These Firms Answer to a Hire Cause
Every 120 days, Chris Dunham, director of sales training, recruits a new group of trainees foD. Titus & Son, a growing medical products distributor in City of Industry.
Although there are plenty of applicants, Dunham said finding good salespeople is a continuing challenge. In addition to interviews, Dunham relies on a battery of aptitude tests to help him screen out the duds.
“We were using a company that administered a home test and were quite frustrated with the results,” said Dunham, who recently hired only six of the 70 college graduates he interviewed. “Their test kept showing everyone was suited for sales, and we knew they weren’t.”
Dunham switched to a firm that tests applicants in its office and provides a detailed report on the results. He uses the information to confirm his feelings about whether the person will succeed.
“Hiring the wrong person costs a company 100 times more than the tests do,” Dunham said.
Although big companies can easily absorb one or two losers on the payroll, a smaller company can be devastated by a single problem employee.
“If a small-business owner has employee problems, it can put him out of business,” said Joan Sheridan, a human resources consultant in Woodland Hills.
Business owners may be surprised to learn that a battery of aptitude tests can cost less than $300 and a basic background check can run less than $100 in most parts of the country.
Scores of companies, usually run by personnel administrators or industrial psychologists, offer intelligence, aptitude, achievement and personality tests. Some companies even offer job simulation tests, which create a real-life situation for applicants. For example, a potential stockbroker or insurance salesperson would be asked to sit in an office and make phone calls to mock customers. But the customers are really psychologists who review how the applicant behaves under pressure.
The type of test that you administer depends on what kind of person you are looking for to fill a particular job.
“When given properly, tests help determine a person’s mental abilities, organizational skills, people skills and level of motivation,” said Harold Weinstein, senior vice president of Caliper Corp. in Princeton, N.J.
Hiring the wrong kind of salesperson can cost your business thousand of dollars in lost sales and can alienate good customers, according to Bill Ruch, president of Aptitude Testing for Industry in Glendale.
Ruch, whose firm has tested thousands of people, said a good aptitude test can reveal whether an aspiring salesperson is really motivated to do the kind of selling you need.
Once you have found the best candidates for a job, it is essential to carefully verify the information presented on their resumes and check their references.
Overlooked details often lead to a hiring disaster, according to Robert Hobert, a Minneapolis industrial psychologist who runs a testing firm.
“In St. Cloud, Minn., there is a university and a penitentiary,” Hobert said. “When people tell employers here they spent time up at St. Cloud, you had better ask if it was in the prison or the school.”
About 16% of the resumes reviewed by Assessment Systems in New York City contain false information, according to company President Bernard Reynolds. The firm’s Proudfoot Reports subsidiary has done employment background checks since 1900.
“If you do nothing else, you certainly want to verify that the background the person is presenting to you is real,” Reynolds said. “If you are paying $40,000 to someone who has an engineering degree, you want to make sure they have it.”
Reynolds cautions business owners to be careful about whom they hire because they can be held liable if an employee injures someone or causes harm to a customer. Failing to check the driving record of your truck drivers can be a disaster if a driver hurts someone and you learn too late that he or she has a history of drunk-driving convictions.
What if you decide to improve your hiring procedures with a new application form and new guidelines for interviewing people?
Be careful about the kinds of questions you ask applicants. State and federal laws prohibit asking for information that might be used against someone in a discriminatory fashion.
Many small-business owners may not be aware that you are not supposed to ask about a person’s age, sex, birthplace, religion, national origin, race or physical disabilities. Asking if someone has an arrest record or if he or she served in the military is also prohibited. You can ask if someone has been convicted of a felony and whether he or she acquired any skills in the military. Most state departments of fair employment and housing publish helpful guidelines for business owners.
If you decide to run a background check on an applicant, you must obtain written permission on a release form signed by the applicant. Reputable employment screening firms provide the forms for you. It would not hurt to ask a competent business attorney who is familiar with privacy laws to review the form as well.
Even the best tests and screening procedures will not help you hire better people if you do not attract a large group of qualified applicants. Too many small-business owners rely on word-of-mouth referrals and recommendations from employees, friends and neighbors to recruit new workers.
Personnel experts encourage business owners to place help-wanted ads in local newspapers, trade magazines and newsletters to attract a larger pool of applicants.
TIPS FOR BETTER HIRING Draft a clear job description before you advertise for a new employee.
List the qualifications and skills the person needs to do the job.
Figure out what kind of person will fit in with other employees.
Ask your state fair employment or job development office for a list of pre-employment inquiry guidelines.
Invest the money in a professional background check or assign someone on your staff to collect information from schools, court records and other public sources.
Before hiring a testing company, compare prices, services and ask for references.
Carefully check references before hiring anyone.
