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By Kevin Flemming
Business Journal Columnist
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Change is the only constant in business today. Although we may not always embrace change the way business writers instruct us to, no manager can argue against the validity of this statement. In order to compete in the American economy, businesses must survive constant changes in technology, consumer demand, government regulations and other market forces.
Although this little nugget of truth sounds simple on paper, it is quite another thing in practice because companies are made up of people. It takes a lot of courage for people to do things differently from everyone else, especially when there is no guarantee for success.
You can guess where this is leading already can’t you? You’re so smart. If companies are made up of people, and people need to respond to change in order for their companies to be successful; then we need to change the way we hire those people!
More to the point, employers must change the way they interview people.
Turnover is a costly issue
Even though unemployment in the Lehigh Valley has been steadily climbing for the past five months (the D.O.L’s latest data for our region places the unemployment rate at 6.4%), the behavior of the general workforce has not changed much since the heady days of 2000.
Employers here are experiencing continued high turnover within their non-exempt (hourly) labor force. An interesting phenomena considering that the market for new jobs has become much tighter in the past two years. Nonetheless, many of our corporate clients are actively recruiting candidates to fill slots left open by departing employees.
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Allow me to explain why even professional recruiters view this as a negative sign.
Although difficult to quantify, the cost of replacing a trained employee is much higher than the cost of adding new workers. It is a drain on both the productivity and morale of an employer’s workforce and damages a company’s ability to compete. Even though companies must accept a certain level of turnover within their ranks (especially among non-exempt employees), they can lower turnover rates by making adjustments to their hiring methods.
The interview is our best opportunity to screen out candidates who demonstrate a lack of staying power. One can never guarantee that a new employee will stick with a job once they’re hired, but good interviewers can weed out those who are most likely to quit without valid reason.
Adopt a new interview approach
We coined a phrase at Integrity to characterize the cause of high turnover. Dollaritice is a condition whereby the employee will quit without notice because he was offered the same job at another company for $1/hour more. These employees tend to be motivated by paychecks alone and have no qualms about leaving a stable position for an unknown opportunity at another company, as long as they earn $1 more per hour. Hiring managers need to embrace new interview techniques to fight dollaritice in their companies.
Try these four questions the next time you’re interviewing candidates for a non-exempt position.
1. Tell me a little about your previous employer’s business and what you found most interesting about that industry?
- This will reveal how much importance the candidate placed on learning about the business she worked in and how well she absorbs critical information. |
2. What types of work-related activities do you find most rewarding and why?
- If an individual’s primary motivation is to receive a weekly paycheck, his answer to this question will expose it early on in the process.
3. Describe your 3-year career and financial goals.
- If you hire someone who doesn’t look past tomorrow, it is very likely that they will lack the ability to understand and accomplish goals – even minor ones. A person who doesn’t plan ahead is also one who will quit a job without much forethought or reason.
4. Explain to me what initially interested you in our open position and why you’re still interested, now that you’ve learned more about the job?
- Before asking this question, make sure that you’ve provided a clear and detailed explanation of the job to the candidate. The answers you hear will give you insight into both her level of motivation and her listening skills.
Employers take note. We have observed that dollaritice is spreading into higher pay grades. While this trend has been common among unskilled workers for years, it is now manifesting itself among the higher-skilled, paraprofessional labor force. Our staff has encountered numerous administrative and bookkeeping professionals who have jumped from one job to another in order to simply earn $1/ hour more. By using these new interview questions, managers may be able to quarantine their operations from this profit-sapping condition. |
