Not long ago, we at Modern Hire, along with the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), conducted a Quality of Hire Survey (see chart below) that asked 558 HR professionals if they have candidate evaluation information in a database. Sixty-six percent of respondents said they did not. That’s right, 66% with no candidate evaluation data (hence my call for analytical literacy in the previous section). But in addition to not collecting any data, another problem persists for many HR folks: collecting data that is insufficient or of little value.
Companies are not collecting or using candidate evaluation data
Without collecting adequate, quantifiable candidate data from your employee selection and evaluation processes, it will be virtually impossible for you to identify with any level of certainty the causes of staffing waste or to develop methods that reduce it. In other words, No Data = No Analysis = No Learning.
The good news is that better candidate data can be obtained and stored in a manner that lends itself to analysis with just a few tweaks to your staffing process. You can better leverage your existing Applicant Tracking System (ATS) by building scoreable, objective candidate questionnaires. These structured approaches offered by most ATSs are efficient mechanisms for collecting job-relevant work experiences (biodata). Interview ratings can often be entered into the candidate record as well.
If you’re looking for an expert to advise and direct your efforts in this area, one suggestion is to meet with an Industrial-Organizational (I/O) Psychologist. Experts in the measurement of factors related to people at work, I/O Psychologists can help you explore a variety of methodologies for collecting candidate data. In essence, they’re scientists who can help you address issues in human resources with, well, more scientific resources.