The technological progress of society and the development of digital solutions have affected society at all levels. Changes are manifested in various spheres, from some common habits and behaviors to working conditions and business. Given the changes in working conditions, more and more technological advances are also affecting the field of human resource management. In addition to the usual challenges of finding the most capable candidates and assessing their characteristics, the area of human resources has been hitherto unseen. Like all industries in the world, COVID-19 has imposed the need for a complete reorganization of work. Accordingly, the testing of potential candidates as we have known them so far has been forgotten. New technologies have introduced innovations such as computerized adaptive testing.

When it comes to abilities and assessments in an organizational context, the predictive value of cognitive abilities is also of great importance (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). Intelligence tests are an unavoidable aspect of a quality selection process and can be a key factor for various organizational decisions. Therefore, due to the availability and ease of application, digital psychological tests have become a necessary tool for quality assessment. Also, automatic scoring and interpretation of results reduces time and necessary human resources which is why we cannot give them up. But, it was necessary to create new instruments in digital form that would slowly replace traditional paper-pencil tests.

It is not new that in line with the development of technology, digital tests are becoming more and more sophisticated. But the complete revolution in digital testing has been brought by computerized adaptive testing.  If you have not heard of this test yet, you have missed a lot. Computerized adaptive testing or abbreviated CAT is a sophisticated method of measuring a certain ability, which is based on the idea of adapting the test to each individual. Due to the optimization of the test, the time required to solve the test is also reduced. This makes the job much easier for the candidates, in terms of time and energy.

What is computerized adaptive testing and how does it work?

How is it possible that adaptive testing is individually optimized and still has all the metric characteristics of the test met? Adaptive testing involves applying only the most appropriate tasks to each individual by presenting the next one, depending on the answer a person offers on one task. The difficulty of the tasks that a person solves is constantly adjusted during the test to the development of his abilities.

The test begins with an averagely difficult task, after which the branching starts according to the results of the individual. For example, if the first task is solved incorrectly, the next offered task will be from the category of slightly easier tasks. Depending on the next answer, branching will continue. By the same logic, if a person solves another task wrong, he or she will get an even easier task. If the second task is correct, then the candidate is given a slightly more difficult task until his ability is determined. As a rule, most candidates should complete the test through about 15 tasks.

This method allows accurate computer estimation of one’s level of ability, using a significantly smaller number of tasks than is the case with classical tests. Of course, the very development of a computerized adaptive test requires a whole range of psychometric analyzes to create a smaller group of clearly defined tasks, selection and presentation algorithms. Therefore, it is not possible to create this test in paper form.

In collaboration with a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb and the company Selekcija ltd started the project of developing the first Croatian computerized adaptive test. The joint work developed from a detailed analysis of tasks that have been applied for years in the selection of staff and the work of the Selekcija.hr team to the development of the final database of adaptive test tasks and the algorithm for their application.

By creating a digital testing tool, the selection process has accelerated, but it has also become more economical than it was before. Thus, adaptive testing imposed new trends in assessment, but also provided insight into the bright future of the selection process.

Advantages of adaptive testing in candidate selection

When we look back to the beginnings of computer-based testing of cognitive abilities, we can notice that in the not-so-distant past, it was tested with very simple tests. Due to the unavailability of computers, the tests had to be applied on paper. Today, almost every household owns a computer. The adaptive test on Recruiter.hr platform can even be solved on a mobile phone, so there is almost no excuse for candidates about not being able to solve the test.

Furthermore, what we often see in selection is the presence of a candidate discouragement effect when solving aptitude tests on paper. Since they are unfamiliar with standardizing test, respondents may feel discouraged and frightened by solving more difficult tasks. Then the effect of test anxiety is more pronounced. On the other hand, for some candidates, the same tests may be too easy and they may sometimes lose initial interest in solving the test. In this way, the final result of the examinee on the test depends on the level of difficulty of the question to which he answered correctly.

Thus different respondents may have the same number of correct answers, but those who answered the more difficult questions correctly ultimately have a better result. An additional advantage of adaptive testing lies in the reduced ability to rewrite or transmit test information because it generates a much larger amount of tasks that can be different each time.

The progress provided by adaptive testing benefits both, the employer and the candidate. Namely, we often encounter the problem that candidates are employed and cannot attend testing during working hours or are therefore generally unable to participate in a lengthy process. We are also sometimes inclined to test a larger number of candidates in order to select the best one. With adaptive testing, the time frame is greatly reduced and provides more time to get to know the candidate and his or her behavioral characteristics in more detail.

Conclusion

Ultimately, we can notice that the COVID-19 has shaken all the industries, but the challenges have forced us to make progress, especially in business and candidate selection. We can only imagine in which direction CAT technology will develop, but we can agree that the quality of testing has increased rapidly in the age of digitalization and adaptive testing. Given the current advances in testing, general digitization and its benefits, we’ll hardly ever go back to paper-pencil tests again.

The post Computerized adaptive testing (CAT) appeared first on Recruiter.hr.

Dealing with the COVID-19 crisis will not be effective if you fill the vacancies of any candidates. Choose people who really can and want to do a good job, not someone who will be just an extra burden. Get hired after you meet the candidate. Test them to make sure they work. Assess how appropriate they are to the requirements of the workplace. Make sure they fit your needs. Talk to them. Rely on modern technology, online tests and video chats. Do not get bogged down in hiring, so it does not cost you more than you are willing to give.

People who work from home maybe think about new professional opportunities at this time. A successful business story during the COVID-19 pandemic begins with online contact! Allow potential workers to introduce themselves to you online, from a safe distance. We made sure that the candidates in the Recruiter.hr system provide all the most important information from the security of their home. That way no one takes the risk. Why would you bring together more candidates, risking both their own and your own health, when there is a simpler solution? Recruiter.hr collects all applications for you in one place. And that is just the beginning!

