Who is Accountable for Hiring Mistakes? Who Owns the Selection System?
By Michelle Malay Carter on January 14, 2008
Organizations have a habit of mismatching.
Research shows that:
- 35% of employees are mismatched to their jobs, i.e. have problem solving capability over or under their job, leaving them bored or incapable.
- 39% are mismatched to their managers, i.e. their manager does not have problem solving capability exactly one level above the employee, leaving the employee feeling micromanaged or without enough context.
There is a lot of mis-hiring going on, so the question becomes, who is accountable?? Well, who wrote the job description?? Who chose the selection criteria?? Who created the screening and interviewing process?? Who conducted the interview?? Where does the buck stop?
Mismatched Accountabilities and Authorities
Accountabilities and authorities are often mismatched as well.? We cannot hold managers accountable for mis-hires, when they don’t have the authority to hire who they want (or remove nonperforming employees.)? Once another party, such as HR,?has the authority to interfere in the selection process, we have now splintered the accountability, and the buck becomes available for passing back and forth.? Remember, team accountability is a myth.
We can no longer afford to deal with performance management (to include selection) in a piece meal fashion.? We must increase the level of sophistication of our people systems if we ever hope to?extract ourselves from?this 29% employee engagement hole.
Integration Lowers Frustration
Performance management, and all its parts,?must be integrated into a total system, and only then can we begin to clarify accountabilities and authorities.? Systems (and I’m not talking about IT systems) must be mapped, owned, monitored, and continuously improved based on feedback.
For too long, HR has been focused on programs, not systems.? The lack of integration and cohesiveness amongst the various programs (job scoping,?recruiting, screening, interviewing training, compensation, employee development, employee relations, etc.)?has created huge confusion, frustration, and conflicts of interests within organizations.
Maybe as a handful of us begin to sing this tune in concert, it will fall upon alert ears.? I talk about a need for integrated systems in nearly all my posts. A post in Frank Roche’s Know HR provided me with the terminology, systems versus programs.? It’s from a new book that I haven’t read, The New Human Capital Strategy, but the excerpt Frank posted is encouraging.
I’m Ok.? You’re Ok.? Let’s fix the system.
Have you ever suffered at the hands of a deficient system?
Filed Under Accountability, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Talent Management
Comments
2 Responses to “Who is Accountable for Hiring Mistakes? Who Owns the Selection System?”
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Michelle – I get your point that team accountability is a myth. Ultimately somebody does need to be accountable for the end results.
However I feel that one of the largest causes of mis-hires or bad-hires is the group result of everybody not being on the same page when it comes to the hiring of new team member. This requires a group effort, and while one individual should be charge of coordinating this effort, the success of a new-hire ultimately rests on the shoulders of many within the organization.
In my opinion if all stakeholders cannot agree on the role, responsibilities, and performance requirements of a new-hire it is pretty much a doomed effort from the start. Where the buck stops on this one, I agree, it is hard to say, but I think it is clear that many play a role in these poor hiring decision.
Chris Young
Chris,
Thanks for the comment. You’ve brought up some important points about role definition. Yes, I agree with your comment: “If all stakeholders cannot agree on the role, responsibilities, and performance requirements of a new-hire it is pretty much a doomed effort from the start.”
I would have a narrow list of stakeholders. It would be the manager-once-removed and the manager. The manager-once-removed must approve the creation of a role as s/he is providing it as a resource for the manager. So manager should write the job description (to include accountabilties and performance requirements) with the input and ultimate approval of the Manager-once-removed.
Regards,
Michelle