With over 61,000 full-time employees working in areas as diverse as speech recognition, robotics and customer support, Google knows a lot about human resources. Google has even been recognized by Randstad as one of the best seen employers in 2016 and won a Randstad Award for Employer Branding in Switzerland in 2017. If your HR professionals are struggling, use these three tips from Google to make positive changes within your business.
use structured interviewing to hire employees
Most managers think they're good at using interviews to choose employees. Unfortunately, unconscious biases often encourage them to hire certain types of people, such as those who share their interests or worldviews. This weakens workplace diversity and makes it difficult for companies to attract the talent they need to perform well.
Structured interviewing reduces the influence of bias by using the same questions and grading criteria for every job candidate. Google uses four components to get the most out of interviews:
- only use vetted questions relevant to the position
- record candidate answers so evaluators can review them easily
- use a standardized rubric to score applicant
- give interviewers the training and calibration they need to do their jobs well
Google even provides a sample of its structured interview grading rubric to help other businesses make unbiased hiring decisions.
hire by committee
Google also recommends that companies hire by committee. The company lets its hiring managers say no to job candidates, but individual managers don't have authority to hire new employees before consulting a committee.
Hiring by committee helps companies choose the best candidates for open positions. While a manager might feel like they need to fill a position as quickly as possible, a committee can take a long-term approach to accepting new hires, even if it means leaving a position unfilled for several months. While they might take longer, committees help ensure that new employees are right for their positions.
collect and define workforce metrics
Many businesses don't create the workforce metrics they need to fully understand how their organizations function. This is especially difficult for growing companies that lose cohesion between departments and brands.
By identifying and defining your workforce metrics, you can make informed decisions that will improve your corporate culture as well as customer satisfaction. Some of the metrics you should collect include:
- the number of terminations, voluntary exits and retirements
- the number of external, entry-level and intern hires
- the number of promotions, department transfers and demotions
Metrics can also help you create a diverse workforce by identifying employees by:
- ethnicity
- gender
- age
- tenure
- organizational level
Without this information, you can only make guesses about your workforce. With metrics, you can take greater control of your workforce and determine what policies work well within your organization.
Google's re:Work project offers advice on several HR subjects. Use it to help your department meet its goals.