Category: Research

Explore leadership options, increase employee engagement and increase your organization’s earnings with our HR Data Analytics insights. The African Talent Company works with top African brands to consult and place executive talent. Call or send us an email; hello@tatcafrica.com

Telling candidates they didn’t get the job they’ve worked so hard to get is a thankless job. So it’s understandable why hiring managers don’t send post-interview feedback to rejected candidates. It’s not as rewarding as say, calling a successful candidate over the phone and telling them how they aced the interview and can start at their earliest convenience.

But holding back feedback from unsuccessful candidates will send the wrong signals. It is harmful the candidate and your company, even more so with executive recruitment.

Think back to the time you tried applying to a company. Imagine the hard work and grueling preparation for the interviews and tests. And to do all that with no feedback in whatever form or shade?

Crushing!

In the hypothetical case that involves you as the candidate, it would have helped your continued search if you got feedback from the company on how you performed and where to improve.

The idea of giving feedback is not simply for the candidate’s morale, however.

As the saying goes: “hurt people hurt people.”

It’s likely that a candidate who did not receive any feedback from your company will be inclined to speak ill of it, affecting your employer brand negatively.

A Twitter rage about your company framing you as an unresponsive and unprofessional employer could effectively repel top candidate from your brand.

Plus, a fair percentage of your rejected candidates will be near-misses; dropped because another candidate marginally bettered them. To have a positive interaction with these near-misses is to populate a robust pipeline of talent you can reach out to hire in the future.

Where you have soured that relationship from the beginning, it will be harder to restart those conversations.

Rather than risk creating a firestorm of criticism for your company, provide honest feedback to candidates that will turn them into your ambassadors.

How to give post-interview feedback

Get on the phone. This is the first and most important guide to giving helpful feedback. A generic email or text message won’t cut it.

Most employers don’t give feedback because they suspect they only have negative commentaries to dispense. They are only partly right. There are highlights from the interviews and specific skills that the HR can point to. That is usually a good place to start the feedback conversation.

When you get on the phone to speak with them, start with these constructive insights about their skills, knowledge and slowly work your way into letting them what they need to improve.

Also, be specific in your feedback. Rather than saying “You were brilliant,” say “We liked how you analyzed our strategy document for 2017 and pointed out those leakages.”

Overall, treat the candidate with respect. This involves being genuine and appreciative.

Conclusion

The recommendation above is intensive and will consume valuable man hours. That is why I will recommend you only go in this direction for candidates that came second, third or fourth place. For other rejected candidates you may not be able to call, send, at least, a gently worded and concise feedback that will help them retain goodwill for your company.

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The African Talent Company works with top African brands to source and recruit executive talent. Call or send us an email; hello@tatcafrica.com

Different strokes. The risk of jobs being taken over by technology / automation varies by country. It’s different strokes for different folks. In Africa, the range varies from 65% in Nigeria to 85% in Ethiopia and it is reasonable that as much as 64% of a Citi Research respondents [PDF] believe automation will lead to major challenges – especially with respect to labour and wealth distribution.

The scope of automation is widening and adoption is speeding up. Mainly because of the advancements in Machine Learning technology, including Data Mining, Machine Vision, Computational Statistics and other subfields of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Computer and automation rigs are able to process larger data sets with more speed and accuracy and in turn, are making an economic case for more companies to deploy them.

Despite previous conclusions that non-routine jobs are not at risk of automation, these trends in data processing render such assurances shaky at best.

Work Fusion, for instance, a US-based software company, sells software to automate non-routine tasks which were previously cocooned from the reach of automation.

What the software does is simple, yet it puts all jobs at risk of future automation. The software divides specific non-routine jobs into smaller routine tasks, automates the routine aspects of the job and then recruits freelance workers for the non-routine aspects. As the freelancers work, the software monitors and learn from them, meaning that as time progresses, the machine will automate more of the non-routine tasks. The freelancers, essentially, are working themselves out of the system.

Careers are wont to be more disrupted than at any other point in the past and confronted with this reality, individuals and companies have some choices to make if they are to stay relevant in the rising dispensation.

In the movie, Hidden Figures; that paean to black ingenuity and specifically the uncelebrated strength of three African American female mathematicians at the mid-60s’ NASA, Dorothy Vaughan (played by Octavia Spencer) started a guerrilla FORTRAN training for the 30-odd colored ladies who previously were only adept at typewriting. Dorothy started this training regimen after she learned of the impending installation of an IBM 7090 electronic computer that could replace her co-workers at the NASA complex, with an understanding that though the IBM is faster, it would need humans to code it. When the time came for the machine to start firing on all cylinders, the colored ladies were ready to colonize the punch cards.

