1. As a job candidate, would you prefer your CV be reviewed by a machine or a human? Why?

2. As a job candidate, would you prefer to be interviewed by a robot or a human? Why?

I received a total of 20 responses.

And here are the results:

About half (50%) of the respondents preferred HUMANS for both questions.

 

About 25% preferred Machines to review their CVs but Humans to interview them.

 

5% preferred Machines for both.

 

The rest (20%) seemed non-committal (or their answers were not quite intelligible).

From the results of this straw poll, it seems most people still prefer to deal with Humans and not Robots.

I was actually hoping for more HR Professionals to respond and give their views, however only 3 out of the 20 who responded were from HR / Recruitment.

And the reason why I was hoping for more responses from the HR community is to understand what they themselves would prefer as candidates – by virtue of the fact that they are employees means they would be candidates too.

So I wanted to get a feel of what their own preferences were as candidates when they are looking for a job – would they want their own CVs to be reviewed and filtered by Robots or would they prefer Humans to review their CVs.

But what is clear from this Straw Poll is that most of us still want to deal and interact with real people.
And this is not at all surprising to me because we humans are basically social creatures.

We were built this way.

We need and sometimes crave social interactions – simply because we as homo-sapiens require that basic emotional connection with the parties we come into contact with.

Some of the respondents commented that they preferred Robots to review their CVs so as to eliminate bias.

But here’s my question:

How can you be sure Robots are not biased?

Robots run on algorithms.
Algorithms are programmed by people.
And you can be sure those programmers / algorithm developers have their own unconscious biases too.

And here’s the danger:

Most of us using these systems (aka Applicant Tracking Systems or ATS) do not question the validity of these algorithms. We take them as Gospel truths. We assume the algorithms and the filters these Robots apply in sieving out the CVs are not flawed and that they are correct.

So how sure are you the Robots are not biased?

(just think about the frequency and the number of patches and updates are required just for your PC to stay updated. If these systems are flawless, then they don’t need to be patched and/or updated at all)

Now don’t get me wrong.
I’m not against technology.
I’m all for it.

What I’m trying to point out here is that we need to be more discerning and more circumspect when we decide to rely wholly on technology to perform tasks where the algorithms have not yet been perfected – such as reviewing CVs and conducting job interviews.

Because if the algorithm is not perfect, and we automate it, all it means is that we commit to making the mistakes faster!

What do you think?
What’s your take on this?

About the Author

Steven Lock is the Founder of FutureTHINK! Training & Consultancy LLP. He is an Author, Facilitator, Consultant and a Coach. Steven brings with him 20 years of corporate experience.

Steven is passionate about helping organisations transform their teams into high performing teams. He does that by first helping organisations identify and hire the right people, and then training their leaders and managers on how to manage and lead their people to achieve peak performance consistently.

Steven is the developer of The CAAP® High Performance Model. The model focuses on Culture (cultural fit), Attitude, Aptitude and Personality dimensions of their employees and job candidates. It is a highly practical, effective and proven approach.

Steven believes that for organizations to be truly successful and perform at their highest levels, they need to shift their mind-sets to having the RIGHT people on-board – and not necessarily the best or the brightest.

Steven is the author of two books:

• “Hiring for Performance: The CAAP® Model to Hiring and Building High-Performance Teams.”
• “The Right Talent: The Agility-Focused Interviewing Approach to Hiring the Right Candidate Every Time.”

He is the developer of The Leadership STYLE Report that is based on Dr. Daniel Goleman’s research on leadership styles.

Steven has been interviewed twice on MediaCorp’s live radio show The Breakfast Club on 938FM, and has contributed numerous articles to Singapore Business Review, ST Recruit, SHRI Human Capital, LinkedIn and other publications.

His comment on Team Collaboration has been quoted in the Harvard Business Review OnPoint Magazine.

Steven is certified in MBTI® (Step I & II) & DiSC® Personality instruments.

The host of the Mind Your Business segment was Howie Lim and we had a good chat on why businesses should start looking at hiring the RIGHT people for their organisations, rather than the best.

In the interview, I cited the work of Professor Boris Groysberg, a Harvard University professor, who did a very extensive 10-year study of Star Performers in various organisations.

What he found was that when Star Performers moved from one organisation to another, their performance levels drop substantially.

The drop in performance could be anything from 20% to 70%!

Why is that so?

Listen to the podcast to find out why and more…

Some say you should include your photo in your Resume; but some say don’t.
Some say you should include your Race / Religion; but some say never.
Some say to include your age and date-of-birth; but some never ever do that.

Yes, it can get quite confusing reading all of the different advice from different people all over the world. All you need to do is Google on what you should include in your Resume and you get an endless list of references and advice from so-called consultants and Resume gurus.

So what should you really do?
Should you include your age, gender, race and/or photo?

Here’s the answer: It Depends.

