Interviews: outdated and ineffective
Did you prepare for the interview? Do you know what questions they are going to ask? Do you know what they want you to say? With a bit of preparation, it's not difficult to prepare perfect answers to typical interview questions. It's also easy to prepare for trickier questions regardless of the topic - it's a standard process and can be learned. Of course, the problem with all of this is that it's an act performed by both parties. Therefore, it doesn't make sense to continue hiring employees in this manner or assume it's an effective way of getting the best person for the role.
If you think about it… how could going to one, two or three interviews help someone decide if this person will be 1. able to do the job 2. work diligently and honestly 3. cooperate and collaborate well with their team? Very difficult if not impossible. But there is a better way out there that seems, at least to me, a lot more reasonable and practical. It's from Brazilian businessman Ricardo Semler:
“How do we find people? We’d go out and try and recruit people and we’d say, look, when you come to us, we’re not going to have two or three interviews and then you’re going to be married to us for life. That’s not how we do the rest of our lives. So, come have your interviews. Anyone who’s interested in interviewing, you will show up. And then we’ll see what happens out of the intuition that rises from that, instead of just filling out the little items of whether you’re the right person. And then, come back. Spend an afternoon, spend a whole day, talk to anybody you want. Make sure we are the bride you thought we were and not all the bullshit we put into our own ads.”
"This isn't feasible!" I hear you say. It will take too long and be too costly. Perhaps. But, ask any HR manager how long it takes to interview, hire, induct and train a new employee? Then, if the person isn't the right fit, how long and difficult is it to get rid of them - legally. Very long and very hard.
Ask the finance manager how costly it is to hire and train new staff. Very costly. That's why many companies will prefer to throw extra money at current staff rather than attempt to hire a replacement. It takes too long and is too expensive.
Well, what if we could take Ricardo's advice and invite people to spend some time working with us, getting to know us and our organisations. Then if all went well and we knew each other a little better, we could choose them and they could choose us, or not as the case may be. We might find that we are able to make better hiring decisions that last for longer. Some food for thought perhaps.