contained some very

interesting statistics. Consider all of the costs associated

with employee turnover – including interviewing, hiring,

training, reduced productivity, lost opportunity costs, etc.

• For entry-level employees, it costs between 30%

and 50% of their annual salary to replace them.

• For mid-level employees, it costs upwards of 150%

of their annual salary to replace them.

• For high-level or highly specialized employees,

you’re looking at 400% of their annual salary.


The Cost of New Hires

It costs more than you might

think to replace the employees

who leave your organization.

Source: Ere Media

http://www.eremedia.com/tlnt/what-was-leadership-thinking-the-shockingly-high-cost-of-employee-turnover/#


Those numbers are staggering. Your hiring process directly impacts your retention rate. Your

retention rate directly impacts your bottom line. According to Compdata Surveys’ national

survey, BenchmarkPro, surveying 28,000 organizations, they found that the average total

turnover rate reported across industries by employers in 2015 was 16.4%. More than 550

benchmark job titles were surveyed ranging from entry-level to top executives, with data

collected from more than 28,000 organizations across the country.

Those numbers only add to the importance of getting it right the first time! Acquiring and

maintaining top talent begins with hiring the right person for the right position at the right

time.

The Hiring Process Below are the basic steps in the hiring process to help ensure success:

1. Interviewing / Hiring

2. Onboarding a new hire

3. Training and Follow up

This white paper focuses on the interviewing / hiring stage.

Of course, the very first step is to determine what

position(s) you need to fill. Then determine where you want

or need to post your open position(s). Appealing to and

reaching the desired audience is essential. We have used

many different sites and have been very successful using

our company website, LinkedIn, local online media postings

as well as local colleges and universities. There are an endless number of options available.

We select the sites that will appeal to the candidates we are targeting for the specific

position.


http://www.compdatasurveys.com/benchmarkpro/


Once you have received the resumes and determine which applicants have the required

skills and qualifications for the position, you proceed with the process. If you’re an Alabama

fan (or not), you have undoubtedly heard about ‘THE PROCESS’. Actually, in theory, this is

very similar to the Saban process. You establish a pattern that works, a PROCESS, and you

follow it. You need to get the process right. Your hiring process is a potential employee’s

first exposure to your corporate culture.

We’ve all heard, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Nowhere does

it apply more accurately than when you are trying to attract, impress and hire the right

candidate. Sure, we are going to make hiring mistakes, but the goal is to get it right more

often than not. We can limit those mistakes if we have a plan, a process, and take the time

to implement it.

The Navigate process consists of a combination of several interviews, as well as written

exercises, tailored to competencies required to perform tasks of the position. Before

extending a job offer, the successful candidate completes a Job Assessment Analysis that

matches candidate’s personality and work style to the position. We have established

benchmarks for each position using current employees.

Navigate also has tools to ensure we stay on track. The most important tool in our tool box is

the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes- showing candidates respect and empathy. The

great Maya Angelou said it best: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, and

people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Remember how you felt the last time you were looking to change jobs. The thought of it is

scary and intimidating. That’s how every job candidate feels.

Follow the process and the steps Always know what you’re looking for. Know why you are filling the position:

1. Is it a new position? Are you replacing someone who left the company? Why did they

leave?

2. What can be done to prevent the same mistakes over again?



3. Have a definitive job description. Every position must have a job description. It

provides a road map for accomplishing the tasks required; it tells the person what the

expectations of the position are and it lays out the basic qualifications and required

knowledge, education, training and/or experience needed.

4. What skills does this position require? Be aware of the skills needed to be successful

in this position.

5. What can we do to help the next person be successful in this position? Know what

worked and what didn’t work.

6. Who is the supervisor or what kind of person works best under this supervisor?

7. Don’t get hung-up on degrees: Often soft skills such as: people skills: personality,

flexibility, creative thinking, the ability to communicate, solve problems and lead, to

name a few, trump a piece of paper.

8. Be aware of the soft skills required for the position. You can train a person to do a

task----you cannot train a person to be the right fit for the position and/or for the

company.

Finding the right fit When talking to the candidates, keep these

helpful hints in mind:

INTERVIEWING: Give the applicant your

undivided attention. Do not allow yourself to

be interrupted. Silence your cell phone;

forward your phone to someone else; close

the door; and focus on the candidate.

1. Put yourself in the applicant’s shoes.

2. Treat everyone with respect and be



respectful of their time

3. Describe your company. Your mission, your values, your goals, your company culture.

But don’t sugar-coat it.

4. Keep in mind that the candidate is contemplating making a life-changing decision if he/

she comes to work for you. It’s also their opportunity to interview YOU! We want them to

think about it and have as much information as possible to make an informed decision.

5. At Navigate, the questions asked by the candidates are as important as the questions

asked of the candidates. There should be NO SURPRISES! When someone decides to

work for our company, they should come with their eyes wide open and with as much

information as we can give them.

6. Talk to them more than once. You are seeing potential new employees on their best

behavior. We have a saying at our office: “Anyone can hide crazy for 10-15 minutes!”

The more you talk to them, the more comfortable they become with you, and the more

you’ll learn about them.

7. Make sure you get a partner and another opinion. Ideally it should be the potential

supervisor or someone else whose opinion you can trust.

8. Trust your ‘gut’! It’s that little voice in your head telling you something just isn’t right- or

maybe it says it is right! So many times a candidate has passed every outward

challenge. They have a good resume’, they interviewed well, they did great on the job-

specific skills assessment, and all other assessments. Yet there was something nagging

at me. I chalked it up to a ‘gut feeling’ and didn’t hire them. I’ve never regretted going with

my gut. Anybody watch NCIS on TV…Special Agent Gibbs? He always listens to his gut

and he’s NEVER wrong. He always gets his guy… Or girl.

9. Look for someone who will fit and be comfortable with the corporate culture.



Beware RED FLAGS 1. Observe the applicant when they think no one is looking: Do they talk to the

receptionist? Do they acknowledge people as they pass by?

2. They are late for the interview without a really good reason

3. They are dressed totally inappropriately. Holey Jeans; Shorts, Tank or tube top/

Flip flops (unless it’s a beach job!)

4. They know it all! They have no faults or areas for improvement.

5. They talk A LOT about time off. And ask questions about when they HAVE TO

work. How long do we get for lunch?

6. They use inappropriate verbiage; incorrect verbal tenses, they can’t articulate.

7. Poor Body language: arms folded; sighs a lot, acts bored and disinterested,

makes little or no eye contact.

Once you have made your decision, send a professionally worded rejection notification as

quickly as possible to the applicants who were not selected.

In conclusion, HR is not rocket science. Always emphasize the ‘HUMAN’ in Human

Resources. If you follow these two rules you can’t go wrong:

1. The Golden Rule: Treat others the way YOU want to be treated.

2. Platinum Rule: Treat Others the way THEY want to be treated.

Never rush the process. Slow down and make the best possible decision you can at that

moment. If you hire too quickly, chances are you’ll be doing it again very soon!

Questions? Call Navigate today to talk about how we can help you with human resources training.

You tell us what you need. We’ll come up with a solution together. For more

information visit consulting.NavigateHousing.com.


http://consulting.navigatehousing.com


About Navigate Affordable Housing Partners Partner with Navigate to enhance your housing services


navigating hr, pt. 1: interview &hiring

Recruiting & HR