There was a smooth transition.

Like in the 60s with the introduction of faster, more capable computers, a talent mismatch already exists. Automation and robotics need specific human effort to work. This shortage of skills is one of the barriers to widespread adoption of automation and robotics.

As more skilled workers lose their job to automation across Africa, they will take up lower-skilled jobs that might lead to lower living standards. Early retraining, on the other hand, will prepare humans for a future powered by machines – which will increase the value of human effort and drive rapid economic progress.

A 2014 study by UK charity Nesta [PDF] found that for both UK and the US, almost 90% of creative jobs are at low or no risk of automation. This is mostly because creative jobs need a high level of perception, manipulation, creative intelligence, and social intelligence to carry out. These also happen to be the most profound bottlenecks to automation.

While the advancement of automation and robotics may be slower in Africa, the adoption is inevitable. Companies and individuals that have up-skilled in the creative aspects of their industry are more likely to be insulated from the effects of automation.

Not unlike Dorothy Vaughan, African companies from Yaba in Nigeria, to Ngong Road in Nairobi, need to acquire growth models that make them relevant in the future by training its existing workforce for this future.

When HR professionals sit to discuss ideas on streamlining our hiring process, one of the conversations that inevitably crops up is on new questions that can help us get a better look at the inner workings of our candidates.

But HR professionals in our clime rarely discuss the questions not to ask at interviews.

Primal decency demands some questions are out of line during interviews. “What’s your tribe?” for instance. The answer to this question has no bearing on whether or not an individual can deliver on tasks and work in teams. For the purpose of this article, I won’t be going over the clearly offensive and discriminatory questions such as the example above, but only debunking some that are more popular in interview halls.

You may wonder, “why should I bother about the question I ask? Whether it’s biased or otherwise? I’m the one giving out the job, am I not?” It’s very well to think that, but the last thing you want as a recruiter is having top talent walk away from your company because they felt uncomfortable, discriminated against or even worse, because they surmised the company has the wrong priorities as illustrated by the sort of question the HR asked.

Even when your intentions are harmless, mark these questions off your interview list if you are serious about funneling in top talent into your company.

1:  What did you hate most about your last job?

Your intention might be to learn what they value in a job or perhaps learn things that might inform your future interactions with them. The unwitting consequence is that for candidates who lack good sense, they will rattle on about the many negatives in their old company. For those are more prudent, they may simply refuse to say anything they hate about that company. In the final analyses, chances are, you won’t be learning anything useful from asking this questions.

A better alternative question might be: “What do you most enjoy about working on projects or in teams?”

2: Do you have kids or plan to have kids?

This question and others in its general vicinity like; “are you married?” are not just personal but discriminatory. The reasons why HR professionals ask them are not hard to tease out. Most of us have had experiences with employees with kids who arrive work late, take a lot of off days, close early, not deliver on time etc.  Fundamentally, though, not all employees with kids make these demands. This question doesn’t put the candidate at ease, and might lead them to think you would overlook them because you believe they will be distracted by family. In that case, they might simply leave your interview hall and straight to the corner office at an employer who knew not to ask that question.

A better alternative question might be: “You may be required to work overtime sometimes, will this be a challenge?”

3: What is your greatest weakness?

This one has been around forever. The question had validity for its first few seasons in the interview hall. People answered genuinely and unbarred the contents of their workplace weakness. But candidates have gotten smarter, thanks to Google. Most candidates now simply pick a strength they are averagely good at and claim to be working on it. In the long run, you at the other side of the table will not learn anything from asking this question.

A better alternative question might be: “What leadership skill have you tried to improve over the past few years?”

4: Do you drink or smoke?

I have had recruiters argue over this. For one recruiter, her reason for asking this question was because it’s a culture element where they needed people who could fit in and have good fun. In their line of business, networking was key and there is a lot of Friday night hanging out involved. However, asking such straitjacket question at this ignores the possibility that while the candidate might not smoke, she might be comfortable around such an event and might even help clients explore other ways to have fun.

Even when the organization has a no-smoking policy, company culture documents are made to let employees know what’s permissible and what’s not. To ask a discriminatory question such as this at the interviews is to possibly deny your company of top talent.

A better alternative question could be simply: “how do you have fun?”

For most HR professionals reading this, alarm bells going off would be “how then do we know they are a culture fit. If we recruited someone only to fire them few months in because they couldn’t fit culturally, what then?”  It’s understandable that we don’t want to go through the recruitment process endlessly for the same role, but coming right out and asking these questions is not good sense. One of the more wholesome ways to learn some of the things we can’t learn from interviews is through background checks. The background lookup on top executive talent is one of our fortes at The African Talent Company. In our experience working for brands across Africa, these background lookups are better poised to provide a more objective outlook on the person of the candidate. Sometimes, they even throw up pleasant surprises.