It depends on where you are located.
It depends on the prevailing economic conditions in which you are sending out your Resume.
It depends on which organisation you’re applying to.

Inlcuding a photo of yourself in your Resume is not encouraged in the western countries such as the US or some parts of Europe – as they say that a photo encourages bias.

Age, race and religion are no-nos in most western countries and Europe.

However most of these practices are not frowned upon here in many parts of Asia.
Here in Asia, Resume are sent out complete with photos, age, race and religion. (Some of you readers from the western countries would probably cringe in horror reading this).

It also depends on the circumstances you find yourself in sending out your Resume.
How so, you may ask? Let me explain.

Although it is said that you should not include your age in your Resume, the current economic circumstances may just require you to do so. If you are a worker who has just been retrenched, and you are already in your forties, it would make sense to include your age when submitting your Resumes to prospective employers.

And here’s the reason why:

You’d rather state your age up-front and get rejected by age-sensitive / age-biased employers at the Resume stage, rather than having to go through an interview with them and then get rejected because of your age. You would have wasted all your effort and the trip down to the prospective employer’s office. And worst still, you get your hopes up and then you get cold water thrown in your face – all just because they don’t want to hire a more mature worker like you.

I would rather you include your age – and all related details – down on your Resume, and present all of these details to the prospective employer upfront. So if the prospective employer is not ready to hire a more mature worker, you save yourself a wasted trip.

Whether you like it or not, and whether you admit it or not, ageism still exists. Excluding your age in your Resume does not mean you’re immune to ageism. The same goes for race and religion.

So do you need to include your photo, age, race and religion in your Resume when you’re applying for a new job?

It depends.

If you are, then you know you have to really stretch your hiring dollar and ensure you hire the right people for your organisation. It’s clearly a buyer’s market these days.

As a hiring manager, there is a whole host of confusing advice out there about who you should be hiring and what you should not be hiring for.

there is a whole host of confusing advice out there about who you should be hiring and what you should not be hiring for

I’m sure you have heard some consultants and professional recruiters say that you should hire for Culture Fit. I’m sure you have also heard of calls to hire for Attitude (in fact there is an entire book written on why you should hire for attitude). Some have even said that you should just hire for Personality.

More recently some consulting professionals have come out to preach that you should look for people with potential. In other words, hire people with the Growth Mindset.

So who is right and who is wrong?

So who is right and who is wrong?

What exactly should you be hiring for?

Should you hire for Culture Fit? Or should you hire for Attitude?

What about hiring for Potential or Growth Mindset?

And why would you not hire for Personality?

What Would You Consider When Buying a New Home?

I’d like you to imagine with me for a moment.

You are contemplating buying a new home. What would you look for in your new home? What would you consider before putting down the deposit for your new home?

Would you consider the location?
What about the environment?
Accessibility to and from public transport?
Your new neighbours?
What about carpark facilities?
Would you also consider the growth potential of this new asset you’re about to purchase?
How about the built-in floor area and space?
The internal layout and built quality?

I bet that as a potential home buyer, you would probably consider most, if not all of the above! (and perhaps even more!)

Would you make your purchase decision simply based on just one of the above criteria – say, carpark facilities?

Hiring is like buying a new home

Hiring is just like buying a new home – an asset with the potential of future growth and appreciation in value. It is not a trivial matter that you base your decision to hire on just one criterion. For instance, you cannot simply base your hiring decision just on attitude alone. Similarly, you cannot base your hiring decision just on growth mindset alone.

Hiring is just like buying a new home – an asset with the potential of future growth and appreciation in value

In order to minimise your chances of hiring the wrong person, you will need to consider a combination of factors.

So what is the correct combination that will maximise your chances of hiring the right person for the job?

Here are four areas that I always consider when I hire someone.

This approach has worked wonders for me. It has helped me hire a regional team that achieved 0% attrition and almost 100% KPIs for 10 years straight.

This approach has worked wonders for me. It has helped me hire a regional team that achieved 0% attrition and almost 100% KPIs for 10 years straight

The secret to my success: The CAAP® Model

Culture
Culture refers to Cultural Fit. It is important to select a candidate who is able to fit in with the prevailing culture of the organization or team. Selecting a candidate with the incorrect cultural fit could potentially spell trouble for both the candidate and the organization or team.

Take for instance, the corporate culture at General Electric Co. (GE). GE is well-known for its intensely competitive culture. When Jack Welch was the CEO, he was known to have categorized the employees into three categories: the top 20%, the middle 70% and the bottom 10%. The bottom 10% is the result of a process known as “Forced Ranking”. The top 20% will be showered with praises and financial rewards. The middle 70% would be managed differently and given stretch goals. The bottom 10% will be purged from the organization. As a result of this practice of “bottom slicing”, it created an intensely competitive environment within GE.

Therefore for a new hire to be successful in this case, the candidate needs to be able to fit in and adapt to the highly competitive GE environment.

