BD system helps firms to hire right
Around the Workplace Paul McKie
W	ith all those unemployed people out there, you'd think it would be easy to hire a person to fill a vacancy. But businesses say the hardest thing they do is try to get the right person for the job.
It seems they fail a lot of the time. So often, in fact, that companies are turning to outside sources to help reduce their costs due to employee theft, dishonesty, under-performance and unforeseen severance packages. Susanne Sherrett is a senior consultant with Calgary-based Behavior Description Technologies, a company that teaches people how to hire the right people. "The best way to find out how a person will be is to find out how good they were in the past," said Sherrett. The trouble is, most job interviews and interviewers, spend far too much time talking about the applicant's or interviewer's opinions, or what the applicant's jobs were. Sherrett said those interviews give no information as to how an applicant will do in the job. Too often the interviewer is misled by flashy clothing, a strong smile and people skills. Sherrett said those things show the person is confident -- but they may not have the requisite skills for the job. Sherrett's company uses behavioural interviewing, a Canadian-developed interview technique. (The company will be in town Oct. 23 and 24 with a series of workshops. Fees are $495 plus GST. Call 1-800-666-8681 for information.) The system, nicknamed BD, was originated by Tom Janz, a university professor who wanted to know why job interviews were so bad at predicting how people perform on the job. Janz developed a system of asking questions that forces people to talk about what they've done. Sherrett said in most interviews you can get away with saying, "I'm people person." With behavioural interviewing, the candidate is asked to give an example of being of people person. Rather than going by the resume, it demands applicants say what they do, Sherrett said. Such interviews require trained interviewers, preparation time and enough time allocated for the interview itself. Sherrett said three to five questions can take an hour to conduct. But rather than being intimidating, Sherrett said the interview technique gives people who are less confident a chance to shine. She said people who come in and declare they're "self-starters" can be at a disadvantage because they have to explain what those phrases mean. Sherrett said the interview technique is also beneficial to visible minorities, the unemployed and parents who have been out of the workforce for a while. She said the questions force the interviewer away from innate prejudices and to focus on what the applicant has done. That can include job-related skills that may have been learned in non-paying positions. The system also discourages employers from screening applicants using resumes. She said many employers look at the "Other Interests" section of resumes and look for hobbies. If they see someone likes sports, they assume the person is a team player, said Sherrett. She argued that the behavioural system would ask a candidate to explain how they were a team player. But there's another way to ensure companies don't hire the wrong person. Michael Stamler is vice-president and general manager of IFR Employee Screening, a company that checks up on job applicants. For between $50 and $150 per applicant, IFR will check out a job applicant's references, credit background, previous employers, etc. All the searches are legal and done with the permission of the applicant. That's because companies subscribing to this service make you sign a declaration authorizing the search. The declaration also says the applicant swears everything on the application is true. So if IFR finds out you fibbed -- bye-bye job. Stamler said IFR works mostly for larger corporations that do a lot of hiring. Most of the background checks are straightforward -- checking on references, prior jobs and verifying credentials. Credit checks are generally used for higher-end jobs only. Stamler noted that people are more upfront just by signing the declaration. As for why companies pay for screening, Stamler said it just makes sense. So remember all of this before you fill in another job application and call yourself a self-starter with a Ph.D. -- someone may be watching and listening.
© Winnipeg Free Press, 1997. Reprinted with permission.
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