Non-contact testing of candidates

Online and digital tools have advanced so much that they undoubtedly make life easier. In the organizational context, their usefulness is increasingly recognized. Many organizations rely on digital solutions to get to know the candidates as well as possible before making an employment decision. Online access to selection is becoming increasingly popular. Remote assessment of candidates, from the security of their home, especially in times of crisis, becomes imperative when it comes to employment.

Why not test your candidates without additional risks? Simply send them an invitation and check how much, with their characteristics and qualifications, they suit the needs of the workplace. Do not worry, everything can be supervised! It is possible, in a simple way, to include photographing or filming the candidate during the test, and to review the photos/recordings later. It is also possible to review the candidate’s video answers and thus find out everything that interests you. It is also possible to organize an entire video meeting, with simultaneous online testing of one or more candidates. Conduct classic testing online. All information you have gathered through assessment and live contact, now collect with secure, online access. Test online as you tested live. It is a little more modern and a lot safer!

The post Secure online selection versus blind employment appeared first on Recruiter.hr.

Very often during the selection process the best candidates are the ones who have more work experience, but is this always the case?! When they were looking for employees for their call centre, Xerox stopped assessing people based on work experience, because results showed that previous work experience was not as important for this type of position. What turned out as important is the candidate’s personality…

When selecting candidates we must ask ourselves how important is the candidate’s work experience is and what was the work culture like on his/her previous work position. When interviewing such a candidate we will often come to realize that their work task at a previous job was often repetitive, simple, that they had no autonomy or responsibility and that they were working in a work environment with flexible work morale. We can also come to the conclusion that they were mentored by expert individuals who didn’t train them how to do their job fast and efficient or who, for example, used out-dated work methods. If we reach these kinds of conclusions, this doesn’t mean we will automatically disregard this XY candidate from further selection, but this valuable information can become a basis for defining the employee XY’s prospective training.

One of the first steps in the selection of candidates is going through the CVs of the candidates who applied for the position. In the midst of the colourful CVs, it is common to “get caught” on two categories, education and previous work experience. If a candidate has ample work experience, he is usually “more interesting” to an employer than the one without work experience, regardless of the level of education acquired. But, is this really the case and what are the “traps” hidden by previous work experience?

Big employer’s experience:

“…I don’t go through the CVs anymore before deciding whether to call a candidate to an interview or not ”, says Teri Morse, who supervises the employment of more than 30,000 people in Xerox every year. Instead, they analyze data on candidates who have to pass a test with a series of different questions, which, among other things, assess types of personality and future employee’s success. They have given up on looking at CVs based on previous experience, because data showed that previous experience is not crucial for this job position!  What turned out to be crucial was the candidate’s personality…

Research:

Research somewhat confirms the employers’ experience. In this part we will reflect on more recent research conducted by authors Dokko, Wilk and Rothbard (2008) which test the influence of relevant work experience (in the same industry or profession) on job performance in a different employer’s company. The mentioned research was conducted on a sample of 771 employees and job candidates in two call centres of two major American insurance companies, during which the job performance of the employees was analysed and the development of their skills and their knowledge. The authors tested the correlation of job performance and skills with previous work experience and the work experience in the present company. As it was expected, previous work experience in other companies was connected with higher levels of knowledge and skills which resulted in better evaluations of job performance in the new companies. However, when the authors considered the employee’s initial knowledge and skills they had when entering the company, they got a slightly lower job performance, that is, they saw the „costs“ the experienced employers make for the company. Wilk et al. as expenses list old habits and ways of performing a task which are not necessarily efficient in the new companies and are conceptually called behavioural and cognitive rigidity. They state it is extremely important to make a good estimate of the previous work experience and its effect on job performance so the companies could develop a good selection process, training and socialization of the new employees. They also state that how the new employee fits the organizational structure of the new company is very important, that is, does the new company have similar work culture habits as the previous one where the employee performed the same job. If the new company’s standards are the same as the employee’s expectations which he acquired at the previous position, then we can expect the employee will soon become a part of the company and the quality of his job performance will be superb.

The study also shows that employees who spent more of their work time in insurance companies benefited less from previous work experience in other companies, while it was harder to get rid of negative effects (expenses) which shows that behavioural and cognitive rigidities are very stable (“old habits die hard”). This conclusion can be practically applied – because it points to individual differences in types of personality of the employees, that is, to the level of adaptability which can become crucial when assessing the level of employee’s success at a given workplace.

Note! Job performance can be relatively easily predicted based on the following criteria: work sample, cognitive ability test (intellectual functioning), structured interview, specific knowledge and skills test, integrity test, assessment centres and personality tests (integrity as the most important predictor and emotional stability). Methods that are somewhat less successful in predicting job performance are: recommendations, work experience, number of years spent in school and GPA. Also, in order to select the best candidate you should use as many methods possible, because that way you lower the risk of employment.

Very often during the selection process, the candidates with the most experience are the best ones, but this is not always the case! Top candidate, except work experience, has very good work ethics (high integrity; is detail-oriented and persistent), general intellectuality and good social and communication skills.

Want to know more? You can find more information on the following links

• http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/13552.pdf(Unpacking Prior Experience: How Career History Affects Job Performance; Dokko G., Wilk L.S. & Rothbard N.P., Organization Science, 2008.)
• http://www.siop.org/Workplace/employment%20testing/testtypes.aspx
• https://www.umbel.com/blog/big-data/recruiters-big-data/(Top 5 Things Recruiters Should Ask Their Big Data)
• http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e3561cd0-dd11-11e3-8546-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3CslfhAu7(Forget the CV, data decide careers)

The post ARE WE OVER-ESTIMATING WORK EXPERIENCE WHEN DOING CANDIDATE ASSESSMENT? appeared first on Recruiter.hr.

