The Official Blog of Benifys HR Solutions

Hiring is a critical element of any manager’s job. There is no joy in reiterating the importance of hiring right – there’s enough and more that has been said about the price of making the wrong hiring decision. The problem is on two fronts – there are people who know what is to be done, but don’t, and then there are people who don’t know how to go about the interviewing process in the first place. So why follow the same routine that gets you the right result by chance, and not by choice? When you’re hiring next, follow the following 4 simple steps and you’ll dramatically improve the chances of making the right hiring decision.

Understand the requirement: you may think that you know what you’re hiring for, and you probably do. Nonetheless, draft out a quick job description if you don’t have one already. You’ll be surprised at the insight that you get into the role. This exercise offers another advantage, it not only helps you understand clearly what questions you should ask during the interview, it also allows you to remodel the role – there are many tasks that could perhaps be done by this role incumbent, and many others that could probably sit outside this role. In any case, read the job description thoroughly, and get the role clear in your head first.

Prepare, prepare, prepare: don’t reach the interview room not knowing what you want to ask. For this, the foremost requirement is for you to have read the candidate’s CV many times over – know him well before you start interacting with him. It is not only bad manners to start looking at the CV for the first time in front of the candidate, it also enables the candidate to take charge of the interview flow, something that you don’t want ever to let happen. At the same time, know the questions that you must ask the candidate. Structuring the flow of the interview enables you to stay in control, minimises the chances of something critical not been covered, and allows you to get a comprehensive ‘feel’ of what the candidate has done in the past, and what is he capable to doing in the future.

Follow a structure: the interview has three parts – the opening, the body and the closing. It is important to understand that each one of these is an important piece in the jigsaw. While 80% of the time is spent in the body, the opening and closing bits leave perhaps a more lasting impression in the candidate’s mind. In the opening, greet the candidate, set the tone of the interview, build rapport, make the candidate feel comfortable so that he is able to showcase what he is fully, and clarify the structure of the interview. In the body, gather behavioural information, don’t rely on “gut-feel”, sell the position to him, ask if he has any questions, clarify elements of the role and organisation that he might have questions on, and always keep control. In the closing, thank the candidate, and tell him clearly what the next steps are.

Follow behavioural model: the best indicator of future performance is past performance – this is the dictum that you should always keep in mind while interviewing. There is a simple model to follow – EAR. E is for example, continuously ask the candidate about examples of what he has done in the past. Hypothetical questions (what will you do if…) do not necessarily tell you how will be react in real-life situations, but a recount of his actions in the past under similar situations will give you an idea of what to expect in future. A is for action, continuously probe on his actions in the example (stay away from “we”, “my team”, etc.). R is for result, continuously seek the outcome of his actions in the examples that he quotes. Merely knowing the example and the action is not sufficient, you must know what happened as a result of his actions. Put together, the EAR model helps you gather information that’ll be useful in the final decision. Any other model throws up data that is not conclusive, the candidate can go either way while performing in the role.

In the final analysis, it is important to understand what the candidate has done in the past – meandering interviews that focus on generalities do not make for decisions that can stand the test of real life performance. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, how will you know when you’ve found it?

Good luck with your next interview.

Delivering a training program is not enough, the cycle does not end there. Measuring the effectiveness of training programs gives a realistic idea of how effective the training program really has been, it’s technical preciseness nowithstanding. Today, we look at one of the most widely used tool for this purpose, which is Donald Kirspatrick’s four level model, for evaluating the impact of training programs on short term or long term goals of the organization.

The need to measure training effectiveness

• To gauge the effectiveness of the current ongoing training programs in an organization
• To identify gaps in training output and use the information to improve the training initiatives
• To evaluate whether the budget allocated for the training activity is justified, and whether the program has a good ROI.

Donald Kirkpatrick and his Four Level evaluation model

Donald L Kirkpatrick, Professor Emeritus, University Of Wisconsin (where he achieved his BBA, MBA and PhD), first published his ideas in 1959, in a series of articles in the US Training and Development Journal. Kirkpatrick then went on to write a book (first published in 1975) called “Evaluating Training Programs” in which he devised a new model that he called the four levels of evaluating training program.

Now widely recognized as the authority on measuring training effectiveness, his four level theory has since then gained worldwide popularity and is arguably the most widely used model for the evaluation of training and learning programs. Kirkpatrick’s four-level model is now considered an industry standard across the HR and training communities.

