How do you make the right the hiring decision?
Because hiring mistakes are costly, you need to think through your hiring decisions carefully. Be sure you factor in equal employment opportunity compliance, because it is one of the most important legal considerations at the hiring stage. Two key questions are important in determining whether or not the decision to hire was free of bias:
Who has the authority?
and
How was the decision made?
Who has the authority? Persons within the organization who make hiring decisions should have actual knowledge of the essential functions that must be performed in each job for which they hire and the qualifications that a person must meet to perform those jobs. Interviewers should be provided job descriptions and job specifications. Each of these individuals' action commits the employer; therefore, it is very important that each understands what he or she is doing and is properly trained and authorized.
How was the decision made? Hiring decisions must be based on the actual requirements of the job. The qualifications and requirements of a job must arise out of the job itself and must be free of discriminatory impact. The ability of an applicant to perform a job should be the criteria to support a hiring decision. What tools are available in making the hiring decision?
Job description. From the job description, you know the job's essential functions and the qualifications necessary to perform the job.
Resumes and applications. From resumes and applications, you are familiar with the knowledge, skills and abilities of various applicants.
Interview notes. Your job-related interview notes provide additional details about the most promising candidates.
Test results. Results of pre-employment tests may be available, depending on the job.
References. You also have information obtained from reference checks and, as appropriate, background investigations.
Use the job requirements as your objective hiring criteria. Focus on the job and its requirements for your final hiring recommendations or decisions. As you integrate all the information that has been gathered, ask yourself one key question:
Conform to preestablished performance standards and qualifications. Setting performance standards and qualifications for jobs places employers in a strong position to defend a legal challenge to a hiring decision. Some examples of valid requirements include:
The employer can specify that a position be filled by a degreed or certified professional; e.g., an accountant must be a CPA. The rejection of any person who is not a CPA for that position will be legally defensible.
A minimum production standard can be set that, if not met, is a valid reason for rejecting an applicant. A keyboarding position may require someone that has knowledge of specific word processing software. Failure to possess that knowledge will be a valid reason for rejecting an applicant.
Specific job characteristics may also come into play. A position may require, for example, an ability to work with others in a team atmosphere, or the ability to converse easily in Spanish and English. If the interview process reveals objective reasons that an applicant may not meet these stated attributes, then it will be proper to reject that person.
What happens if the job changes during the interviewing process? Although uncommon, it is not unheard of for intervening events to change the nature of the job solicited for during the hiring process. For example, the gain or loss of a substantial contract, the resignation of another employee, or a change in business strategy may result in the modification or restructuring of the open position. In the event an employer wishes to modify the hiring criteria after the interviewing process has begun but prior to making a job offer, the entire process should begin anew. Be sure to document that you have given consideration to all applicants who might have been rejected under the former criteria for the position.
Evaluate candidate aspirations and motives. Because you want the employment relationship to mutually benefit your organization and the candidate, consider candidate aspirations and motives as well. For example, if a well-qualified applicant expresses expectations that you know your organization cannot deliver, you might decide to select another equally qualified individual. Be careful about evaluating whether someone is a good fit
for your organization, however. These are often subjective judgments that are not job-related, and can lead to charges of discrimination. Keep the decision-making process objectively focused on the job and guard against possible biases.
Review the decision before the fact. While the decision to hire may be placed with a line supervisor or manager, it is often a good idea to review the hiring decision before an offer of employment is made. Typically, this review is performed by human resources staff; however, it can be done by a higher level supervisor or manager. A review will help ensure that hiring decisions are based on the ability of a candidate to perform job requirements rather than the subjective personal preferences of the supervisor or manager, and that the process itself is free of bias.
Act quickly. Determining which candidates you will hire takes a lot of thought, but it is important not to delay unnecessarily. If you don't act quickly, another employer will. The need for speed underscores the need for your organization to have a well-defined interviewing, selection, and hiring process so that you won't stumble if you try to act quickly.