One of the employers, while expanding his business, decided to take over a café that was closed for months due to co-owners’ property disputes. After taking over the business, the café was losing money, but not because of the location. Of course, we asked the owner what he expected from his waiters and got the answer…

There are several factors that can hinder assessment in the selection process and lead to a wrong conclusion when selecting a candidate. Based on experience in selecting candidates we want to warn you about five crucial things that can distract you when selecting the right candidates:

1.THE HALO EFFECT

The person conducting the selection process can become so enraptured by a particular candidate (for example, by the candidate’s appearance, references, unusual hobby and so on) that the first impression of the person affects the assessment of the relevant aspects of work behaviour and the worker’s efficiency.

Example: almost a hundred years ago, renowned American psychologist Edward Thorndike (1874 -1949) noted that the correlations between the physical appearance and assessing someone’s character are „too high and happen too often“. In the very beginning of his observations Thorndike asked officers to assess their soldiers by comparing their physical traits (posture, voice, constitution and energy) with their psychological traits (are they reliable, loyal, self-aware and cooperative). The results were incredible, because often the officers connected physical appearance with intelligence, leadership skills and character. The stronger the physical appearance, the positive the assessment was, by a third approximately. And in a case of a soldier who had a trait that did not suit the officers, he would, most certainly, get bad marks.

Advice: it is best that different experts who think differently, have different assumptions and think critically conduct the selection process.

2. UNCLEAR CRITERIA 

Prevent unnecessary “wandering” and wasting time when conducting professional selection. This usually happens when you don’t have a clear vision of the job competencies your future employees has to have. That is, this happens when you don’t know all the abilities, skills or traits your candidate has to have. Planning will save your time and energy and also emphasize the seriousness and professionalism in the whole selection process.

Example: One of the employers, while expanding his business, decided to take over a café that was closed for months due to co-owners’ property disputes. After taking over the business, the café was losing money, but not because of the location. Of course, we asked the owner what he expected from his waiters and got the answer: when selecting waiters, he chose people who were reticent, shy and quiet. Of course, because these are the types of waiters he prefers in other cafés; the ones that don’t bother him while he is conducting business deals, but who notice when he needs something. That’s where he made a mistake, because he based his decision on a subjective assessment. Waiters have to be extroverts, because as such they handle different situations well, they are not afraid to be in the centre of attention, they meet clients easily and make friends, which is extremely important for business in which you rely on clients who are satisfied and who come back to your establishment, because they feel comfortable, accepted or even respected and valued there. Take for example a younger man who frequents this establishment and one day, he takes his girlfriend there for the first time. Who would suit him better, a waiter who is distant, reticent, shy and quiet or a waiter who greets him warmly with a friendly gesture and a question that shows they are acquaintances or maybe even friends? In most cafés and clubs waiters have to be extroverts, that is: cordial, friendly, have a lot of energy and they shouldn’t be afraid of taking the centre stage. They also have to be emotionally stabile, detail-oriented, persistent and motivated to get the job done. We can check all of the listed in our „Objective measures“– scientifically-based psychological tests and structured interviews in professional selection.

Advice: find or make a job analysis (or job description), make a detailed analysis of the workplace and if this sounds too complicated, talk to the managers and directors about what they prefer and record their observations, from which you can learn a lot. Also talk to the workers and find out for yourself what it takes to get the job from the job description done.

3. RUSH  

He who works, makes mistakes. When we are in a rush, we are able to make mistakes in assessing the candidates’ competencies, because we need to get the work done and make a decision quickly. Making decisions quickly usually brings more costs, and the costs of making a bad decision when selecting an employee range from 20% to 200% of an employee’s annual salary (for more details look at this article: http://selekcija.hr/2008/09/troskovi-loseg-zaposljavanja/)

Advice: Make serous plans about your personnel politics and before you need new workers or at least try to find adequate (temporary) replacement among your current employees until you find the “right” candidate. Who knows, maybe the temporary solution becomes the permanent solution!

4. INADEQATE OBJECTIVITY OF THE SOURCE

The more sources of assessment you use, the better! Sometimes the selection process is based on reading the CVs and conducting interviews. Candidates are prone to giving the desirable answers and “touching up” their CVs, but also giving false information on the duration of their employment, their position and what tasks they performed with a certain employer.

Advice: use the advantage of standardized psychological tests, because research shows that the use of psychological test enhances the successfulness of the selection interview from 30% to 80%. You can get more details on the following link: http://selekcija.hr/2008/09/cemu-selekcija-zasto-ne-samo-intervju/. In the end we should say that it is best to check the candidates’ references, because they can „tip the scale“ and provide the key information about the candidate.

5. THE ORDER OF PROCCESSING CANDIDATES– notions of primary and recent information are well-known in the educational psychology. In simple terms – we will remember the candidates who were processed early and late in professional selection, that is we will remember the best the couple of first and last candidates.

Advice: make a protocol for recording which you will later use to recall candidates later and make a final decision.

Sources (literature used):

http://humanresources.about.com/cs/recruiting/a/candidatepool.htm

http://managementhelp.org/staffing/hiring.htm

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-select-the-right-applicant-for-the-job.html

The post PROFESSIONAL SELECTION: HOW TO SELECT THE BEST CANDIDATE? appeared first on Recruiter.hr.

…Contrary to this, here the young and the unemployed believe that no one will hire them and that nothing will change, so there’s no point in trying. So this is how the see job interviews, from the perspective of a desperate man or a pessimist, and no one will hire them as such!

Proactive behavior, in the broadest sense, is every behavior the aim of which is profit – personal and for the people around us in situations in which our superiors and colleagues don’t think there’s a need for this activity and there is no business pressure that this particular activity should be performed, but there are justified reasons that this kind of behavior could lead to profit in the future.

