5 Reasons Your Job Interviews Aren’t Working

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Electrical failure in power outlet There is nothing more frustrating than having devoted time to a hiring, onboarding and integration process only for a new hire to crash out of the organization prematurely, perhaps in six to nine months after joining. The direct, indirect and lost opportunity costs can be disconcerting with one study by the NBRI suggesting that the average bad hire cost can be around $25,000 for low paying jobs and up to $300,000 for high paying jobs. With bad hires being so economically damaging, it’s vital for business prosperity that you don’t just accept them, but find out why your interviews are not working – and correct them.

So, below we’ve set out some possible reasons that your job interviews are not working and some possible ways to fix these errors

1. Too much haste

You probably thought the main reason that job interviews don’t work is due to some technical issue, but it’s nothing like that. In fact, the problem is much more basic. Yes, the NBRI study mentioned above has shown that the top reason companies make bad hires, by some way, is as a result of companies rushing the assessment process as they need to quickly fill the job. Think back and consider how many times your interview processes have been compromised due to rushing. The solution here is to avoid making rapid permanent hires, and alternatively, use internal or external interims or trial periods as often as possible.

2. Not focused enough on assessing crucial criteria

The second most common reason that the NBRI study found for why companies make bad hires is that candidates were not qualified for the position.

Now, this can, of course, be partly explained by the haste issue mentioned above but it may also be explained by a lack of focus on the crucial job criteria. A U.S. Government study found that, “the most critical factor for predicting success is usually more important than all other factors combined.” It also found that the most accurate prediction of success on the job uses between six and eight criteria. Have you established the critical criteria/skills for your role and are your interviews focused around assessing these areas?

3. Not structured/disciplined

Studies show that 92 percent of employers make use of unstructured interviews/informal chats as part of the selection interview process even though research shows this has a very low predictive accuracy of 0.31 (from a maximum of 1).

Compare this to structured interviews where candidates all received a set of standardized questions based around critical competencies, which are the second most reliable form of assessment at 0.62 percent, and so far more reliable than chats. Does your interview process constitute an informal chat that varies by candidate? If so, move to structured interviewing for greater predictive validity.

4. Not focused enough on attitude

A study by Leadership IQ of over 5,000 hiring managers showed that only 11 percent of new hires fail due to lack of technical skills, but the remaining 89 percent fail due to attitude-related issues such as wrong temperament, lack of motivation, lack of EQ and being unable to accept feedback. Lack of focus on assessing attitude fit in your process is a very likely reason that your interviewing process isn’t working.

5. Not seeing enough samples of work

The third most reliable form of assessment was ‘work samples’ and if assessing work samples is not a part of your hiring process, this is a very likely reason for your interviews not working.

By Kazim Ladimeji