Keep candidates informed. Make sure candidates are kept informed of their status throughout the decision-making process. Although it is not legally required, a little communication goes a long way towards preserving your organization's image. Remember that at all times your organization is communicating an image to its potential customers, some of whom may be job applicants as well. Thus even the least-qualified applicant is deserving of respectful
You may even receive phone calls or e-mails from candidates inquiring about their status. Make sure that you have a policy that has been communicated to all participants in the hiring process concerning such communications. Who will respond? The hiring manager or human resources staff? What will the response be? See ¶26,520
for guidance on how to reject candidates.
Document your decisions. Records should be kept showing why applicants were either hired or rejected. These records will offer an important defense to a lawsuit by applicants alleging they were not hired for discriminatory reasons under EEO law. Reasons for rejecting applicants should be objective and based on ability to perform the job. They should spell out the factual basis for not hiring a person and should be clearly written to avoid possible misinterpretation.
How to document your decisions. As you make your final hiring recommendations and decisions, take notes about why various candidates are rejected or accepted. Remember to keep all your notes-from noting red flags on resumes, to preparing interview notes, to writing comments about why a candidate is accepted or rejected. Keep your hiring documentation
job-related,
non-discriminatory,
objective,
factual, and
specific.
A supervisor is interviewing for a receptionist position. An older, white female comes to the interview in a dress and jacket. A younger black female shows up in torn jeans and a T- shirt. Based on your corporate standards and the image you choose to present to the public, it may be legally defensible not to hire the black female because of her clothing choice. But the reason for rejecting that particular applicant should factually describe that the applicant appeared for the interview in torn jeans and a T-shirt.
Documentation should not be an open- ended statement that the black female was rejected because she did not have the proper appearance.
This latter statement documents only the applicant's race and sex; coupled with a vague statement about appearance.
As such, it would be very difficult to defend many months or years after the fact.
Even after your hiring decision has been made, documentation continues to serve as proof that you acted properly.
Record retention. Federal law requires that you retain hiring records for a specified period of time. Most employers need to keep them for at least one year-and in some instances longer-after the hiring decision is made. Educational institutions and state and local governments must keep hiring records for two years. However, if hiring records become the subject of investigation, they must be retained until the investigation and any resulting legal action is completed. Because state laws vary, and for other reasons, you may choose to retain hiring records for a much longer period.
CHECKLIST: Procedural steps in new hire approval and processing
Although each company will vary, the specific steps in recommending, approving and processing a new hire, include:
Authorization to fill new or open position.
Verification that all steps leading up to the decision to hirehave been completed and documented satisfactorily, such as:
completing the application form
completing all necessary interview(s)
reference checking
any necessary pre-employment testing
Written approval authorizing an offer of employment.
Specifics of the offer of employment, such as:
compensation
title
grade
supervisor
hire date, etc.
Documentation of why applicant is being offered the job.
Documentation of who interviewed applicant and what notes or summary statements were made of that interview.
Documentation of interviews of all of the unsuccessful candidates for the position.
Requests for any special handling or actions arising out of the hire request.
Proper approvals for all actions attached to requests.
Notice to other departments such as payroll, orientation, training, etc.
Schedule new hire processing.
Follow-up actions if any to notify unsuccessful candidates.
Complete internal and external new hire reports and records.
Each of these steps should be audited to ensure compliance.
Who should audit the process? The human resources department typically is responsible for auditing the hiring process to determine if there is a pattern of rejecting minority applicants in favor of nonminority applicants, or if there is a pattern of placing one class of employees in a particular job function. If such a pattern develops, it may be useful to have supervisors or managers explain in terms of job requirements why they have chosen a particular applicant for an open position. At the same time, ask why protected class members were rejected.
Audit departments may also audit the process to ensure policy conformance and proper expense controls. After all, most companies audit the purchase of supplies. Why not also audit authorization of an expense that costs substantially more than supplies? The process of hiring new staff is a very expensive one and, as such, companies normally control and audit all major expenditures.
<p>Because hiring mistakes are costly, you need to think through your hiring decisions carefully.</p>
How do you make the right the hiring decision?
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