Being proactive includes a proactive analysis of the current situation, a quality prognosis of future outcomes and solving problems which might appear in the future. Being proactive demands responsibility, additional motivation, initiative, understanding the situation, clearly communicating with your superiors, subordinates and colleagues regarding future goals, communicating with clients about their needs and predicting their needs, at the same time thinking both from a bird-eye’s view and top-down perspective, and maybe the most important thing, be ready to constantly change work rhythms. The last is probably the most difficult to find, especially in work atmospheres dominated by the „golden phrase“. “Don’t go against the current”. Cynics might say that being proactive is looking for more things to do and unnecessary „ass kissing“, but in the restless business world of capitalism and especially work, there are not a lot of people who have the luxury of waiting for change to come from the inside.

In his famous book „7 Habits of Highly Effective People“Stephen Covey lists being proactive as the first one. Special emphasis is on the word habit, which means that being proactive makes sense if it is a constant unwritten value within the company.

We can paint the picture of being proactive with the situation in which one partner wants to surprise his significant other with something he knows the other person will like, but it was never specifically asked as a present.

Reactive thinking and behaving is the opposite of proactive thinking. This sort of behavior is often in hierarchically structured and defined jobs which require performing the job a certain way. Own initiative is not clearly expressed and the emphasis lies on doing a certain minimum. For example, we can hardly ask, for example, a professional soldier, delivery man or a patrolman to be proactive.
Reactive way of thinking was beautifully depicted by John Lennon with the lyrics: “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”.

However, in the world of capitalism and work and working with people, proactive behavior is more than desirable, so we can take as an example an active approach of unemployed people to finding an employment, which leads to getting a job faster. Contrary to this, here the young and the unemployed believe that no one will hire them and that nothing will change, so there’s no point in trying. So this is how the see job interviews, from the perspective of a desperate man or a pessimist, and no one will hire them as such! In the micro-worlds of particular companies, proactive behavior leads to more clients, their satisfaction with services, better prevention of unpleasant surprises.

How to implement proactive behavior? Being proactive starts with the main people in the company, and they do, before everything else, choose their employees. Already during the selection process you can see who is a proactive person and who is not. „Proactive ones“will more or less discretely mention they make their own luck. Further on, if the head management wants, they can send their workers to take various courses or workshops which they think could increase their profit. Besides, head management can encourage workers to produce new and fresh ideas and select the ideas and proposals for improvement. Communicating about being proactive makes the workers believe the leadership of the company and reduces the fluctuation of manpower – and there are „palpable“variables. Proactive thinking can even be a certain tolerance for losers, if it a pledge for profit in the future.

As any sort of behavior can be twisted, bad and deviant, the same way when proactive behavior is concerned there are situations when it is applied the wrong way. The best example are some pharmaceutical companies which first manufacture a medicine, and then look for a disease to fit it or manufacture a medicine, and then artificially move the limits of medical parameters and so use the possibility of placing the medicine on the market.

The post Being proactive at work appeared first on Recruiter.hr.

The person reading a letter of recommendation sometimes doesn’t have a lot of time to read it. They will usually pay attention to relevance and credibility of the person writing the letter of recommendation, then the candidate’s qualities and general impression(…)… and if you don’t have anything good to say about the candidate, you should politely say no to writing the letter.

The most important aim of the letter of recommendation is to help the employer choose between the candidates or make it easier. Letters of recommendation differ in content and form, but they still have a couple of things in common. Here you can see the usual structure of a letter of recommendation.

Recommendation is (usually) written by a former employer, professor or mentor.

INTRODUCTION

In the beginning introduce yourself. Describe who you are, what is your relationship with the candidate and how long have you been working together. In the introduction you can also state you (general) opinion on the candidate.

THE BODY OF THE TEXT

After the introduction you should write about the candidate’s qualities. Start from the best one and confirm it with a specific example. Continue listing the candidate’s qualities and examples of those qualities.

CONCLUSION

In the conclusion you should state why you believe this candidate is a good choice for them. State how he could contribute to the company. Emphasize once again who you trust the candidate and his abilities.

At the very end offer your further assistance in the case that the person reading this letter of recommendation needs more information. Don’t forget to list you contacts in the letter – e-mail, phone number and address.

It is important to emphasize that it is not recommended to change the facts in the letter of recommendations. So, you should agree to writing the letter only if you know the person well enough to refer to their qualities in the professional environment. Writing a good and accurate letter of recommendation requires time and effort and the only „compensation“is getting recommendations from other people when you need it. Imagine you are in the place of the future employer and write what you think you could use in a letter of recommendation.

What to do before writing a letter of recommendation.

Before writing a letter of recommendation it is good to write down the words/phrases you could use in the recommendation. Sort them out in a couple of groups – according to categories:

• professional skills – is the candidate a good leader, a team player, analytical or a researcher? Is he accurate? Was he absent a lot from work in the past? Is he loyal to the organization he’s working for?;
• specific skills – does the candidate have communication skills? Can he work on computers? Can he speak a foreign language?;
• personal qualities – is the candidate pleasant, fun, does he get along with his colleagues?;
• accomplishments – list several of the most important accomplishments the candidate achieved while you supervised him;
• weaknesses – what should the candidate work on in the future?;
• future potential – how do you see the candidate in the future?

The person writing the letter of recommendation usually doesn’t have a lot of time.

What happens very often is that the people writing the recommendation do not want to lose time or they don’t know what to write, so it often happen that they suggest to the candidate to write the letter himself and in the end they just sign it. If you find yourself in such a situation, just think about how the letter of recommendation should have credibility and should represent your qualities objectively.

The person reading the letter of recommendation usually doesn’t have a lot of time.

The person reading a letter of recommendation sometimes doesn’t have a lot of time to read it. They will usually pay attention to relevance and credibility of the person writing the letter of recommendation, then the candidate’s qualities and general impression(…)… and if you don’t have anything good to say about the candidate, you should politely say no to writing the letter. It is in the best interest of the candidate, because this way you are giving him the opportunity to ask someone else who will maybe be able to say something good about the candidate.

Hand-written recommendations – not very professional.