According to Kirkpatrick, each one of these four levels is equally important and every level has an impact on the next level. Also, as you move along one level to the next one, the process progressively becomes more difficult and time consuming, but it also provides more valuable information.

The Four Levels – A Brief Overview

Level 1 : Reaction

Kirkpatrick likes to call this step a measure of customer satisfaction, which is because this step involves gathering feedback from the trainees about they the felt about the training program, not much unlike how customers are asked for feedback about services. This step is important because it evaluates the engagement level and hence the receptivity of your audience. It is an understatement that without receptivity, the entire training exercise would be meaningless.

In his own words – “It is important not only to get a reaction but to get a positive reaction. The future of the program depends on positive reaction. In addition, if participants do not react favorably, they probably will not be motivated to learn. Positive reaction may not ensure learning, but negative reaction almost certainly reduces the possibility of its occurrence.”

Level 2 : Learning

By learning, Kirkpatrick means measuring the extent of change in the competency of the participant in terms of positive attitude change, improved knowledge and/or increase in skills as a result of attending the program. A lot depends on the use of an appropriate learning channel and the consideration paid while designing the training program to the needs of different learning styles of trainees (i.e., visual learners, kinesthetic learners, etc).

As Kirkpatrick puts it himself – “Some trainers say that no learning has taken place unless change in behavior occurs. Learning has taken place when one or more of the following occurs: Attitudes are changed. Knowledge is increased. Skill is improved. One or more of these changes must take place if a change in behavior has to occur”

Level 3 : Behavior

It is one thing to learn and absorb information and quite another to apply it to actual situations, this step is intended to measure the degree to which the trainee has internalized the learning. Some trainers tend to bypass the first two levels, i.e., reaction and learning, and get straight to measuring changes in behavior. This is a serious mistake. The problem is that the obvious conclusion that will be drawn will be that the training was ineffective and that it should be discontinued. This solution may not be very accurate, because even though the training might have been technically flawless and does well on the first two levels, it may not guarantee a change in behavior.

According to Kirkpatrick, four conditions are necessary to bring about behavioral changes:

1. The person must have the desire to change
2. The person must know what to do and how to do it
3. The person must work in the right climate
4. The person must be rewarded for changing

If no change in behavior is observed after training, the reaction and learning should be re-evaluated to check whether the training delivery or content was effective, if it was, then maybe the climate is not conducive to change. Trainers should actively find out what kind of climate the trainees will face after the completion of the training; a failure to provide the right climate is a major reason why most training programs don’t achieve their set objectives.

This is what Kirkpatrick says about providing the right climate – “One way to create a positive job climate is to involve bosses in the development of the program. It is suggested that that bosses should be asked to help determine the needs of sub-ordinates. Such involvement helps to ensure that a program teaches practical concepts, principles, and techniques. Another approach is to present the training program, or at least a condensed version of it, to the bosses before supervisors are trained”

Level 4 : Result

The final evaluation of the training program is measuring the final results that occurred because the participants attended the program. The various metrics it includes could be increase in production, decline in costs, reduction in employee turnover, higher profits. It is on these results that the scope and future of the training department depends on. It is important to mention here how pertinent it is to set objectives before the commencement of the training program, if this is not done right, it becomes very difficult to determine just how effective the training was.

In the words of the Master himself – “It is difficult if not impossible to measure final results for programs on such topics as leadership, communication, motivation, time management, empowerment, decision making, or managing change. We can state and evaluate desired behaviors, but the final results have to be measured in terms of improved morale or other nonfinancial terms. It is hoped that such things as higher morale or improved quality of work life will automatically result in tangible results”

A word of caution – implementing the Kirkpatrick model requires engagement and sponsorship of the executive management. Very often, the feedback derived from an assessment of the first two levels is positive, but the third and fourth levels leave a lot to be desired. Two primary reasons, as elaborated above, come in the way of training activities achieving their potential – lack of a conducive environment, and lack of a direct correlation between business results and the training activity. It is important for organisations to a) set clear objectives, b) obtain executive level approval of the content, c) provide concrete and visible support to the training activity and a playground to enable the participants apply the newly learnt skills at the workplace, and d) establish clear monitoring and reporting mechanisms so that the influence of non-training variables is minimized in the fourth level assessment.

May 2009 – quite an eventful month ­ at the national level, in the sporting world, and for Benifys.


The UPA emerged as a clear winner, pushing all its baiters to the background for good (at least for the time being), the last two teams in the 2008 version of the IPL vied for the top spot, and quite fittingly, the one that finished last in the previous edition came out the winner, and we at Benifys added another client to our portfolio for our flagship product ­ complete outsourcing of the HR function.


