I've been responsible for hiring or advising hiring officials in the selection of hundreds of federal employees. I've also had to discipline federal employees; this can be both personally difficult and professionally discouraging.
Media reports suggest managers can do better at hiring. In a recent Forbes piece, Roberta Matuson points out that most hiring managers have never had any formal training on how to assess candidates.
Congress is beginning to take notice as well. Last year, HR 3023 included language doubling the probationary period for new employees or newly selected supervisors in the hope of being able to weed out poor performers early.
Simply put, the selections federal managers make when hiring employees needs to improve. Finding and selecting great talent takes time, effort and discipline.
I’m convinced potential performance or behavior challenges can be identified during the hiring and selection process. I believe there’s a better way to address this challenge.
The approach hiring managers take sets a leadership example in the hiring and selection process. A thoughtful, organized strategy ensures selecting officials make informed choices nearly every time.
Here are a few tips for developing your strategy I’ve learned over the years as a hiring and selecting official.
First, approach every hiring selection like you’re making a permanent choice, for example selecting a professor for tenure or getting married.
A new federal employee must complete a one-year probationary period. Management can generally terminate the employee for any perceived deficiency in performance or conduct and the employee has limited appeal rights during that period.
After that, the employee enjoys the full scope of appeal rights and the level of effort required by your entire organization to remove them from federal service increases significantly, like a divorce.
Second, federal managers and hiring officials should be deliberate and take sufficient time. This may draw some criticism from those who want to expedite the hiring process. However, experienced human resources professionals will tell you: "Hire slow and fire fast."
The most important part of each leader’s mission is to choose the best people to be part of their team, so taking time to find and assess great talent is vital.
Every hiring decision is an important one — with negative organizational impacts if made poorly. Learn as much as you can about each candidate before making a selection. If you rush the process or treat it as an additional task on top of an already overloaded work schedule, poor choices result.
Next, keep in mind that a résumé can be a work of fiction and an interview can be a one-act play.
Senior leaders believe they can see through the fog of an exaggerated résumé or an interview laced with hyperbole. I’ve learned nothing is farther from the truth.
Making wise choices is tough work. It involves far more than a five-minute résumé scan and a 30-minute chat during an interview. I’ve yet to figure out whether a candidate will be a great member of my team using only those tools.
The solution is to always check references! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve learned a hiring decision has been made and not a single reference was contacted. And then managers or co-workers wonder: "How did it go wrong?"
References are your best source to determine how the candidate performed in previous positions. This simple step can add time to the hiring process, but the additional hour or two of phone calls is invaluable.
It is prudent for hiring managers seek an applicant’s permission before contacting references.
One concern you may have is that references have been primed by the candidate to give glowing reviews. That should be expected. To overcome this bias, the last question you should always ask is: "Can you suggest someone else who’s worked with him/her I can speak with?"
Secondary references are rarely contacted by the candidate and will most frequently give honest views about him/her. I’ve found these contacts are your most valuable source of meaningful information about a potential employee.
Finally, consider whether the person you plan to hire is capable of performing the job just above the position for which you’re considering him/her. This decision should change your selection calculus. It will lead you to critically assess someone’s potential, rather than just the candidate’s immediate abilities.
My point is, hiring federal employees is tough work. These tips won’t guarantee success, they will go a long way to ensuring you develop and implement a disciplined hiring process leading to informed choices.
James B. Balocki is a member of the Senior Executive Service at the Department of Defense, where he has supervised federal civilians at every organizational level for nearly 30 years.