Attitude
In today’s highly competitive business landscape, candidates with the right cultural fit are no longer sufficient. The candidates should also possess the right work attitudes. For instance, a candidate with a positive attitude will not give up easily when faced with a challenge or a seemingly daunting task. Some examples of positive attitude include:

– Willingness to take on new challenges
– Willingness to take responsibility for things that go wrong
– Willingness to admit mistakes and learn from the mistakes
– Find ways to overcome obstacles

In contrast, bad attitude may include:

– Blaming others when things go wrong
– Criticising others behind their backs
– Self-centred
– Arrogant

Aptitude
Aptitude is the ability and capacity to learn. The aptitude to learn should not be confined to just learning new skills or knowledge. It includes the ability to connect with people; to establish strong relationships with co-workers and peers; and the ability to learn and function as a team.

People who possess the aptitude to learn are continually in a learning mode. They usually possess a high level of personal mastery. They are inquisitive and feel they are part of the team or organization.

Personality
Personality is important because it governs how a person behaves towards others and how the person reacts to others. It governs how a person works within a team, how he/she communicates with others, and how that person makes decisions and manages change.

Conclusion

So what am I saying? Am I saying that my approach is the right one for you?

If you thought so that way, you could not have been more wrong.

What I’m saying here is this: this CAAP(R) hiring approach has worked wonders for me. But it may not be suitable for you – because it all depends on your situation and your current organisational context. However you will not know if it will work for you until you give it a try.

If it works for you, great and continue using this approach for your hiring!
And I would love to hear from you why and how it has worked for you.

If it doesn’t work for you, then it simply means you have to continue looking for a formula that works for you – perhaps even tweaking the CAAP(R) model to suit your environment and context.

Whatever the outcome, the bottom-line is that in this age and time when the economy is so uncertain and the business landscape changing at break-neck speed; and when automation and robotics threaten to take away our jobs, you can’t afford to hire the wrong people for your organisation.

Finally, none of these will work for you if you’re not even clear about what you are looking for in your new hire in the first place.

If you would like to find out how you can apply the CAAP® hiring approach in your organisation to maximise your chances of hiring the right people, check out my book:

The Right Talent – The Agility-Focused Interviewing Approach to Hiring the Right Candidate Every Time.

Get your copy here: https://www.futurethink.com.sg/the-right-talent-book/

Or if you prefer the e-version, it is now available on Amazon Kindle and Kobo.

About the Author

Steven Lock is the Founder of FutureTHINK! Training & Consultancy LLP. He is a Trainer, Author and a Leadership Coach. Steven brings with him 20 years of corporate experience.

Steven is passionate about helping organisations transform their teams into high performing teams. He does that by first helping organisations identify and hire the right people, and then training their leaders and managers on how to manage and lead their people to achieve peak performance consistently.

Steven is the developer of The CAAP® High Performance Model. The model focuses on Culture (cultural fit), Attitude, Aptitude and Personality dimensions of their employees and job candidates. It is a highly practical, effective and proven approach.

Steven believes that for organizations to be truly successful and perform at their highest levels, they need to shift their mind-sets to having the RIGHT people on-board – and not necessarily the best or the brightest.

Steven is the author of two books:

• “Hiring for Performance: The CAAP® Model to Hiring and Building High-Performance Teams.”
• “The Right Talent: The Agility-Focused Interviewing Approach to Hiring the Right Candidate Every Time.”

He is the developer of The Leadership STYLE Report that is based on Dr. Daniel Goleman’s research on leadership styles.

Steven has been interviewed twice on MediaCorp’s live radio show The Breakfast Club on 938FM, and has contributed numerous articles to Singapore Business Review, ST Recruit, SHRI Human Capital, LinkedIn and other publications.

His comment on Team Collaboration has been quoted in the Harvard Business Review OnPoint Magazine.

Steven is certified in MBTI® (Step I & II) & DiSC® Personality instruments.

“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint.” ~ Hesoid, 700 BC

Strawberry Generation.

Millennials.

Generation Y.

These terms are commonly used to describe the generation born between 1980 and 2000.

We’ve heard lots of horror stories about these Gen Ys and Millennials and the Internet is full of articles and stories about them. In fact, I have heard first-hand horror stories about Gen Y workers in our workforce.

But seriously, are they any different from the rest of us? If yes, then what and how are they different from the rest of us Gen Xers and Baby Boomers?

Comparing Gen Xers with Millennials

To begin with, I belong to Generation X. So you probably can guess my age.

As far as I can recall, when I was in my twenties, I had very similar experiences as today’s Millennials. Unkind and disparaging comments were made against my generation. It was not uncommon to hear comments about how my generation was a useless generation compared to my parent’s generation and the one before.

Some of the comments passed by the previous generation included remarks such as “These youngsters are so useless” or “These youngsters don’t know what they want in life” or “Life is too good for these young people”. Or worse, we were just “good-for-nothings”.

