Business Core · HR · Module
Recruitment and selection
Finding candidates and choosing between them in a way that predicts performance rather than comfort.
The idea
How it works
The consistent finding in selection research is that structured methods predict performance considerably better than unstructured conversation, and that unstructured conversation is what most organisations use because it feels more informative.
Sourcing gets most of the attention and matters less. A wide candidate pool assessed badly produces worse outcomes than a narrow pool assessed well.
Working with it
In practice
- 01
Define the role by what it must produce
A list of responsibilities describes activity. A list of outcomes describes what success would look like, and can be assessed against.
- 02
Design the assessment before seeing candidates
Criteria written after meeting people will be shaped by the people met. Writing them first is the whole mechanism.
- 03
Use work samples where possible
Watching someone do a version of the job predicts better than asking them to describe doing it.
- 04
Score independently, then discuss
Discussion before scoring converges the room on whoever spoke first. Scoring first keeps the disagreement visible.
One level in
The components of recruitment and selection
A component is something that exists afterwards which did not exist before — a deliverable or a mechanism, not an intention.
The role definition
What the role must produce, and the capabilities that requires — written before sourcing begins.
LearnThe decision record
The scores, the reasoning and who decided — the basis for reviewing hiring quality later.
Learn
Score independently before discussing. A panel that talks first converges on the first confident opinion in the room.
The other modules in hr
Workforce planning
Working out what capability the organisation will need, when, and whether it currently has it. The gap between the two drives everything else in this object.
LearnDevelopment
Building capability in people already present — usually cheaper than hiring it, always slower, and rarely planned as deliberately.
LearnRetention and engagement
Keeping the capability the organisation has already paid to build, and understanding why people stay or leave before the pattern becomes a problem.
Learn