 

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The power to pinpoint talents, explore leadership options, increase employee engagement and increase your organization’s earnings reside in HR Data analytics. Know your human resource and know how to make the best of them. The African Talent Company can help. Call or drop us an email.

Efficient companies are an operational marvel. A cluster of independent-minded people, trained in different contexts, with diverging personal goals and deep-seated fears – yet united in the mission presented by a business.

The harmonious function of this body of individuals ensures that sales targets are being met, shareholders are getting their dividends, the government is happy with company adherence to industry code and the world is generally made better because the company’s product is always on the shelf.

But this immaculate state of affairs could fly down the tube very quickly – and often does – when one screw comes loose in the delicate compilation of levers that drive this operational contraption.

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The African Talent Company works with top African brands to source and recruit executive talent. Call or send us an email; hello@tatcafrica.com

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Before a lot of things that immediately come to mind, the most potent danger to the smooth functioning of a workforce is a mismatch in business needs and the staffing situation.

Let’s take a quick stroll to Hygiene Company X (HCX for short). Every week, HCX sees a spike in store visits from Thursday through to Sunday. People love to buy their hygiene supplies on the weekend. However, the management at HCX never sees it fit to increase the staffing capacity on the peak days – leading to long queues, burnt-out store attendants, irritable customers and don’t forget “poor staff performance” that might lead the HR to suspend some staffers and fire some more.

“Poor staff performance” – in quotations because the staffers are not performing poorly but have only been stretched beyond their limit.

The scenario that has played out in the case of HCX (suffice to say, one of the more obvious and simplistic version of this) is the sad fallout of the lack of a manning plan.

A manning plan is an element of workforce planning that outlines procedures that aligns the business objectives with the talent capacity needed to achieve those objectives.

The manning process outlines the different phases of talent acquisition, deployment, and management. For how long the staff needs to train before he starts generating profit for the company. What quality of work the company should expect from a new talent after a certain timeline.

A manning plan is important because …

This is important to ensure the long-term success of your company (i.e: profitability).

Were HCX to have a proper manning process, they would have known to have a pipeline of contract employees that will check-in from Thursday through to Sunday and check out for the rest of the week. With this arrangement, odds are good that everyone will be happy.  The systematic unpleasantness of the store staff will be stemmed, the HR won’t have to fire anyone for “poor performance” and the fine people who have come to pick hygiene supplies will leave happier ready to give a good review on Twitter.

In most cases, the development, deployment, and impact of a manning plan are more nuanced unlike I have painted above.

Perhaps our hygiene company wants to start providing artisanal hygiene services for pets – a new service very different from their existing one which focuses on humans. Evidently, there is a new set of skillsets involved here. There are new objectives the business will set for customer satisfaction, work quality and profitability.

HCX would do well to outline a fresh list of talent to bring on board. Alternatively, HCX would create a process to build animal care capacity within its existing workforce and transition them into the new business.

In a universe where the alternative is being considered, who would take care of the work left behind by the workforce transitioned into the animal arm of the business?

A manning plan answers these questions. If no answers exist, the business will crash, burn and its flimsy ash will be lost in nothingness.

Businesses that last are scientific about how they bring on talent, when they bring on talent and when the talent begins to pull their own weight. Driven by a business plan, businesses should outline talent needs and set a plan in motion to recruit per their growth projections with allowance for training and immersion.

A manning plan illustrates a business with a vision.

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Your business survival is riding on the right manning process. Don’t leave your business growth to wild guesses, untested assumptions and the mood in which you wake up. Draw up a manning plan that puts your business growth front, center and provides talent recommendations that sync with your goals. We can help. The African Talent Company works with top African brands to source and recruit executive talent. Call or send us an email; hello@tatcafrica.com

With more than 92% success rate working with African companies, The African Talent Company rolls up your sourcing into a tested template that provides a sync between your goals and your talent expectation with a balance of the right candidate with just the right number of alternatives. Send us an email at hello@tatcafrica.com to engage us.

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When you don’t have the time to sift through upwards of 3000 applications for your job posting for a new Account Executive, the last thing you want to do is post that opportunity on the internet. Yet, it’s what 85% of HR professionals would do.  As at March 2017, 3 out of 4 professionals claim to use social networks to look for potential candidates.

Posting online comes with a certain creative liberty. Companies with a good grasp of employer branding go as far as post bold ads online like this one:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this one:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These ads command admiration from the online multitude, we have to admit. But they come with a rash of applications that don’t fit the expectations of the company.