Letters of recommendation should be typed, not hand-written. Hand-written letters of recommendation leave an impression that the person is not serious and unprofessional. But, don’t forget to sign the letter! Also, it would be good if it was printed on a paper with your company’s logo.

The length of the letter of recommendation.

The length of the letter of recommendation differs. It shouldn’t be too short because in that case it won’t present the candidate very good, but you also shouldn’t overdo it with a five-page letter. Choose your words, be concise – there’s no point in writing a novel.

Writing a letter of recommendation is a big responsibility because you can help someone get a job. If you take on this work, do it seriously and try to do it good.

Literature:

• The Internet

The post How to write a letter of recommendation? appeared first on Recruiter.hr.

Using traditional unstructured interview was called into question because if fails to predicts candidate’s abilities – the metric characteristics of these methods are rather low. In fact, it does not measure what it’s supposed to measure…

Interview is a form of conversation in which (at least two) people participate in verbal and non-verbal communication in order to reach a predestined goal.
Interview has been used for a long time for the selection purposes. You could say that it is the most popular and wide-spread selection method. When compared to other selection methods the interview serves to fill out the blanks left by information obtain from other sources, examines the physical characteristics and the way the person communicates (verbally and nonverbally). The interview is a means of attracting the candidates because it enables them to get information on the company.

In the selection process, the basic division is into the traditional unstructured interview and structured interview.

While the unstructured interview relies on the subjective impression the examiner gets on whether the candidate is suitable or not and on using closed or suggestive questions, the structured interview focuses on factors connected with work and implies open-ended questions. It is important to stress that in the case of the structured interview every candidate is asked the same question (which contributes to the fact that this kind of interview is more reliable than the traditional unstructured interview). This way we ensure the method is just, which protects the employers from lawsuits.

Using traditional unstructured interview was called into question because it fails to predict the candidate’s abilities – the metric characteristics of these methods are rather low. Actually, it doesn’t measure what it’s supposed to – does a candidate have the ability to perform a certain task. The structured interview’s metric characteristics are better and this is why it should be used (more often). Cooper and Robertson (2007.) claim that the usual validity coefficient is less than 0,2, while in the case of a structured interview it is 0,44. So, the validity of a structured interview is twice as high than the validity of an unstructured interview! Despite, the fact that the traditional interview is used to widely is surprising.

The advantage of a structured interview is that it is based on work analysis, so the questions are representative of work related behavior. The probability that the candidate will be discriminated is less (whether on the basis of race, sex or age). Also, the structured interview is less susceptible to interviewer’s bias such as:

• Fundamental attribution error (is the tendency to attribute the cause of a person’s behavior to that person as an individual, rather than to situational factors – for example, a candidate who is nervous during the interview we can, because of fundamental attribution error, see as a person who is usually nervous, and maybe the person is nervous simply because of the situation they are in);
• Premature judgment (forming opinion on the candidate before the interview or in the first couple of minutes of the interview);
• Emphasizing the negative (implies that the interviewer is more influenced by the negative information about the candidate);
• Not knowing enough about the workplace (the consequence is the wrong idea of the ideal worker, so the worker selected does not actually meet the criteria of the workplace in question).

Objective information gained through relevant questions lead to the increase of the validity of the interview, because the interviewer relies on them and so decreases the influence of above-mentioned bias. The influence of this bias is also possible to reduce by talking more to each candidate.

When creating a structured interview, besides the questions, we are also creating a key for evaluating behavior, in order to provide reliability and validity of the judgment of the candidates. So, without the key, there is usually no difference between the structured and unstructured interview.

Despite the standardization, leading the interview is an important skill of the person doing the employment. In order to improve the assessment of the interview, they have to be trained to do the interview. They should be trained “in observing, interpersonal relations, skills, judging skills, leading the interview and asking questions “(Cooper i Robertson, 2007.).

In short, the interview can be improved by educating the interviewer, using numeral assessments, writing notes and through more interviewers participating in the interview at the same time (Cook and Criormatipps, 2009.).

A couple of types of the structured interview have been developed and the most popular so far have been the situational interview and behavior description interviews (Cook and Cripps, 2009.).

In a special way the interview can contribute to decreasing costs because of a worker leaving the workplace. In fact, during the interview the candidate has the opportunity to ask what he wants to know about the organization and the very job he applied for. It is less likely that a well-informed candidate will leave the workplace after being hired, if he got information on the job before hand (Cooper and Robertson, 2007.). This is why it is recommended, at the end of the interview, to ask the candidate does he have any questions and to give him all the details on the job.

There are some “unacceptable” questions which cannot be asked in a job interview, which is determined in the Labour Act. In the article „Questions for the selection interview “in this webpage you can find the article of the Labour Law referring to this.

It is important to emphasize that is it not recommended to use the interview as the only selection method!! In fact, the more information on the candidate we get, the more likely it is we will make a good choice.

The post Interview – most commonly used employee selection method appeared first on Recruiter.hr.

…before there were no human resources departments in work organizations, but „personnel departments“ which were responsible for employment and salaries. However, today HR departments have more and more functions and are playing a bigger role…

Human resources (HR) is a term whose basic meaning in economy refers to manpower. In big organizations this term refers to individuals within a firm and their abilities, but also to a part of organization which deals with employment, laying-off staff, training and other staff-related work.

The employees are one of the company’s most important resources. Human resources are getting more and more important, so managing these resources is considered to be the main interest of the organization the managers in higher levels of the company deal with.

The term human resources is a relatively new one. In fact, there was a lot of controversy connected with its use. While those who criticize the term believe that it is degrading to people because is supposes they are equal to the object of management, those who are in favor of the term say this is signifying the end of the practice in which all other resources are more important than people. The term human resources is also getting a new meaning – it doesn’t only signify the employees, but also their overall potential.

