The Easy and Quick $3 Million Fix

Did you know that there is a glaring hole within many companies that contributes to their overall turnover? This hole can cost your company big bucks too, but people seem content to just let it occur. Did you know that it can also be fixed pretty quickly, easily, and cost effectively?

Walk down this journey with me - and I promise - I'll make it quick. Employee Bill works for your organization and has done a great job. He has proven that he deserves the opportunity to be promoted and climb the ladder a bit. He is tasked with several new responsibilities, one of which is having to interview potential new employees and make hiring decisions, or at least contribute to who will be hired. The problem is, Employee Bill has never had to interview before and has no idea what he can ask, what he can't ask, the best ways to probe for information, or to evaluate multiple candidates against each other. He thinks up a few random questions when the candidate enters, and just sort of "wings it." He's done the best he can based on the knowledge that he has, but wonders if he has made the best decision possible for the company.

Unfortunately, this is the model that business after business after business has in place. And time after time, what I hear from them is that they are hiring the wrong people or that their turnover costs are too high (if they even measure turnover costs). Did you know that every time an employee leaves your company (whether on their own or asked to leave), it costs your company 5X the employee's annual salary? SHRM (Society of Human Resource Management) says that an average company will lose 12% of pre-tax income due to turnover alone. That means that a company that does $25 million in pre-tax income will lose up to $3 million because of employee turnover.

Wow! It amazes me how many companies are willing to just accept that it's okay to lose $3 million and do nothing about it. Making better hiring decisions will reduce the overall turnover within a company, and a big portion of making better decisions is to make sure those internal hiring managers are prepared and confident in their abilities to conduct a strong, legal, and honest interview of potential candidates before making a hiring decision. By providing Interview Training for your managers, this will give them the knowledge and confidence to make better hires, therefore, reducing turnover and the unnecessary financial drain it places on your company.

I was able to provide training yesterday to a great company in Austin yesterday. They saw the value that this would bring to their organization and made their managers available for about a 4 hour block of time. The word that I received afterward was that the whole office was buzzing about it and that they felt excited about this new knowledge gained. One of their managers is interviewing 3 candidates this week and has already taken the information from yesterday's training and prepared himself for these interviews. He is much more confident and comfortable with the task of interviewing others now. And I am confident that he will make a great hiring decision as a result!

This is such a simple step that any company can take. It doesn't take much time. It doesn't cost much to have me come in and lead this training. Each attendee is provided with a manual that they can refer to over and over after the training has ended. And quite honestly, if I thought it would help my company to keep some of that $3 million rolling down the drain, I'd jump on this in a heart beat. What are you waiting for CEO / COO / HR? Do something about this today!

Comment by Keith D. Halperin on March 19, 2014 at 4:14pm: INFOMERCIAL ALERT!

"Have me come in".

"Did you know that every time an employee leaves your company (whether on their own or asked to leave), it costs your company 5X the employee's annual salary?"

Where did you get that figure from, Doug?

Besides you, the only thing I can Google that phrase for was this:

http://books.google.com/books?id=6HACQbFwyW8C&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=%225X+the+employee's+annual+salary%22&source=bl&ots=uTxWsV71IJ&sig=C8gSQO8hPwpUHPRFalV6U1Ru6vA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XekpU_jEG8b2oASi0ILIAg&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%225X%20the%20employee's%20annual%20salary%22&f=false and where HE got it is unclear to me.

Judging from a quick look at these:

https://www.google.com/searchnum=100&hl=en&tbm=bks&q=turnover+cost+salary+percentage&spell=1&sa=X&ei=5OkpU7LxHsbuoASJ1IKIDQ&ved=0CEMQvwUoAA&biw=1093&bih=476&dpr=1.25

the rates appear to be between 33-75%, NOT 500%.

Comment by PAUL FOREL on March 20, 2014 at 10:52am: Doug,

Since you are obviously using this forum to sell your services, why don't you show a little leg and give us a sample of your interview questions?

Aren't you here to help out your fellow recruiters?

We're all ears, Doug.

Comment by Doug Douglas on March 23, 2014 at 4:56pm: I can always count on Keith Halperin to be negative and to focus on 4 words of an entire blog instead of grasping the over-arching concept that the blog discusses. Are most hiring managers receiving training in effective interviewing....the answer from every company that I have spoken with us is "No." Because of that, companies are likely not hiring the very best people, and are also likely asking illegal screening questions. That - Keith Halperin - was the point of the blog.

But since you want to try to play "Gotcha" with me - here's my source (it's in the title in case you elect not to focus on that) - http://www.cersnow.com/blog/the-surprising-price-tag-of-employee-tu...

Mr. Forel - I have no previous experience with you. Speaking of experience, we can probably all learn something from you regarding recruiting and interviewing since you've been doing it for almost as long as I've been alive. In response to your questions of me:

1) I go through a thorough debrief with the hiring manager to establish exactly what he/she is looking for. This is not just skills and experience items, but also questions around motivation, behaviors, personality, and other critical factors. My screening questions are then created out of the conversations that I've had with the hiring manager and knowing their precise thoughts on a variety of topics.

2) These screening questions are a mix of straight-forward questions, behavioral questions, situational questions, and even an occasional surprise question that there is no right or wrong answer to.

As for your assertion that I might not be open to helping out my fellow recruiters, sir - I help out large numbers of recruiters routinely and receive absolutely no compensation for it. Check me out on HR.com or on SHRM with the various webcasts that I have led (INFORMERCIAL ALERT - beat you to it Keith Halperin and Mr. Forel). I don't even receive a list of attendees when I do those, and I receive no compensation for my efforts. Additionally, each week I try to connect with an HR or Recruiting person who is out of work and offer to try and assist them in finding new work. I do not ask for a fee from them or the companies that I refer them to.

I am in business for myself. I own a consulting firm. I know that this may come as a huge surprise to all who read this, but my business exists by making money (like every business). I'm not sure why this is so alarming to some that I would mention that I can do something that other people may need done. I don't have the time or the inclination to try to pour over blogs and try to play gotcha with people...apparently others do.

Now hopefully others read the blog and actually took it for what it was intended - an encouragement to start training their hiring managers in interviewing techniques.