There are traces of relevance to online job posting (including posting on job boards and serious social media websites like LinkedIn), but HR professionals can save everyone a lot of time and hassle when they deploy a targeted approach to recruitment.

“Getting executive talent on board requires an intentional sniper-type approach to the sourcing strategy”

As a company recruiting executive talent for the top percentile of companies in Africa, we’ve come to understand that while online job posting can buff up employer branding, getting executive talent on board requires an intentional sniper-type approach to the sourcing strategy.

An avalanche of applications is the last thing HR wants to worry about when the company has a gaping talent hole at the center of the ship.

But that’s not the only challenge with recruiting online.

Recruiting online demands that the company hold a tight reign on the sourcing value chain including but not limited to the first posting online, onto the offer’s landing page, the company’s  website and the technology of the application process.

All these delicate elements, when not properly managed, provide opportunities for top talent to leak out of your sourcing pipeline. When a top talent, for instance, is confronted with an unattractive company website, he is likely to reconsider his desire to work for the brand. A targeted approach working with a specialized recruitment agency, on the other hand, will have a vastly different result. Such agency would manage talent expectations setting the right tone for the talent to see beyond the scruffy exterior of a brand into the valuable core of the business.

Today, most companies are only ready (or capable) to handle posting openings to job sites and on social media, but not the hard work of maintaining the interest of top talent through the sourcing funnel. And rightly so, unlike a data-powered specialized recruitment agency, they are not built for the task.

In a business landscape that is moving faster than ever, HR professionals need to move even faster with targeted and managed recruiting.

Explore leadership options, increase employee engagement and increase your organization’s earnings with our HR Data Analytics insights. The African Talent Company works with top African brands to consult and place executive talent. Call or send us an email; hello@tatcafrica.com

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In a previous article, we covered why post-interview feedback is key to presenting an enhanced candidate experience. The bulk of the treatise boils down to three things:

• A candidate will resent your company if you didn’t bother telling them why they were rejected for a position.
• When you give feedback, candidates are unlikely to smear your employer brand on social media and they might be inclined to recommend you to other top talent.
• Keeping an open line of communication arms you with a veritable pool of candidate you can reach out in the future.

Giving post-interview feedback is non-negotiable. So what exactly goes into the post-interview feedback emails or calls?

We’ll get to that shortly.

First, the golden rule of post-interview feedback; when you are sending these email or making the calls, be as personal as possible.

Instead of addressing the email with “Dear Applicants” try “Dear Paul” (Paul, being the name of a made-up candidate). The latter gives a more intentional and personalized sentiment to the call or email. The applicant will feel like an individual and more favorably disposed to the company.

On to the elements of your feedback.

1: Appreciation:

Thank them. Each candidate has forgone some time and economic resource to be available for the interview. They’ve also invested some emotion in the process. Make sure to thank them, allowing them to know that all the resources they invested are recognized and appreciated.

2: The truth

Why did your company appoint someone other than them for the role? Candidates deserve the truth. Tell them. The caveat here is to ensure the feedback is limited to the job requirement. Give feedback based on how candidates check out on job-related criteria. To give feedback outside of this is to risk being discriminatory or unduly negative.

Why did your company appoint someone other than them for the role? Candidates deserve the truth.

Based on this a feedback like; “We enjoyed speaking with you, but we were hoping to get someone with at least 5 years of experience in the industry. This is why we won’t be moving forward with the process” will be a better response than “We didn’t like that you sat on the edge of your seat. You don’t look like a confident person.”

3. Some praise

If there is nothing to praise, don’t bother with this. But it’s hardly possible that there won’t anything to like about an interviewee. For those things you liked about the candidate, mention them. In fact, it’s a good tact to start off with the praise. It softens the impact of rejection and can encourage them to keep going in their job search.

4. Very specific feedback

Those cliche HR phrases. We all know them. Remove them from your vocabulary. Don’t just say “we wanted a more flexible team member” or “we wanted more relevant experience,” provide meaningful feedback that the candidate can deploy to improve themselves. Think to specific things they can improve about themselves or ideas on how they can interview better and share these with them in a truly helpful tone.

5. An opening for future communication

Chances are this is not the last role your company will recruit for.  Keep the line of communication open by letting them know you would reach out if there are openings for which you think they would be a good. Of course, if you promise this, be sure to come through on it.

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Post interview feedback doesn’t have to be a laundry list of all that you didn’t like about a candidate. There are many sides to it that when properly combined will help your company earn goodwill with candidates and boost your employer brand.

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The African Talent Company works with top African brands to source and recruits executive talent. Call or send us an email; hello@tatcafrica.com