Hiring Quality Index

Given the diversity of recruitment practices prevalent in industries, for corporates especially , there is a need for a hiring quality index to preserve integrity of people management practices. It will also add accountability to hiring managers, making them responsible  from unethical hiring practices.

Some key factors that need to be taken into consideration:

The Stage:

• external hiring points available across hierarchy.
• prevailing attrition rates and causes.
• Exit interview data management
• Referal scheme for employees.
• Availability of Job Descriptions.
• Availability of a standardised candidate profile input data tool; for candidates
• Company brochure exclusively tailored for new comers.
• Availability of tests for preliminary screening.
• Availability of Hiring Quality Index
• Participation in any study during last one year.
• Availability of candidate data bank.

The Process:

• disclosure levels of employment details; extant and coverage.
• disclosure levels of Job description.
• disclosure levels of contract terms and conditions including salary bands etc.
• disclosure levels of hiring ethics, practices and equitable measurements.
• adoption of free recruitment practices.
• communication to disqualified/rejected candidates.
• Weightage to Interview within overall measurement index. 
• F2F Interview panel composition and intrinsic scales applied.
• application of psychometric tests.
• medical and physical health screening.
• verification of antecedents, social behaviour verifications.
• verification from previous employers
• verification of qualification certificates
• verification of social networks
• verification of volunteering, charitable, social service works undertaken.
• on-boarding support and facilities extended.
• Collection of family details of the selected candidate.

Hiring Quality Index need to be developed to cover all the above, at Industry level, for employment markets can then be defined based on Industry's HQI, duly benchmarked.

Recruitment Industry ethics

Recently a youngster was complaining the approach taken by many Job portals for squeezing job aspirants as cash cows for their revenues. These infamous Job portals initially collects CVs and mobile contact numbers from internet sources. They then call up these job seekers directly to confirm the information validity of the CV they have procured and also to check the veracity, and proclaim themselves as 'Job opportunity service providers', and that such a 'service' has charges upfront. Candidates are then asked to pay certain amount through net immediately to register on the assurance that their CV will be forwarded to the company. IN many cases they then will organise an Interview session with all those candidates who have paid up as some preliminary screening. Company representatives may or may not be present and in any case such interviews are held as preliminary in nature. Their obligation they say ends with providing so called 'opportunity' not necessarily meaning that the opportunity leads to any actual 'Job' per se.The level of unemployment in particular industries, disciplines and regions are measured and tapped to garner maximum revenue through registrations.

It is important for Industries and Companies to isolate such Job portals or the CVs which they submit from any consideration for the unethical and corrupt practices they breed exploiting the aspirations of youngsters and employment seekers. It is unfortunate that such practices prevailing in India is yet to get the attention of Labour ministry for taking effective deterrent actions against those involved. It is also equally important for all such candidates to refuse to pay up any registration amount on demand by such unscrupulous Job portals who are only interested in exploiting the aspirations for cash flows.

Leadership quality drives mergers..

Mergers often throw up some interesting scenarios. 

There are companies where the leadership grope in dark , not able to give directions, nor a road map for execution of a merger decision taken for business synergy. This exposes several inherent weaknesses within a company most evident being its inability to steer performance during merger phase. Often such companies puts a freeze on fresh talent sourcing, rely on old guards, even if they have lost interest, and even put a freeze on performance rewards etc. 

The failure to develop teams to lead and perform during the merger phase will result in uneven patches of staffing levels and duplication of core operational activities across disciplines. Post merger, it could lead to fire fighting and juggling over many operational parameters, for the failure in developing unique parameters for controls over post-merged entity.  The merger thus often falters in achieving any synergy in such cases rather will only add operational  costs and risks during merger with long term damages. 

One essential step to trigger a successful road map to merger, is to install a new leadership team at the helm to oversee the new entity in development. They should be new faces, with sufficient innate talent to take innovative decisions in close coordination with share holders interests and objectives envisaged for the new organism in the offing. Having old leaders from existing entities will be like carrying existing blinkers on to the new entity. 

Leadership is an art, where business knowledge gets consistently applied with courage of conviction, professionally, ethically. Its quality gets tested during chaotic phases like a merger phase. Weakness gets exposed when existing leaders try to retain to known faces to support them to cross the phase. Perhaps thats why successful mergers happen through top-down approach for an effective integration at bottom levels of business activities.