The problem I see with these comparisons of people of my Generation with those of the previous generation is that it is not a fair comparison at all. It is not an apple-to-apple comparison.

Comparisons of people of my Generation with those of the previous generation is that it is not a fair comparison at all. It is not an apple-to-apple comparison.

What I Really Cared About When I Was in my 20s

Truth be told, when I was in my twenties, I had no clue what I wanted to be. I had no clue what I was good at. And I had no clue what I should do for the rest of my life.

But after I started working, I wanted to climb the corporate ladder. I wanted to achieve more than what my parents achieved. I wanted to be promoted as quickly as possible, and I wanted to earn higher salaries every year. I too, wanted that dream job, that dream home and that dream car.

I would think of different ways to climb the corporate ladder and achieve what I wanted. And if I couldn’t get what I wanted in the current organisation, I would look for opportunities in other organisations that would give me the chance of moving up the corporate ladder faster. I was always on the look-out for a short-cut to success.

So I never stayed in one job for more than 3 years. It wasn’t until I was in my early thirties that I started to mellow down and stayed on a job for 13 years.

So how is this so different from the current Generation Y?
They too want to get promoted. They too want higher salaries. They too want to be recognised.

The fact is, inter-generational comparisons are not doing all of us any favours. It only highlights the biasness we have against the Millennials.

The fact is, inter-generational comparisons are not doing all of us any favours. It only highlights the biasness we have against the Millennials.

It isn’t a Fair Comparison

In most cases, when we compare ourselves with the younger generation, we are not doing justice to them and to ourselves. How do we compare a 40+ year old Generation Xer with a 20+ year old Millennial? How do we reconcile values of a 40+ year old with that of a 20+ Millennial?

When I was in my 20s, ALL that mattered to me were status, salary and a lifestyle that others would envy. I wanted a nice home. I wanted to drive the coolest car. I wanted to go on long holidays. And I wanted that senior job title.

Now that I’m in my 40s, my values are entirely different from what they were when I was in my 20s. I no longer crave for recognition. I no longer care what type of homes others live in or what cars they drive. And I don’t give a hoot about what others think of me.

What matters to me now are a happy home and family; to spend quality time with good friends over a meal or a great conversation; to enjoy life’s journey for whatever its worth.

When I was in my 20s, ALL that mattered to me were status, salary and a lifestyle that others would envy. I wanted a nice home.

What Your Parent’s Generation Said about YOU

Now if you are a Generation Xer, think back to your younger days — when you were in your 20s.
What were your priorities back then?

What were those years like? What were your values? What was your aim in life? What did you really care about? What did you really want to do?

And most of all, what did your parent’s generation say about you and your generation?

I would go out on a limb to say that they said very similar things about you and your generation, as we do the younger generation today. I’m sure they experienced similar frustrations as you do now with the younger generation.

I would go out on a limb to say that they said very similar things about you and your generation, as we do the younger generation today.

Are There Any Differences At All?

Now I wouldn’t say that we were exactly the same as the Millennials when we were in our 20s. There are definitely differences between a 20-something Millennial and the 20-something you years back.

The good old 1970’s are not the same as the rolling 1990’s.

So what are the differences?

For starters, we never had iPhones and iPads back in the ‘60s and ‘70s. And we sure didn’t have WhatsApp and Telegram. The 20-somethings today prefer to text their friends than to have a face-to-face conversation. They prefer to “Google” than to go to the library to do research. And they prefer to shop online than to make their way to a bricks-and-mortar store in Orchard Road.

In addition, economic life cycles are getting shorter and shorter. And so are the expectations of the younger generation. Gen Xers may have expected a promotion every couple of years, but a Millennial today would expect a promotion every year or so. (Yes, I know some who expect to be promoted just 2 months into their new jobs, but these are more the exception than the norm. And I would venture to say that these are the ones who stick out like a sore thumb attracting the unkind comments levied against the entire generation of Millennials.)

The Secret to Engaging Millennials

The fact is most Millennials are still quite sensible. They know what is realistic and what isn’t. I have hired and worked with 20-somethings before and they were a fantastic bunch of people. They gave me no problems and we all enjoyed a great working relationship for many years.

And the secret to that great working relationship was because I took care of their career paths. I took pains to plan their career paths and to help them move forward in their careers. I gave them opportunities to discover their strengths and to shine. I gave them the space to make mistakes and to grow in their jobs. And I gave them the opportunity to learn new things on the job.

Now ask yourself: When you were in your 20s, did you wish your boss would do all of these things for you? To look out for you? To help you progress in your career? To take care of your professional development?

If your answer is yes to any of the above, then what is so different about you and the 20-something Millennials of today?

When you were in your 20s, did you wish your boss would do all of these things for you? To look out for you? To help you progress in your career? To take care of your professional development?

