Study Cites Common Ways to Keep New Hires
<p><strong>Boston — Sept. 19</strong><br />A study by global consulting firm Novations Group found that 62 percent of employers rely on a structured selection process to make good hires and keep them. </p><p>More than half provide new employees with on-boarding support, often lasting as long as several months.<br /><br />A variety of approaches, the study found, are used to prevent “hiring failures,” new employees who quit within their first 12 months. For one-third of employers, as many as a quarter of new hires depart within the first year. Another 11 percent can suffer first-year loses of nearly 50 percent.<br /><br />“Our study gave us mixed findings,” Novations Executive Consultant Tim Vigue said. “On one hand, most companies seem to recognize the importance of objective hiring and selection, as well as supporting new hires. But it also appears that a large minority of employers are pretty much winging it.”<br /><br />Novations had asked more than 2,000 HR executives what their companies do to minimize first-year departures:<br /> <br /><strong>What does your organization do to minimize “hiring failures?” (select all that apply)<br /></strong></p><ul><li><strong> </strong>We follow a structured selection process: <strong>62 percent</strong></li><li>We provide new employees with comprehensive onboarding: <strong>53 percent</strong></li><li> We provide interviewers with tools (e.g., behavioral interview guides) to help evaluate candidate skills: <strong>49 percent</strong></li><li> We train interviewers on interviewing techniques: <strong>48 percent</strong></li><li>We give candidates “realistic” job previews: <strong>48 percent</strong></li><li>We establish objective hiring criteria for all open positions: <strong>46 percent</strong></li><li>We train hiring managers in on-boarding techniques: <strong>29 percent<br /></strong></li></ul><p>“While there is no standard definition of ‘structured selection process, generally, it would consist of objective hiring criteria and a set of tools for the interview team,” Vigue said. “But the study suggests as many as half of major employers don’t make such tools available. Also, less than one-third do onboarding training of managers, which is surprising.” </p><p>One interviewing tool that is expected to get greater emphasis is realistic job previews, Vigue said.<br /><br />With respect to onboarding, the study found 15 percent of organizations simply let hiring managers deal with the issue, and 16 percent “stick to the basics, mostly paperwork and answering questions.”<br /><br />The Novations Group Internet survey of 2,046 senior HR and development executives was conducted by Equation Research.</p>
