Recruitment and Selection: A good system to study AND A bad style to avoid

v>“We are fast, we are modern and we are
“we are a top 5-star hotel, we invested billions ofinnovative etc”!  Candidates have to wait for
Thai Baht! We want all our guests to be welcomedseveral weeks just to find out if they are short-listed
and serviced by smiling-face employees and not byor not! What a shame!   
“long-cold-still face” type of employee”!? 
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE TH /* Style§  Candidates who have been contacted for an
Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTableinterview hardly know who will interview them and
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";for how long the interview will approximately take
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;place.  One interview normally is like a un-plan-able
mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99;one-day activity for the candidate.  
mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; 
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;§  Many times candidates have to wait for hours
mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;for one interview.  The higher the position of the
mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt;interviewer is, the longer hours the candidate has to
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";wait.  I have seen cases where it took one full day
mso-bidi-font-family:"Cordia New";}for an applicant to be interviewed by only 2
First of all, I like to say HR skills are very muchinterviewers.  One of my friends, who have been
needed in all managers, simply because one ofinvited by the owner for an interview for a General
several main responsibilities of any manager isManager position for a beautiful Island resort in
“people management”.  As a former director ofsouthern of Thailand, had to wait for 6 hours on the
human resources and a current human resourceIsland to save the resort an additional 15 minute boat
lecturer & trainer, I theorize some human resourcetrip.  Finally, the resort owner nicely and elegantly
functions that need both “Science” andarrived by private helicopter! A very dramatic and
“Art” practices to share here in Mai-BS’simpressive arrival and it does reflect an un-likeable
blog.    leadership style.  Many owners and investors like to
With “Science”, I mean the “system” ofhave a resort with a 5-star management, 5-star
HR implementation and with “Art” I mean theservices and 5-star employees!  But it will hardly
“style” of the HR manager.  To be called ahappen if there is such a behavioral model from the
5-star company, system and style cannot betop.  This is a classic example of a good vision by
separated from each function of human resourcethe owner, but in reality, the owner leads their
practices. Thus, I would like to share the followingpeople with own habit rather than his vision.  
“system” for HR implementation and 
“style” of HR manager.§  Most interviewers will not even come out from
Recruitment and Selection:their office to personally invite the candidate for an
If we refer to a recruitment and selection system, Iinterview or even stand up to shake the hand with
have seen many companies who successfullythe applicant.  Most of the time, a secretary will
established an acceptable system.  There arebring the candidate to the manager’s office. 
several systematic interview types such asI did see this many times in several 5-star hotels and
 employment test, IQ test, EQ test, personalityresorts where the owner always says “I want
test, psychological test etc. etc.  All these tests etc.true 5-star service”!  I however think that treating
have the purpose to select the best candidate,your candidate in such a way is an ineffective
simply the right person to do the right job for thecommunication on the service excellence!
right company.  I admire all mentioned tests and 
appreciate all the valuable time that many executives§   Many times after the interview; the
/ managers put in their interview processes. interviewer will end the interview that “we will
I however found that good systems for recruitmentcontact you back soon”.   But nobody knows
and selection cannot ensure that the owner or the“soon”! How long will it take?  Most of the
manager is really open minded, modern andtime, the candidate has to contact the company to
importantly fair to the organization and the overallbeg for an answer simply because everyone needs
workforce!   Far too often, I can see seniorto plan his and her life.  Seldom, I have seen an HR
managers and decision makers recruit their favoriteperson or interviewer who would say to the applicant
employee who do not have any knowledge, skill and“We will contact you back within 2 working
abilities, only the right personality to fit with thedays”.  But, then again, when I do follow these
owner / manager.  These employees are recruitedcases closely, I found that even the interviewers say
because they are controllable, they will neverso, it normally takes much longer than said without
question the manager, in some cases there areany apology. 
family-related to the owner or manager. 
These un-professional managers who hire the above§  Most of the times, if the interview is
people create so many problems in an organizationunsuccessful; the candidate almost never receives a
since the ‘manager’s favoritesimple reject & thank you letter.  Most times, it is
employee’ hardly do anything except makingsilence.  Usually, here in Thailand, silence means
politics and de-motivate quality employees. These“you have to wait”, or “you don’t
favorite employees keep themselves occupied withget  the job! 
accommodating the top management’s 
comfort.  As mentioned in my former articles, theAs you can read from above samples, some working
success and failure of “Human Resourcestyles reflect badly on the company culture and
Management depends on the professionalism of topstandards in treating employees (people).  Many
managers. times, during my consultation and training
Now, let’s talk a little about “style” thatassignments, I try my best to emphasize that HR
need to be improved!style is a very important factor to communicate the
Some of us have seen many unproductivecompany set standard.   But I feel that many HR
“styles” of recruitment and selection practicedpersons and managers do not realize this.
by a HR manager / managers.  For examples:Often enough, many HR managers and managers
 behave so differently from the said and written
§  An applicant has to wait for months to receiveorganizational values and cultures. 
the first reply whether he or she is a candidate or anOnce an HR Manager with a “long-cold-still face”
unsuccessful applicant.  As a Human Resourcesaid during an interview to the applicant that …
teacher, many times I have received questions from“we are a top 5-star hotel, we invested billions of
some graduates such as “Do you know when I willThai Baht! We want all our guests to be welcomed
receive a reply whether I am a candidate — Iand serviced by smiling-face employees and not
have sent my application letter 3 weeks ago”?by“long-cold-still face” type of employee”!?
 Shockingly, most of these companies post goodThink about it….
values on their office walls and signboards such as