What the Research Shows

Research after research have shown that generational differences are greatly over-hyped. As Bruce N. Pfau said in a recent Harvard Business Review article: “Part of the reason is the proliferation of poor ‘research’ or overreaching and invalid conclusions based on otherwise valid facts. The most glaring examples of faulty research are ‘studies’ of Millennials that lack comparisons to any control groups of other workers or young people of other generations… in addition, it is also more attention-grabbing to talk about differences among groups and changes in the workplace than it is to report on how alike they are.” (Harvard Business Review, April 2016, “What Do Millennials Really Want at Work? The Same Things the Rest of Us Do”)

And in a paper by Profs Brent Roberts, Grant Edmonds and Emily Grijalva, they concluded that the differences between generations is “an aging phenomenon, and not a historical phenomenon”. In other words, we are unconsciously comparing two generations of completely different age groups, and completely different values. And that leads to a seriously flawed conclusion about the two generations.

In the words of Roberts, Edmonds and Grijalva, “The fact that one can find complaints about the younger generation being more narcissistic going back to Hesiod helps make the point that every generation is Generation Me. That is, until they grow up.”

Conclusion

So perhaps the next time you are tempted to point your finger at a Millennial and accuse them of being frivolous, shallow, and irresponsible, it might do well for you to remember that you are probably looking at them through your own pair of coloured lenses.

Author Bio

Steven Lock is the Founder of FutureTHINK! Training & Consultancy LLP. He is a Trainer, Author and a Leadership Coach. Steven brings with him 20 years of corporate experience.

Steven is passionate about helping organisations transform their teams into high performing teams. He does that by first helping organisations identify and hire the right people, and then training their leaders and managers on how to manage and lead their people to achieve peak performance consistently.

Steven is the developer of The CAAP® High Performance Model. The model focuses on Culture (cultural fit), Attitude, Aptitude and Personality dimensions of their employees and job candidates. It is a highly practical, effective and proven approach.

Steven believes that for organizations to be truly successful and perform at their highest levels, they need to shift their mind-sets to having the RIGHT people on-board – and not necessarily the best or the brightest.

Steven is the author of two books:

• “Hiring for Performance: The CAAP® Model to Hiring and Building High-Performance Teams.”

• “The Right Talent: The Agility-Focused Interviewing Approach to Hiring the Right Candidate Every Time.”

He is the developer of The Leadership STYLE Report that is based on Dr. Daniel Goleman’s research on leadership styles.

Steven has been interviewed twice on MediaCorp’s live radio show The Breakfast Club on 938FM, and has contributed numerous articles to Singapore Business Review, ST Recruit, SHRI Human Capital, LinkedIn and other publications.

His comment on Team Collaboration has been quoted in the Harvard Business Review OnPoint Magazine.

Steven is certified in MBTI® (Step I & II) & DiSC® Personality instruments.

Education and/or Experience

Diploma/ Bachelor’s degree (B.S.) from an accredited University in Computer Science, Information Technology, Networking or similar field. Minimum 4 years of related experience.

Technical Skills – Individual should have experience in/working knowledge of

• TCP/IP internetworking, general routing, layer-2 protocols, multicast and LAN architecture
• Routing protocols
• (MPLS) WAN

Job Description

• 3-15 years of experience in Networking
Responsibilities:-
• Extensive experience in MPLS WAN
• Experience in non-cisco products such as (Bluecoat, Checkpoint, F5, Fortigate, Riverbed).
• Experienced in driving a team in maintaining service levels, problem resolution and escalations.
• Reporting network operational status by gathering, prioritizing information; managing projects.
• Basic knowledge of provisioning, implementation, and documentation of complex network and platform configurations.
• Install, configure and maintain leading router and switching protocols including but not limited to SNMP, SIP, RTP, Netflow, BGP, OSPF, QoS, MPLS, HSRP and EIGRP.
Certifications like CCNA/CCNP/CCIE Preferred

Can you tell what’s wrong with this Job Description?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Here’s a hint: It’s inconsistent.

What is it you really want?

First, take a look at the number of years of experience required: 3 to 15 years of extensive experience in Networking.

I’m imagining myself as the job applicant who is interested in this position. Some of the questions that I would have running through my head are:

• Exactly what kind of network engineer are they looking for?
• Is there no difference between one who has 3 years experience and one who has 15 years experience?
• Can someone with 3 years experience be considered having extensive experience?
• If I have 15 years related working experience, why would I apply for a job that would be willing to consider a person with only 3 years experience? What gives?

As far as I know in the IT industry, there is a HUGE difference between someone with 3 years of working experience and one with 15 years extensive experience.

Second, in the education/experience section, it states “Minimum 4 years of related experience”. However in the Job description section, it asks for 3 to 15 years of experience.

So what is it they are really looking for?

Job descriptions like these are unfortunately all too common. It goes to show that the person writing this JD doesn’t quite know what they really want. It is almost like “I’ll caste the net wide and hope for the best” mentality. It also reeks of a “cut and paste” approach to writing Job Descriptions.

