Abstract: HR professionals know having solid interviewing skills is arguably one of the most critical skills needed to secure the most appropriate talent to build a successful company and culture. Research continues to reveal the lack of implementing ongoing interview training being introduced by human resource teams, as well as executive leadership to insure hiring managers are trained and aware of how to identify, assess and measure the risk/reward—especially with the influence of AI generated content. And bad hires cost millions, so what can be done to improve? HR professionals need to champion this agenda with more vigilance.
Consider this research of business leader interviews and empirical evidence:
- What percent of hiring managers in American businesses have had even one hour of professional interview training in the past 4 years, even in the pandemic timeframe? Less than 5%
- What percent of HR executives install and require interview training initiatives in their companies? Less than 10%.
- What percent of hiring managers pursue interview training/coaching on their own time? Less than 3%.
- How many courses listed on the American Management Association website focus on dedicated interview training? Less than 3%.
- What percent of companies are refining and redesigning how they sell and market their products and services to meet the pandemic world? 100%
Read any strategic plan, any corporate mission statement, any agenda for the corporate sales & marketing meeting, any new product rollout, any leadership conference or retreat. What is typically missing? A training session or discussion about the critical skills of interviewing required for business.
The lack of interview training for hiring managers in America has been the #1 assassin of great business strategic plans over the past 30 years or more, yet rarely discussed as a critical missing piece. Great marketing ideas, great customer service, etc. all excellently researched and ready to launch, only to fail because the hiring managers didn’t have the training to recognize the right talent to hire and to execute the plans. So the strategic plans were blamed for flaws, while the real assassin was hiding: lack of interview training that would allow the plans to be carried out properly.
Evidence Of Omissions of Interview Training in Corporate America
Consider the recent Harvard Business Review interview with a CEO of a public corporation, pointing out the reality that every American Business Schools provide future graduates with courses on how to interview for jobs–yet don’t teach these future business leaders how to conduct interviews when they become business leaders.
Why, given every corporate anthem of “Our people are our most important resource, “ is there such a giant chasm dividing the importance of understanding the science of identifying great employees while investing nearly zero time, money and attention to this critical skill? And given the tightest—most competitive market to recruit talent—why again is interview training not on the meeting agendas? Even a recent Skills Gap Study 2019 by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) doesn’t address the missing interview skills flaws in this extensive study. Consider the onslaught of AI generated content and the process of evaluation gets even more sticky.
Why Is Interview Training Not Emphasized?
Postmortem analysis in conversations with management professionals suggests perhaps they simply accept or rationalize a failed hire as a “bad hire, wrong person for the job, bad timing, needed to get a body in the role, stop the bleeding…, the boss didn’t like the other candidate…” the list goes on. In reality, the real assassin to the demise of the failed employee is often the fact they should have never been hired in the first place.
- Could interview training be seen as an insult or unnecessary by hiring managers who believe they are good interviews already?
- Could the perception be that successful leaders obviously have skills to manage and hire good people, as how else would they have been elevated to the current role?
- Could it be that interviewing training is difficult to measure the efficacy in a profit and loss statement?
- Is it because interview training is not mandated/required by labor laws, unions, or government agencies, thus the cost and focus is lost on compliance-driven training?
- Is it because interviewing skills are perceived as highly intuitive, thus difficult to create formulas and processes that are replicable in all situations?
When corporate leaders recognize and accept this critical need, better hiring occurs, turnover diminishes, costs of recruiting/training/damage control go down, morale improves and every employee feels more empowered, confident and part of the solution and success of the company
If corporate leaders really believe employees are the heart of their businesses, there must be a stronger emphasis to install and require every hiring manager with the needed interviewing skills and coaching—regardless of that employees role, experience or longevity with the company.
The new world at work has grown far too complex and intelligent to accept that outdated/non-existent interview skills will hold up the rigors of today’s demand for attracting and securing top talent.
Even the best strategic business plan or idea awaits the assassin’s influence, if the individuals hired to execute the strategic plan or goals are not correct person for the job. HR professionals have a responsibility to champion this improvement and drive the metrics to prove the results are worth it.
About the author:
Dr. Russ Riendeau is senior partner and chief behavioral scientist with New Frontier Search Company—a retained search practice. Author, LinkedIn Top Voice, TEDx Talks presenter, he frequent speaks on peak performance and leadership skills development. He can be reached at russriendeau@gmail.com
