How Do We Ensure a Candidate Will Stay Long-Term After the Final Interview?

Dear All, I would like to ask one question: In the final interview of the candidate, what factors do we consider to determine if this candidate is the right person for the job and will stay with the company long-term? Sometimes, after finalizing the candidate, they may resign shortly after, or we may need to terminate them during the probation period. Please advise on what factors an HR professional should focus on to ensure that the candidate is the right fit for the job and will stay with the company for an extended period.

Thank you,

Regards, Qasim Raza

Switching patterns in some companies typically range from 2-3 or 3-4 years, while in other companies, it may be as short as 1-2 years. This duration reflects an individual's tenure within a company but does not necessarily ensure the right selection for the role. Our personal experiences have shown that even after candidates are selected by a panel, their fit for the position may not always be ideal.

Terminologies for a Rigorous Selection Process
As HR professionals, what terminologies can we employ to indicate that our selection process is rigorous and that the chosen candidate will meet the company's expectations effectively?

Dear Qasim,

What you have written is about recruitment. Yes, selecting the "right" candidate for the job was a challenge, it is today, and will remain so in the future too.

Nevertheless, your challenge is if the candidate you select for a job quits the company. In that case, you need to understand the culture of the company. If the freshly hired employees do not wish to continue with the company, then it could be because of the mismatch between the candidate's expectations and the company's culture. The second reason could be poor leadership of the HODs. While HR may hire the best of the best people, what if the HOD fails to motivate him/her or maltreats him/her? Under such circumstances, the employees will quit anyway.

One of the solutions to your challenge is to do an attrition analysis and find out of the total candidates hired, what % of the employees quit on their own. Was their exit regrettable or non-regrettable?

Your second challenge is you are required to terminate the freshly hired employees during their probation itself. This is clearly a recruitment failure. In such cases, you need to study why your recruitment went wrong. What questions did you ask during the interview and what was the behavior at the workplace? Why did the recruitment team fail to gauge the behavior or performance of the candidate is a matter of study.

The solution to your second challenge is to strengthen the recruitment process. Include more technical and non-technical tests. Secondly, are the interviewers formally trained to conduct the job interviews? Who has certified them to become interviewers? Is it that interviewers are not formally trained but by the virtue of the length of their service, it is assumed that they are fit to conduct the interviews? Do you conduct competency-based interviews?

Your problem is much deeper. While you employ solutions based on the replies by the seniors of this forum, much depends on whether the implementation was effective or not.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Dinesh,

First of all, thank you for your reply. Candidate pre-screening is the responsibility of HR, and the final selection of the right candidate is the responsibility of the concerned HODs or top-level management. After some time, if the candidate, whether fresh or experienced, leaves the company, they often criticize HR. Why is only top-level management considered responsible by HR, and not HODs or leadership?

My colleague has informed me that their top-level management terminated a 15-year-experienced staff member because he did not complete tasks and did not take responsibility for any tasks. What outcome or result should we expect in this scenario, and why is an experienced staff member not taking responsibility?

At this stage, who is responsible for his changed behavior, or what is HR's responsibility in sorting out this matter?