What You Should Do Instead

1. Be absolutely clear how many years of working experience you want. If you can’t be specific, then a narrower range would do. For instance, 3-5 years experience required; or 10-15 years experience required. You need to be focused so as to attract / invite only those who qualify to apply for the position.

2. Ensure your requirements are consistent throughout. In the JD above, 4 years of working experience and 3-15 years experience are not the same. The lack of clarity will serve to confuse job applicants.

3. Many of the requirements listed under Responsibilities can actually be consolidated under Technical Skills and Experience.

For instance, knowledge of Bluecoat, Checkpoint, F5, TCP/IP, SNMP, SIP, RTP, Netflow, BGP, OSPF, QoS, MPLS, HSRP and EIGRP, etc are all Technical Skills, knowledge and Experience. These are not responsibilities.

Responsibilities would include:

o Experienced in driving a team in maintaining service levels, problem resolution and escalations.
o Reporting network operational status by gathering, prioritizing information; managing projects.

The Lack of Clarity

The clearer you are about what is needed for that position to be successful, the more precise and concise you will be with your job description and the job advertisement.

So is it any wonder many recruiters and hiring managers lament the lack of suitable candidates?

To find out more on how you can become a more effective recruiter/hiring manager, please click here.

With the tanking global economy and shrinking revenues and budgets, hiring the right people becomes even more critical for organisations. It is imperative that those you hire into your organisation are able to cope with the additional workload, adapt to constantly changing and unpredictable environments, and be agile enough to handle unfamiliar and new challenges.

Most of us know the WHATs and the WHYs of hiring right. However most of us fall short when it comes to the HOWs. 

• How do you know if a candidate is the right one for you?
• How can you ensure the candidate actually possesses all the competencies you are looking for? 
• How do you craft effective interview questions so that you are able to find out more about your candidate? 
• How do you ask effective follow-up questions so that you dig deep into the candidate’s given answers? 
• How do you tell if a candidate is lying to you?

The Right Talent is precisely written for recruiters who are determined to weed out bad hires through effective hiring. Based on the CAAP® High Performance Model, the book addresses common mistakes and difficulties faced by interviewers and help them understand the interview process, prepare for the interview, and craft the ultimate interview questions using the Agility-Focused Interviewing Approach.

Click here to find out more

“Hiring someone, whether it is for a junior or senior position has always felt like a gamble. Some of the best hires I have come across hinged heavily on the hiring managers’ seemingly well-honed instincts. Their ability to read a person correctly and ‘listen to their gut’ is not as spontaneous or as random as they appear. It comes from years of experience in interacting with people and knowing what to look out for. Steven Lock’s Agility-Focused Interviewing Approach, empiricalises the interviewing process, making it possible for one to fast-track through the learning curve and achieve competence in the hiring process.”

Shirley Go
Global Marketing Manager, Cytec Industries

“A company is only as good as its people. For a start, you need to hire the best people. Steven Lock captured the essence of what is required to accomplish that. When I was a new manager, I used to follow my instincts when I was interviewing and hiring. As you may have guessed, the quality of people I hired was inconsistent. Over the years, I have learnt from my experiences and developed some tactics for successful hiring. Steven’s book reinforced these best practices and elevated my knowledge in this area to the next level. It is truly enlightening. He has converted hiring from an art to a science. He maps out the process in easy-to-follow steps to achieve the results you aspire. This book is a must-read for new managers and those who are serious in building the best teams for their company.”

Bernadette Ho
Regional Services Sales Director, Agilent Technologies

Click here to find out more

What this means is that if an organisation has 10 employees, it may have between 1 and 5 employees who are not performing to expectations.

Now that is a staggering number of bad hires by any stretch of the imagination!

So if you are a HR Professional or a Hiring Manager and you conduct job interviews, you should be concerned!

The big question that we should be asking ourselves is “WHY? Why do organizations end up with so many bad hires?”

The 7 Shocking Truths

To get an idea of why so many organizations end up with so many bad hires, perhaps we should look at the following 7 shocking truths about candidate Resumes:

1. 46% of resumes include discrepancies in job candidate’s employment and educational histories
2. 40% of executives lie about their education
3. 35% lie about accomplishments or job missions
4. 53% of all job applications contain inaccurate information
5. 34% of all applications contain outright lies about experience, education, and ability to perform essential functions on the job
6. 9% of job applicants listed false employers, or identified jobs that didn’t exist
7. 11% of job applicants misrepresented why they left a former employer

Other surveys have also uncovered similar patterns of deception. For instance:

• 53% of all job applications contain inaccurate information
• 34% of all applications contain outright lies about experience, education, and ability to perform essential functions on the job

(Sources: March 8, 2014 The Daily Stats by Harvard Business Review; www.hireright.com)

Some have commented that these statistics are mostly US-based statistics and questioned if these numbers apply here in our Asian context.

