In Part I of this series I outlined a 17-step process that a "Fortune" corporate client asked us to review and report on. In Part II I identified a number of areas that were causing the candidate pipeline to toss good candidates out prematurely, while permitting only unsuitable candidates to arrive at the final stages. The problem was aggravated by a Human Resource department that often turned candidates off with their lackadaisical approach.

Rather than a seamless, synchronized hiring process we had uncovered a system that resembled "A Series of Unfortunate Events." Only here the company replaced the fumbling, bungling Count Olaf of the children's horror/mystery novels. Interestingly enough as I write this final chapter on this project, more than one high level HR manager at this company has been let go … with other changes already being implemented.

Here are the changes this company needed badly. You may know of a company that could benefit from these same changes:

1. Human Resource Recruiters -

• There's an old saying that goes something like "Either step up, lead; or get out of the way". In this case, HR was in the way. If HR is going to conduct the first company-side telephone pre-screen, then for God's sake make sure they are fully staffed, easily reached and not so overburdened that it requires days or weeks to get a call back.
  
  
• One change already made - Some hiring managers are now being given permission to extend offers directly without waiting for HR contact which used to delay offers up to one full week. They simply must get pre-approval which is a lot faster than the old way.
  
  
• HR Culture - If your Human Resource culture is not 'in sync' with the rest of the organization, hiring suffers. There was no sense of urgency or understanding of company revenue being jeopardized as candidates were treated poorly and caused to walk away. Meanwhile, operational managers were working until 7 pm or weekends to make up for HR deficiencies.

  2. Unrealistic Salary Ranges (as compared to talent sought) -

• Everyone at Zeta Corporation thought they were enlightened semi-gods of the corporate world. With an over-inflated sense of value it made it difficult to find "flawless" talent worthy of their mentorship. A big dose of humility and reality was needed. It is human nature to get a dog … and then believe "Your dog is better than their dog". Unchecked such rampant ideology can destroy a company from the inside out like cancer. Ever hear of Enron?
  
  
• Only after months and years of vacancies were requirements finally scaled down to realistic parameters while salaries were increased when it was finally realized "Not everyone wants a job at Zeta Corporation merely because the job exists!"

3. Dysfunctional HR Management -

• Regional HR Managers were supposed to answer to Territorial Vice Presidents. These Vice Presidents were responsible for large swaths of geography usually encompassing 8-14 state regions. However, each local manager had become adept at avoiding management's directions and were often "flying solo."
  
  
• This meant while upper management was favoring a few search firms to supply talent, the local office manager ignored those candidates for a "more favorite" local recruiter that he/she had a more intimate relationship with. The process suffered.
  
  
• The Solution: Management needs to pull hard on the reins and keep the horses pulling straight. It should never matter how the candidate got there … only that the candidate was referred.
  
  
• The goal should be focused on filling the position within the specified time objectives and not based on what source was used.

  4. Let Managers Manage -

• Why give more credence to a test score than to the instinct or intuition of management? It is good to use tests in many instances but make certain common sense prevails over borderline test scores.
  
  
• Under no circumstances should a test score alone determine if someone gets invited in for a face-to-face interview … as opposed to stalling at the telephone interview stage. This is not what tests were designed to do.

  5. Profile Test Guidelines -

• Use profile tests if you wish, but don't give them more credence and weighting in the decision process than they deserve. By most experts opinion any profile test should not be the determining factor as to whether a person is invited in for an interview or not.
  
  
• According to Profiles International, an assessment company based in Texas, profile tests should only be used as "one third of the overall decision making process". We use Profiles International for our own internal hiring (www.profilesontheweb.com) and while the tests can be very revealing, it is the manager that must decide to invite someone in for further consideration.
  
  
• Tests should not be used as alternatives to interviews or as "Pseudo-interviews."

6. Set Best Practices Timelines -

• Establish goals and standards for filling positions in different categories. Just as any company has salary grade levels … such as one grade for a salary between $65-$85k and another grade for $85 to $105k, it should similarly establish associated timelines that such positions should be filled within.
  
  
• Define how many days/hours are suitable for returning candidate calls (Example: "All candidates who's resumes are deemed adequate should have a telephone interview set in no more than 36 hours" as but one example.
  
  
• Define timelines for "Total Search Project Cycle" - (Example: "No candidate should be required to exceed 4 weeks from first telephone prescreen to final interview for Grade 4, and 6 weeks for Grade 5-6."

As I write the final touches on this "Series of Unfortunate Events" of the corporate recruiting kind I'm pleased to say a few of the above changes have already been made. Being as getting a large company culture to change is not dissimilar to getting a large ocean liner to do a "U-Turn." I found the swiftness of the changes that were recently made surprising given this company's size and history. This proves that change can happen when the will, management buy-in, and facts to support why change is needed are present.

If the scenario outlined over this three part series sound like advice your client company's hiring managers can use then keep these suggestions in mind. Also, while face-to-face meetings with regional staff can go far to identify and detect early signs of political cancer or internal corruption, hiring an outside consultant such as a trusted HR consulting firm, can go a long way to reveal items the company would otherwise never know about.

Frank G. Risalvato, CPC is president of IRES, Inc. His newly redesigned recruiter training site is updated weekly with loads of original content and is found at www.searchwizardry.com. He has been speaking and providing recruiting training materials to the search profession's trade groups since 1987. His Recruiter Training Guide is available online for electronic download. Contact Frank by phone (973) 300-1010 or email him: frank@searchwizardry.com. Be sure to sign up and be the first for his soon-to-be-released book The Kentucky Fried Secret Recipe to Recruiting Millions®.

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