Human resources see the employee as a valuable asset in the organization, and considering that its value is getting bigger as it develops, human resources departments are focused on growth and development of an individual’s potential and skills.

Human resources management is defined as a strategically coherent approach to managing the most valuable means in the organization – people working in it, in order to reach the organization’s goals. Managing human resources encompasses mutually connected activities out of which the most important ones are:

• Planning the job offers and looking for human resources,
• Work analysis,
• Recruiting potential job candidates,
• Selection of the candidates who applied for the job,
• Socializing new employees,
• Training and development of the employees,
• Managing performance and behavior,
• Motivating employees,
• Abiding to the law,
• Lay-offs.

The human resources department or an external partner – a firm dealing with human resources can oversee the implementation of these processes. If these processes are implemented efficiently they can significantly influence the financial gain of the organization.

The main characteristics of the human resources approach are seeing employees as a means in which one should invest and seeing human resources as a means of succeeding through employees.

There are two different approaches to human resources that stand out – hard and soft human resources managing.

According to Cook and Cripps (2009.) hard managing tries to maximize productivity and profit and sees the worker are a resource, and the managers are primarily responsible for their partners, while soft human resources management is open towards the growth of the employees, does not lean towards lay-offs (except in extreme conditions) and takes into consideration the employees’ interests.
The point is that while they are making an assessment on awarding someone of giving someone a promotion, in the case of hard human resources management the best worker will be given a bonus, but in the case of soft human resources management sometimes a worker who is not the best could be the one selected hoping that he will improve his abilities (in the near future).

Today the situation is such that more and more organizations are using the hard method, especially when privately-owned business are concerned, while the state-owned companies use the soft approach more.

It is important to emphasize that, until recently, in firms there were no human resources departments, but rather „personnel departments“ which dealt mostly with employment and salaries. However, HR departments are having more and more functions and they play a significantly more important role that the case was with the personnel department.

Companies that in the future will not invest in the human resources departments, and by that in the employees’ potential, will not be able to compete with other firms in the market. Actually, investing in human resources is more cost-effective than investing in any other resources.

Literature:

• Cook, M. & Cripps, B. (2009)
• Wikipedia

The post Human resources, HR departments – a lot of names for the same thing appeared first on Recruiter.hr.

Work analysis is important in the selection because we need to know what specific features of the performer are responsible for a successful performance of a certain work. When we know what these features are, we can measure them. After conducting the work analysis we an get answers to those questions, but also to questions regarding tasks, responsibilities, functions and context in which the job has been done.

Work analysis is the description and list of information about the work and the worker. About what does the worker has to do and how, in what conditions and what are the features, abilities and skills without which the job cannot be performed. Apart from professional selection, work analysis is important in other various processes:

• Assessing job performance
• Determining the salary
• Programming work protection
• Improving work efficiency
• Education and professional development

If there is not a documented work analysis in the work organization, in the beginning it is necessary to determine the sample of the main tasks in order for the organization to be successful (according to: Bahtijarević – Šiber: Management ljudskih potencijala) and to start the analysis with these tasks. This shouldn’t be over until we have not finished analyzing all, or at least the majority, of the tasks in a work organization.

Hawthorne effect got its name according to the research conducted in the Hawthorne Works (Western Electric) in Illinois, in the period from 1924 to 1933. The aim of the research was to determine how work efficiency factors which were known and well-researched by then, effect worker productivity. However, research results obtained were unexpected – the test subjects’ behavior and their work efficiency were changed by the very notion they are participating in the experiment, regardless of the variations in the factors of work efficiency!

Data for the analysis can be gathered by various methods. We will list four which are the most used ones. They are:

1. Method of observing the workers during work
2. Method of systematic interviews
3. Method of collecting data via questioners
4. Method of analyzing the documents available

Method of observing the workers is a simple method, however, it is not recommended for inexperienced observers, because they can overestimate or underestimate some aspects of the work observed. Also, it is probable that the „Hawthorne effect“ will appear. When using this method it is important to get familiar with the work observed, to explain the intentions to the workers, to act discretely, be sensitive to subjectivity when interpreting results, make notes and observe repeatedly.

Method of systematic interviews. Interview is conducted with a worker, but also with people who are his superiors (bosses), HR experts, technologists, his instructors and mentors, that is, with all who are familiar with the work analyzed. The interviews can be individual, group, more or less structured and open.

Method of collecting data via questioners. This method is considered to be the fastest, most efficient and most commonly used method in work analysis. The questioners can consist from question with given answers (closed-ended type of questions) and questions in which the respondent formulates the answers on the specified place (open-ended type).Use is simple and takes the least time in relations to other methods, however, the construction of the questionnaire and the data processing and results interpretation require additional experience and knowledge.

Method of analyzing the documents available. This method refers to the analysis of all documented and available work activities, injuries, treatments and previous analyses.

The post Work analysis appeared first on Recruiter.hr.

In one scene of the movie „To kill a mockingbird“ the character of Atticus Finch played by Gregory Peck turns to little Scott and says:

If you learn one single trick, Scott, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it …

No one can object to the previous claim – it is the basis of empathy, emotional and social intelligence, business and general success in life. And accordingly we will try to climb into the skin of experts whose main task is finding staff, so called head hunters and walk around in it!