Unfortunately, we do not have similar statistics here for the Asian region (well, at least I have not found any so far. So if anyone reading this knows where to find these Asian-centric statistics, please let me know!). But I would boldly venture to state that if we were to do a similar study or survey here in the Asian region, the results wouldn’t be very far off.

Endless Resources

In addition, I was browsing in a bookstore recently and came across an entire shelf of these books:

I also did a search on Google on “Answers to tough interview questions” and Google returned over 10,000,000 hits!

What this means is that candidates today have an enormous amount of resources they can fall back on in order to get themselves fully prepared for job interviews.

With such odds stacked up against HR Professionals and Hiring Managers, it is therefore not surprising that your chances of hiring the wrong candidates are so high!

Now the BIGGER question is: How do you minimize the risk of hiring the wrong candidates?

Are there any ways you could mitigate the risk of hiring the wrong person and minimize the number of bad hires in your organization?

The onus is on us hiring managers and HR professionals – who act as the Gatekeepers of our organisations – to weed out the wheat from the chaff. However the sad fact is that most of us hiring managers and HR professionals who shoulder this heavy responsibility as Gatekeepers are not trained in effective interviewing and selection techniques.

As businesses get more and more competitive, and our world becoming more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, it becomes imperative that you as a responsible hiring manager to insure you know what to look for and how to pick the right candidates every time. This will save you tons of headache, heartache and psychological pain going forward.

If you are putting up with mediocre, unmotivated and uncooperative employees, then it is time you did something about it.

About the Author

Steven is passionate about helping organisations transform their teams into high performing teams. He does that by first helping organisations identify and hire the right people, and then training their leaders and managers on how to manage and lead their people to achieve peak performance consistently.

He is the developer of The CAAP® High Performance Model. This model focuses on Culture (cultural fit), Attitude, Aptitude and Personality dimensions of their employees and job candidates. It is a highly practical, effective and proven approach. Steven believes that for organizations to be truly successful and perform at their highest levels, they need to shift their mind-sets to having the RIGHT people on-board – and not necessarily the best or the brightest.

Steven is the Author of two books:

• “Hiring for Performance: The CAAP® Model to Hiring and Building High-Performance Teams.”
• “The Right Talent: The Agility-Focused Interviewing Approach to Hiring the Right Candidate Every Time.”

He is also the developer of The Leadership STYLE Report that is based on Dr. Daniel Goleman’s research on leadership styles.

Steven has been featured on MediaCorp’s live radio show The Breakfast Club on 938FM, and has contributed numerous articles to Singapore Business Review, ST Recruit, SHRI Human Capital and other publications. His comments on Team Collaboration was quoted in the Spring 2014 Edition of the Harvard Business Review OnPoint Magazine.

Steven holds a Master of Business (Information Technology) from Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia. He is a certified DISC & MBTI® (Step I & II) practitioner.

Recently Steven was invited as a guest speaker to share about his CAAP(R) High Performance Model with over 600 delegates at the Vietnam HR Summit 2016 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Similarly in the world of hiring and recruiting, most hiring managers ignore the fact that past performance is no guarantee of future performance.

Performance-based questions, competency-based interviews, behavioural-based questions – these are all focused on past accomplishments and past performance of an individual.

In our volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world (VUCA) that we live in today, past performance is no guarantee of future results.

In our volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world (VUCA) that we live in today, past performance is no guarantee of future results

Knowing a person’s past accomplishments is good, but it is no longer sufficient in our VUCA world today. Investments in Human Capital is very much the same as investing in stocks and shares in the investment world.

Vicki Swisher, Korn Ferry senior director of Intellectual Property Development and author of Becoming an Agile Leader, says “People who are learning agile more readily absorb new skills, behaviors, and insights — and then carry those forward to perform successfully, especially in unfamiliar situations. The agile learner enjoys and deals well with ambiguity and complexity and doesn’t accept the status quo. These are attributes needed in virtually every 21st century organization.”

In addition, a study of 800 executives around the world by Egon Zehnder revealed that “Seventy-eight percent of executives said past performance is no longer the best predictor of success in a new role and 87 percent noted that strong inter-personal traits are a key differentiator when identifying a truly exceptional leader.” Read Egon Zehnder’s press release here.

So what should you do when assessing and evaluating your next potential hire?

1. Focus on the person’s APTITUDE.

Aptitude refers to the ability and the capacity to unlearn and learn at the same time — to unlearn what we already know and learn what is needed to for us to be successful in a constantly changing business landscape.

When assessing a person’s Aptitude, you should look beyond the person’s ability to learn new skills or to attain new knowledge. This is because with the correct attitude, almost anyone is able to pick up a new skill or to gain new knowledge. However the true measure of a person’s Aptitude needs to include the person’s ability to be able to connect with others, establish trusting relationships, build trust with co-workers, and most of all, to be flexible and adaptable to the constantly changing environment.

