Makes a difference through a good employee selection practices

At a recent leadership development training program, I asked a question I regularly ask:

Knowing what you know now, how many of your current employees would you re-employ?

Answer - about 60%.

This answer is consistent with previous groups I have trained, as well as general employment survey research. It means that poor employee selection decisions are regularly made.

Suitable candidates are not being found. About 40% of employees are not performing well or as expected. In some way, they cause their management a problem. It may be poor attitude or interpersonal problems. It may be they cannot perform their duties properly.

In time management programs, I sometimes cite recruitment and selection as a good example of the 'Pareto principle' - 20% of the effort produces 80% of the results.

It is worth a little extra effort to make a good selection rather than an average one. Spending the time to make a good decision is a sound investment. It is time well spent.

Managing performance problems is a constant theme raised by training participants. Amongst other things, poor performance consumes management time. It diverts attention away from more productive matters.

Managing performance would not be a major issue if team leaders and managers exercised greater control in the recruitment and selection process.