The job of a head hunter is comprised of the following:

• Searching: If there are no positions to be filled, a head hunter has nothing to do. So, for a head hunter the most important thing is to keep a constant flow by various forms of marketing, lobbying, random calls to potential clients, servicing and marinating contacts with current clients, recommendations and advertising.
• Candidates: A head hunter has to make contacts and search for quality workers all the time in order to fill their client’s (employer’s) job positions or in order to maintain his CV databases/candidates. It’s important to keep things flowing. No matter if the candidates are looking for information through the Internet, newspaper, recommendations or through calls to professionals who are already employed. A successful head hunter is constantly updating his candidate database, connections and CVs.
• Connecting the candidates with the employee: Only the most suitable candidates (2 or 3 candidates) who have been thoroughly checked, tested and which are believed to efficiently fill the position are steered towards the employers. By this time both parties are already interested, both the candidate and the employer (or the HR department manager in the company which hired the head hunter). Some head hunters additionally prepare their candidates for the interview, especially if they believe that the candidates themselves during the interview will not be able to emphasize their advantages enough without the help of a head hunter.
• Employment:  Putting the right person in the right position and at the same time making money, with the both parties satisfied is the peak of business success in staff recruitment. It is the final, magical moment in which everything fits into place… As in happy relationships which end in marriage, in the staff recruitment process everything ends in employment. However, this in not always the case because, unlike marriage, the candidate and the company are not obliged to spend their whole lives together. Employment process is sometimes not so „magical“and the staff recruitment expert is expected to be an experienced go-between with exceptional communication skills and psychological consultation. Finishing the employment and sealing the deal are the main activities in staff recruitment, but it often depends on previous steps which have to be done perfectly: marketing, looking for candidates, directing and counseling the candidates and social and negotiation skills of the head hunter.

The head hunter’s networking is also very important because head hunters cannot always rely on their candidate databases, nor can they influence the demand and supply. In their databases they do not always have the right candidate, so head hunters often talk among themselves, exchange candidates and share commission.

To put it in simpler terms, the success of a head hunter does not depend solely on the personal activity (getting, searching, finding, testing and selection of the staff), but it rather increases exponentially with the amount of networking which the head hunter does in the bigger part of his time.

People often give up on the head hunting job even before they try to understand the basic work tasks, because they often think that the process of finding staff is extremely precarious, and sometimes not in their control, but rather under the control of some weird force. People get discouraged when the employment backfires because of unknown or incomprehensible reasons. However, the truth is that employment happens, from one day to the other.

According to the introduction to this text, the candidates who are interested in the job should understand the way the head hunting agencies work, so they can choose the best strategy, infiltrate the recruiting system and stress their own advantages. They also have to bear in mind that head hunters are also stressed because of constantly searching, updating their databases, business meetings and numerous consultations with clients. So, you should make them interested in you discreetly!

According to Darrella W. Gurneya text:  „A Day in the Life of a Headhunter“

The post „Head hunting“ or finding staff appeared first on Recruiter.hr.

If you want to find the person suitable for the job, the first step is determining the competencies you require and do it by work analysis.

Put in simple terms, work analysis is describing the work job itself. Let’s say that as a busy owner/manager you want to find someone who will perform important business tasks instead of you. The first thing you have to do is turn to yourself – thing about what you do and what are your advantages and your weaknesses.

Let’s say you need help in the office. The phone keeps ringing, and memos and e-mails are piling up. Besides, orders are waiting…

Think about what kind of skills a person who would do this job has to have. (again: Work analysis) and determine the lowest level of skills you are ready to accept. In the example of solving the problem of the phone calls and e-mail we will assume that in the beginning you wanted to hire a secretary, but however, afterwards you discovered that there are no secretaries in your place of work and that they are very expensive. Maybe it would be more simple and cheaper to hire a typist instead of a secretary? Besides, you can also consider students who are equally skillful or even more skilled at some tasks than typists and many of them are looking for a part-time job.

And something else: when you start looking for a person who will help you in your work, you have to specify exactly what you are looking for. For example, you published an add that you are looking for a person for working in sales. What should candidates know? Just how to do sales… Handling import and export of goods? Take care of the entry and exit of goods? Handle clients lists and advertise your products? Manage the store when you are not there? Job description of a sales person can mean different things to different people (more in the article Work analysis). Of course, you have to be aware of the skills that the candidate has to have and of the ones he can learn from you as an employee.

Finding a candidate

When you recognize what skills you are looking for in a candidate, then you are ready to contact the sources that can help you in looking for job candidates. In Croatia, besides the Unemployment office, there are several employment agencies or agencies for part-time employment/renting of workers that can help you when looking for job candidates. You should also check what agencies that do candidates selection, head hunting (finding employees) and similar have to offer.

Selection agencies with licensed psychologists will be happy to do an assessment of candidates by performing a psychological testing if it is necessary for the skill you listed (author’s note: it usually is!). You have to once again list all the specific skills you are looking for in a person you plan to hire, because the test and the type of person you will get depend on this.

Sometimes the test results offer additional description/candidate profiles connected to work assignments from the job advertisement, except the ability of the candidate to do the job. Sometimes you can find out will the candidate be prone to conflict, will he take sick leave often, will he be thorough and reliable… Of course, work conduct projections are never completely reliable; however, a serious psychologist never promises that it is…

Another way of reaching candidates is placing a sign „job offered“ in the shop window (if you have one). If you don’t have one, you can make sign „looking for employees“ fors a small amount of money which you can post (on places where it is allowed) at places frequented by people, halls etc. The shortcoming of these approaches is that unqualified workers also start asking about jobs, and this eats up time which is crucial for your business and/or family. Solution comes in the form of agencies which deal with the whole procedure of staff selection and present you with only the best candidates.

Placing an add in the newspaper you will reach a great number of employees, however, if you list the phone number of your firm, what could happen is that instead of serving clients you end up answering phone calls. The solution again comes in the form of selection agencies who, according to the agreement, take care of this, too. Add published with a return address in the form of a mailbox will help you protect your identity as you check the candidates.

Schools and/or colleges are a good source of work candidates. In the majority of vocational and technical schools there is mandatory student training within which trainees can work with you, while at the same time getting trained for work. The same applies to students, and the majority of them work part-time and become employees of the company after finishing school.

You can also find candidates through contacting friends, neighbors, clients, suppliers, current employees, local youth organizations, clubs you are member of or even the nearby military base, where people sometimes leave the army service or are looking for job for their family members.