Alvin Toffler, a futurist and the author of “Future Shock” said it very succinctly:

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” ~ Alvin Toffler

2. Go beyond their past accomplishments, past performance and past behaviour.

It is not about past accomplishment. It is not about past performance. It is not about past behaviour that will determine how you will perform in the future.

Think back to a time when your organisation hired a star performer from another organisation, only to find that the new star performer could not deliver after coming on-board.

This is no surprise as Professor Groysberg of Harvard University did an extensive study of star performers and found that most star performers fail to perform after joining the new organisation.

Extensive research by Professor Boris Groysberg of Harvard University showed that the best performers typically bring with them up to 30% of their capabilities when they move from one organisation to another, contrary to what most believe.

3. Ask “future-oriented” questions, rather than questions on past performance, accomplishments and competencies.

So how do you assess a person’s ability to learn and adapt for tomorrow’s demands?

Here’s your most important interview question of all time:

“Tell me a time when you had to completely unlearn what you already knew and learn something completely new.”

The intent of this question is to understand from your potential hire his or her ability to be able to unlearn what is no longer needed and to learn what is needed to get the job done.

What is most important when assessing and evaluating a potential candidate is that person’s ability to adapt to fast changing conditions, complex environments and ambiguous situations.

Focus on the person’s adaptability, flexibility and capacity.

What is most important when assessing and evaluating a potential candidate is that person’s ability to adapt to fast changing conditions, complex environments and ambiguous situations

So as you prepare yourself to meet with your next candidate, focus on asking “future-oriented” questions, and not dwell too much on “past” performance.

Assess and evaluate your candidate on how well he or she would be able to adapt to the new environment. Assess and evaluate your candidate on how well he or she is able to unlearn the past and learn what is required for him or her to be successful in his or her new role and the ever-changing environment.

About the Author

Steven is passionate about helping organisations transform their teams into high performing teams. He does that by first helping organisations identify and hire the right people, and then training their leaders and managers on how to manage and lead their people to achieve peak performance consistently.

He is the developer of The CAAP® High Performance Model. This model focuses on Culture (cultural fit), Attitude, Aptitude and Personality dimensions of their employees and job candidates. It is a highly practical, effective and proven approach. Steven believes that for organizations to be truly successful and perform at their highest levels, they need to shift their mind-sets to having the RIGHT people on-board – and not necessarily the best or the brightest.

Steven is the Author of two books:

• “Hiring for Performance: The CAAP® Model to Hiring and Building High-Performance Teams.”
• “The Right Talent: The Agility-Focused Interviewing Approach to Hiring the Right Candidate Every Time.”

He is also the developer of The Leadership STYLE Report that is based on Dr. Daniel Goleman’s research on leadership styles.

Steven has been featured on MediaCorp’s live radio show The Breakfast Club on 938FM, and has contributed numerous articles to Singapore Business Review, ST Recruit, SHRI Human Capital and other publications. His comments on Team Collaboration was quoted in the Spring 2014 Edition of the Harvard Business Review OnPoint Magazine.

Steven holds a Master of Business (Information Technology) from Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia. He is a certified DISC & MBTI® (Step I & II) practitioner.

Recently Steven was invited as a guest speaker to share about his CAAP(R) High Performance Model with over 600 delegates at the Vietnam HR Summit 2016 in Ho Chi Minh City.

In the second era, potential leaders were judged based on their intelligence, experience, and past performance. In the third era, talent was evaluated according to specific skills and personality traits.

According to Claudio, we are now at the dawn of a fourth era.

And to deal with the ever more uncertain and volatile business conditions, the criteria have changed again and the question now is not whether employees have the right skills but whether they have the potential to learn new ones. Claudio believes that potential can be gauged through in-depth interviews and by mining candidates’ personal histories for specific evidence of five critical character traits — selflessness, curiosity, insight, the ability to engage others, and dogged determination.

As an advocate and firm believer of hiring the RIGHT people, I could not agree more with Claudio.

The hiring model that I have always upheld consists of the following 4 foundation elements: Cultural Fit, Attitude, Aptitude and Personality.

Claudio’s reference to selflessness, curiosity, ability to engage others all seem to allude to the Aptitude of the potential candidate.

In simple terms, Aptitude is the ability to learn. The aptitude to learn should not be confined to just learning new skills or knowledge. It includes the ability to connect with people; to establish strong relationships with co-workers and peers; to learn and function as a team; and to adapt to ever-changing situations.

People who possess the aptitude to learn are naturally curious and are continually in a learning mode. They usually possess a high level of personal mastery, are inquisitive and feel they are a part of the organisation.

Successful hiring in today’s ever changing world is no longer as straight-forward as selecting and hiring the best candidate with the required skills, qualifications and experience. Team or organizational success is no longer about having the best people on-board. It is about having the RIGHT people on-board.

So the next time you hire for your organization or your team, make sure you dig deep to uncover the aptitude of the candidate.