And while we have no political (or sporting) leanings, don´t get us wrong ­ here´s the common thread ­ you can´t keep a good team down for long. The UPA was made to run from pillar to post by all and sundry in the last run of the government, and in the pre­poll hustling, the third and fourth fronts and their ilk have nowhere to hide. The way that they shamefacedly offered ´unconditional´ support to the new boss was both hilarious pitiable, depending on how you view it. In the end, it was performance. Similarly, the team that looked best on paper last year in the IPL finished at the bottom of the heap. The team didn´t change this year, but their performance did, their determination did ­ and yes, some of their top performers didn´t have to go back to their national duties. Yes, okay ­ things have to turn in your favour too. At Benifys, it´s the same story ­ dogged determination coupled with execution finesse means that the tide had to turn our way. Well folks, it just did!


So, we have two parallels already ­ what´s the third? We´ll tell you ­ new kids on the block matter, and they can change the course of events on their own. Whether it was the youngest Gandhi or his brigade of young turks, or the Manish Pandeys and Rohit Sharmas in the IPL ­ there is a lot to be said about what vibrancy, transparency and the zeal to achieve can do. Magic, to say the least!


Here´s the second edition of our in-house Newsletter. We´re quite pleased with the reaction that our maiden edition invoked, and hope to better ourselves edition after edition ­ till our dream of making this the prime vehicle for the HR community (and its users) is realised.


Hope u had a great month of May and June is even better. Cheers.

Why do it?

It builds a psychological contract – A good internal communication policy helps to build a two way non verbal understanding between the employee and the employer – the employee feels valued by the employer and the employer is able to visibly display their commitment to the employees’ well-being by acknowledging that employee feedback/interaction matters to them. It is not just one of those ‘good to have’ things, it is in fact one of the ‘things to have’, if you wish to build a world class organization.

Improved work performance – Good communication practices result in better performance and better overall organizational climate. At the same time, they help bridge the gap between the employee’s need to have access to more and better information. Employee communication is commonly confused with an open door policy, while, in reality, these are two very different things. Employee communication pertains to the messages that the management communicates to, and receives from its employees. An open door policy, on the other hand, is a reflection of the attitude of the management towards its accessibility for employees.

Reduced staff turnover - Research has revealed that open communication at the workplace has a direct positive impact on employee satisfaction and morale levels, which in turn, reduces attrition levels. And if you thought that the time and money spent on communication is not justified or necessary – well, think again… Would you rather be paying three times to find replacements or take some preemptive action? Remember, the cost of replacement is not just the money that you pay to the recruiting agency there is loss of knowledge and adverse impact on morale of the people who stay behind that also has to be taken into account.

It’s branding at its best – Right from the time a candidate is interviewed for a position to the time when an employee leaves the organization; all forms of written or verbal communication that are exchanged are implicitly projecting the identity of the organization – your brand is at stake. It’s that little bit extra that you put into communication that separates the good from the best. A well planned employee communication process is internal branding working for you at no extra cost.

How to do it?

Make a communication strategy – Right from convincing the top management about the importance of internal communication and building internal alliances to facilitate efficiency of the communication process to reviewing communication initiatives to check what has worked, what hasn’t, and why not at the end of a communication cycle forms the communication strategy. It is advisable to have a structured approach to this as opposed to haphazardly trying to put across information.

Mind the medium – No single method of communication is most effective, each one of them have their own pros and cons and specific situation based usage. Communication can be usually divided into two major categories depending on their usage, which is, they can either be in a dialogue mode like one-to-one meetings or notification based like a letter or an intranet information board. Also, they can be either verbal or written; due consideration is to be taken of that fact the verbal communication can be misinterpreted and written communication can be missed or overlooked, therefore it is advisable to use the right combination of both.

Ensure Communication Clarity – If you are trying to set up a communication strategy or are in the process of revamping it, your motto should be ‘right information for the right person, at the right time and delivered in most impactful manner’. You have to make sure the message is consistent, over time and between audiences. Overtly complicated language is counterproductive to the entire exercise of communication. And make sure that wherever possible, a two way communicated is established which encourages dialogue and feedback.

Create the Aha! Moment – The Aha! Moment in communication is that time when the intended message hits home in the minds of the audience in a moment of clarity and realization. These are some of the common Aha! Moments:

• “Ah, now I get it!”
• “Now I can do something about it.”
• “That makes perfect sense.”