The way you are looking for employees depends on the type of the job you do, the location of the company and you yourself. You can choose from different sources, if you are willing to invest time and effort into finding the right candidates with corresponding skills.

Forms for registering an employee

The best thing in all of these efforts is they result in employing one good employee. Of course, you do need methods of checking through which you can check the candidates and choose the one which suits you the best.

The registration form facilitates the interviews and the selection process. Using it you can gather information on the competencies, but on the other hand, the form has to be simple. Be careful when asking for personal information, which is not related to the performing of the job. You can copy the examples of the form which you can find here.

If you have your own forms, ask the candidates to fill them out before talking to you. This will make sure you have a great introduction into the interview with the candidate. It also represents a written note on the experiences and past employers. Further on, it is the first thing in which you will see to what extent does the candidate abide to the rules.

And don’t forget that the Labour Act (revised text – NN 137/04) forbids discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex or national background.

If a candidate has work experience, other recommendations are not that important. You can immediately ask him/her to go to the psychological assessment. However, if the candidate has limited work experience, then you should try to get additional recommendations from people such as for example school psychologists, that is from people who can give you objective information. Recommendations that candidates list are usually useless, because most of the employees list only the recommendations from people who will say something good about them.

Interviews with candidates

The aim of a business interview is to find out as more as possible about the business experience of the candidates, his work habits and skills. The goal is to get the candidate to talk about him and his work experience. This is best accomplished through asking specific questions.

What kind of work did you do on your last workplace? How did you do it? Why did you do it? (find out more here)

Assess the candidate’s answers. Does the person know what he is talking about? Does he avoid to answer or are you completely sure he has all the skills necessary to perform the job? Can the candidate answer your questions or your doubts?

After finishing the interview ask the candidates you are interested in to contact you later. Never promise anything until you have finished interviewing all the potential candidates.

Checking the data about the candidate.

Very often the best source for this is the candidate’s former employer. Some of the former employers will give you the information you need via phone, however, it is best to ask about these information in writing and ask for a written reply.

In order to get clear answers ask the former employer a couple of specific questions about the candidate which he can answer with a yes or no, i.e. with very brief answers. For example:

How long has the employee worked for you? _____ .
Did he perform the job not satisfying _____ average ______ or excellent _______?
Why did the employee leave your firm?

When you check the credibility of all the data on all the candidates, then you have created the conditions for staff selection, and a good employee can help you in building a stronger company and making a profit. A wrong employee can cost you both time, material means and sometimes a client (more here).

The post How to choose new people for your job? appeared first on Recruiter.hr.

1. Tell us something about yourself… in 2 to 3 minutes.
2. How would you describe you personality/person?
3. What would your friends say about you? And what about your parents?
4. What are your qualities/strong traits?
5. What are your bad traits/traits that still need work?
6. What can you tell us about your former co-workers?
7. Imagine you are not getting along with your colleague/ about division of labor (in which you depend on one another). How would you solve these problems?
8. List some examples of jobs/project which were completed successfully.
9. What can you tell us about our company? What do you know about the position you are applying to?
10. According to you what is an ideal boss like? What kind of a boss/owner/employer would you be (if the conditions were ideal)?
11. Have you ever encountered a great problem, conflict and if the answer is yes – how did you solve it?
12. Describe the most serious mistake you made in the previous workplace. What was the reason for the mistake? How did you correct the mistake? Have you maybe (later, thinking about it…) found better solutions to solve the situation?
13. What is your ideal job?
14. Do you prefer to work in teams or individual tasks?
15. What are your short-term and long-term goals? Or: What are your plans for the next 2/3/5 years?
16. Do you have any recommendations, awards, acknowledgments or certificates on courses completed? Can we verify them?
17. What is your definition of success?
18. What does it mean to you to say you made it in life? What would happen if you won the lottery?
19. What is the most important thing for you in a job? And the least important one?
20. Your hobbies?

And in the end:

• Is there something we should know about you and we didn’t ask?
• Do you have some questions… does something else interest you?

REMARKS:

1.  General and specific abilities and personality traits are determined with a scientifically-based psychological tests which only licensed psychologists can conduct. Contact a psychologist.
2. Questions which cannot be asked at a job interview should also be taken into account, because the Labour Act (revised text – NN 137/04) , article 2, paragraph 1 states:

“Direct or indirect discrimination of a person seeking employment and employed person (worker, civil service employee, civil servant or other worker – hereinafter: the worker) on the ground of race, colour, sexual orientation, marital status, family responsibilities, age, language, religion, political or other belief, national or social background, financial status, birth, social status, membership or non-membership in a political party or trade union, and physical or psychological difficulties shall be prohibited.”

The post Questions for the selection interview appeared first on Recruiter.hr.

• Family issues
• Illness
• Personal needs
• Stress

Absenteeism is never the only symptom. It is usually the result of employee’s dissatisfaction with the organization of work, work conditions or personal relationships. Frequent absenteeism is a sign of upcoming fluctuation and fluctuating points to negative tendencies and problems in the organization.

It is believed that the absenteeism rate is inversely proportional to employee’s competitiveness and the employee’s competitiveness is calculated through seeing into human capital. The value of human capital is measured through various indicators such as employees’ know-how and skills, professional work experience, age, absenteeism, fluctuations, investments into education and similar.

According to the research conducted with the aim of analyzing human capital in Croatian companies (Pološki and Frajlić, 2003.) the biggest absenteeism rates were in manufacturing companies, middle-sized companies and in state-owned companies. The data shows absenteeism rates in Croatian companies are relatively low. This means that Croatian workers are competitive! Only if the reason that absenteeism rates are low does is not that economies such as ours are not developed. (Pološki and Frajlić, 2003.). This is only an assumption.

According to the same research, in as many as 75% of Croatian companies, regardless of the work they perform, size and ownership, absenteeism rates are under 10% – which is believed to be acceptable.

The post Employee absenteeism appeared first on Recruiter.hr.