This guide is part of a progression set comprised of Core, Advanced, and Emerging Candidate Screening and Selection practices.

What it is

Emerging screening and selection practices represent aspirations that enhance the accuracy and efficiency of selecting top talent through the use of the latest techniques and technologies, as well as candidate feedback. These center on the engagement of well-established yet underutilized measurement and analytical methods, along with structured processes for generating the insights needed into human behavior and preferences. Recognizing that human judgment is inherently flawed due to unintentional biases and limited understanding of candidates' traits and strengths, adopting these practices can significantly enhance objectivity in assessing and evaluating job candidates.

At the same time, while focusing on candidate experience will not automatically result in better hires, a poor recruiting experience can deter top candidates, as they often have other options for their career moves. Engaging candidates and recent hires to gather useful insights into improving the “experience” of the organization’s screening and selection process, regardless of the outcome, helps build a process that is increasingly efficient and effective. A significant part of that experience is driven by the quality and effectiveness of hiring managers and their interview team members, who measure and track performance in these activities, can simultaneously drive higher-quality hires and higher offer acceptance rates.

Measuring how well interviewers assess and select the best talent will help generate a better understanding of the value each interviewer brings to the process and whether they improve or hinder the company's hiring outcomes. Linking the quality of hires to the individuals involved in the assessment and selection process enables a company to enhance its hiring outcomes by attracting the best talent.

Why use it

Labor markets are driven by supply and demand. In the U.S. and many parts of the world, demand for top talent exceeds supply, especially for people with the most sought-after skills. In this environment, selecting the best talent takes effort. Hiring such a person also requires a good process in the eyes of the candidates. These practices are designed to bring significantly more objective insights into the screening and selection process, adding confidence to human judgments made about the capabilities, skills, and know-how during the screening and interview processes. The accuracy of selection decisions is a primary objective of any recruiting process.

These practices support the design of a more responsive set of processes optimized for efficiency and effectiveness. Equally important, they can make the application process easier for both candidates and hiring managers. They can also communicate the organization’s values and beliefs about how it manages its work and administrative processes, demonstrating consistency with the future work environment. They introduce 

process and outcome measurement that drives improved decision-making about the quality and value of the assessment and selection process, practices, and methods. Furthermore, they support an ecosystem in which leaders and influential peers own and share responsibility for superior hiring and the subsequent retention of the most qualified candidates.

Outcomes

Adopting these practices fosters a sustainable environment of excellence in candidate evaluation and selection, where objective assessment, process efficiency, measurable excellence, and superior candidate-to-job matching capabilities become integral to the company culture. Robust selection practices have been shown to drive improvements in operational outcomes, talent and skill development, and higher employee engagement and retention. They also communicate an organizational commitment to employing the most qualified workers in ways that overcome natural human biases and reduce errors in critical decision-making. It makes the assessment and selection process easier for managers and their teams by reducing the risks inherent in evaluating the “fit” of job candidates with teammates, company culture, and longer-term organizational growth needs.

With the introduction of enhanced process and outcome measurement, the organization can assess and identify opportunities for improvement to drive the desired outcomes of the hiring process. It supports a data-driven culture within HR and across management ranks, bringing greater objectivity and clarity to these crucial decisions, and can be leveraged for use with internal promotion, transfer, and reassignment activities. The fairness of employment decisions is immediately impacted, establishing the basis for equitable and legally defensible decisions.

Soliciting the opinions, perceptions, and reactions to screening and selection processes from candidates and new hires and subsequently acting on improvements communicates the organization’s openness to input and respect for their insights. It sends a message to employees and managers about how the organization views them, regardless of their position or level. The application of these insights in upgrading critical processes and activities can establish standards and a test case for evaluating other HR and business processes that are crucial elements in the employee journey, from candidate to alumnus.

Practices at this level

Incorporating advanced assessment techniques and technologies to improve selection efficiency and outcomes.

Leveraging sophisticated candidate evaluation tools that bring substantially higher levels of objectivity into the prediction of future performance, contribution, and fit.

Championing the candidate experience throughout the screening and selection process to increase efficiencies and engage applicants.

Defining a process that minimizes applicant frustration and fosters a reputation as an employer of choice.

Establishing measures of excellence in candidate screening and selection.

Developing comprehensive measures for assessment and selection that drive continuous improvement and high-quality decision-making.

Developing and managing a pool of the most effective interviewers across the organization.

Creating an ecosystem that develops, nurtures, and rewards superior talent assessors across the organization using training, measurement, and tracking techniques.