Creating and delivering an Aha! Moment is the ultimate aim of any employee communication practice, this technique is especially effective in communicating change where you don’t want to spell the information out in clear words at first but instead provide related information and data leading the people automatically to the Aha! Moment. It also helps people to form their own understanding of the situation rather than feeling that information is being forced down on them.

What is it?

To quote Hans Selye, who is universally recognized as the founding father of stress research, “stress is not necessarily something bad – it all depends on how you take it. The stress of exhilarating, creative successful work is beneficial, while that of failure, humiliation or infection is detrimental.”

Some consider this to be a very optimistic way to look at stress, an ally of sorts that gives you a timely push to achieve something that seems difficult. At the same time, one fact that we all know and have perhaps experienced personally is that stress can very quickly turn into misery if not handled properly. The modern view of stress is that it is a ‘bad thing’, which is also supported by scientific studies claiming stress as a major factor contributing to long term negative health impacts.

So is stress a good or a bad thing? As it turns out, there is no right answer – it all depends on the situation. The same stress that helps athletes to achieve the unachievable can have significant adverse effects on the overall well-being of a working professional. There is a difference, though – you would perhaps have noticed that a short burst of stress helped you achieve a deadline that you thought was otherwise impossible, that stress helped you think of a creative way out of the problem. While there are natural advantages that some enjoy over others in terms of handling stress, an overwhelming specialist opinion now emphasizes on the fact that there are techniques that can be deployed to handle stress and come out on top. There is no denying, however, that the best of us crack in moments of extreme or periods of sustained stress.

Today, we’ll demystify the phenomenon of stress, and in the next issue of our monthly Newsletter, we’ll look at some techniques that we can utilize to manage stress better, in fact, utilize stress to become more effective and creative. Let’s look at some of the more common symptoms and causes of stress.


Symptoms

The degree of intensity with which the symptoms are manifested may vary based on factors like the duration to which the individual has been exposed to the stressors (yes, there is a word like this – stressors are stress inducers), the intensity of the stressors itself, the type of stressor, but since here we are concerned only about job related stressors – here is a list of the most typical symptoms:

Mental and behavioral symptoms

• Aggression
• Irritability
• Depression
• Absenteeism
• Insomnia
• Emotional instability
• Loss of concentration

Physical symptoms

• Diseases related to the heart
• Migraine/Headache
• Neck and back problems
• Perpetual exhaustion
• Digestive problems

If you display any or more of the above symptoms, there is a good chance that it’s induced by stress, and a good chance on top that it’s work related. How do you find out whether it’s a work related issue or something else that’s manifesting itself through the above symptoms?

Here’s an easy checklist – introspect deeply (be true to yourself), and see if you’re currently undergoing, or have been exposed to any of this for some time in the recent past. These are the most common causes of work related stress.


Causes

Job Insecurity – Some people are naturally more insecure about their jobs as compared to others, this puts them in a higher danger bracket of contracting stress related problems. Add to this the current economic scenario and mass layoffs, and the rumor mills that spare no-one, and you have the single biggest stress trigger for a working professional.

Work-life balance – It is often not easy to strike a good balance between one’s professional and personal life, and is again something that some people manage better than others naturally. For those who can’t, and if there is, unfortunately, a problem at home that’s always back-of-mind, it becomes difficult to concentrate on work, which inevitably leads to stress.

Work Culture – Moving into a new organization brings its own set of challenges of understanding and adapting to the corporate culture of the organization, e.g., communication, hierarchy, even behavioral patterns of the new boss. Sometimes the transition is not as smooth as it could be. Also, today’s work culture is extremely competitive and performance-centric with stiff deadlines and increased workload thrown in for good measure.

Feeling of losing control – Human beings have an inherent need to be in control of situations, most of us dislike being in a state of doubt or uncertainty. It makes people feel inadequate and vulnerable, this mostly happens when an individual has to deal with something which requires more knowledge or skills than the person possesses.

Difficult people – Regardless of how smart, knowledgeable or nice you are – there will always be people who will give you a hard time. Unfortunately, you can’t choose the people that you work with, or come in contact with, at the workplace, and we have the last of the most common causes of work related stress – people that you don’t like at the workplace.


Burnout

If a person is in a state of stress for a sustained period of time, it invariably leads to burnout. Burnout is the state of complete physical and/or emotional rundown where a person feels completely drained of energy. Needless to say this is a very serious disorder and you should be aware if you’re headed in this direction. Take this quick quiz to find out if you are at risk.