Creating and Implementing New Hire Evaluations

It can happen to any recruiter at any time, seasoned or new. Hiring an employee who turns out to be less than what you expected is a pitfall of the human resources field. When this happens, you will begin processing what has happened by asking yourself what went wrong in the recruiting process, how might a person who is less qualified slip through the cracks? Were they misleading? Did you miss important signs?


There are probably a few reasons why the wrong people get hired from time to time. But when this happens too often, you will have to implement new metrics to measure new hires, persuade managers to tell you what they are looking for in their employees, and use this information to avoid hiring those who may not be what your company is looking for in the future.


Benefits of New Hire Evaluations


It is surprising how few companies track the progress of new hires. According to an article published by HRMetrics.org, less than 20% of all companies evaluate new hires, which have decreased from 30% in 2003. While this task can be overwhelming at first, it provides a wealth of information you can use when recruiting, tracking employee progress, and evaluating recruitment methods. There are numerous benefits to tracking new hires. You will be able to track the following:


--> Time it takes for a new hire to become acclimated to their new position

--> Get a better understanding of what managers are looking for in new hires

--> Evaluate personality/work performance

--> Determine if new hires were given an honest depiction of what they would be doing

--> Gain a better understanding of the work environment

By gathering this data through questionnaires, interviews, and observation, you will be able to use the information when recruiting. For example, if a new hire was not given an accurate job description, then you will need to change this information is presented. This is a small fix that may prevent the hiring of those who are not qualified for a position.


When to Conduct New Hire Evaluations


This is perhaps the trickiest part of measuring new hire performance. You may need to ask managers how long they expect new hires to take until they are able to perform all duties required. This can be anywhere from 30 to 90 days. Companies that track new hires usually have a ninety day evaluation period. This is usually enough time for new hires to become comfortable in their new working environment.


There are many issues that can affect employee performance including:


--> Work environment
--> Managerial style
--> Work commute
--> Personal issues
--> Employee conflict

While you cannot control these issues from affecting employee performance, you can take them into consideration and try to not allow them to taint your research. Waiting longer than three months to perform a new hire evaluation will allow the work environment to affect your data. If the work environment is hostile and the new hire finds themselves isolated, their work will begin to suffer. It is unfair to judge the performance of the new hire when they are under additional stress.


Each new hire will go through a ‘honeymoon’ period where they are learning about the inner workings of the workplace, meeting people, and learning how to perform their jobs. Usually after a ninety-day period, employees have made a few friends, understand what is expected of them, and should be performing job duties effectively.


How to Conduct New Hire Evaluations


There are a few ways to conduct new hire evaluations. You can create a short questionnaire that managers have to fill out that basically state if the new hire is meeting the expectations of the department. Before sending the questionnaire, you should ask the manager to outline what they expect from their employees. This will give you a better idea of whether new hires are meeting them or not.


You can also create a list of criteria and ask managers to rate them in order from most to least importance. A sample list looks like this:

--> Goals
--> System compatibility
--> Capacity
--> Motivation
--> Knowledge and skills
--> Performance
--> Experience
--> Customer compatibility
--> Work group compatibility
--> Organization compatibility
--> Change/learning posture
--> Development areas

©HRMetrics.org

If the manager is considered difficult to work for by other employees, or you determine they are asking too much from their employees, you should proceed with the new hire evaluation questionnaire, but keep in mind that the evaluation is only one piece of information you should gather.


You should also send a questionnaire to the new hire. Ask them questions about their overall job satisfaction, if the job was different than what was explained in the recruitment process, how they are adjusting, and ask them to rate their performance.


Being able to hear from the manager and the new hire will give you a larger measurement of how the new hire is adapting to their position. You may need to schedule a follow-up interview with managers and new hires if you receive two different types of evaluations. Resolving these issues early will help create a more positive work environment.


When New Hire Evaluations Go Unanswered


If it inevitable that your emails asking for new hire evaluations will go unanswered from time to time by both managers and new hires. This can be for a variety of reasons that include workload, vacations, procrastination, or an emergency that needs to be handled. You should wait a week before sending a follow-up email. This is an acceptable amount of time.


Sending a follow-up email is very important. It shows that you are serious about your work and want to gauge how each employee is performing in a company. While you will have many other duties to perform, sending a follow-up email is important and will not take more than a few minutes.


You may have to visit the manager or new hire personally to see how the new hire is performing if you don’t receive a response from your email. Sometimes this approach is better for those who may have a lot to say or forget to respond to emails. Once you have worked with managers and others long enough, you will be able to judge how to approach them on these matters.


What to Do with the Information Gathered


Once you have gathered your information, add it to the new hire’s employee folder. If your company has procedures to follow concerning follow-up interviews, probationary notification, or additional training, you should follow the protocol. If the company does not have any of these procedures, you may want to ask what your next step is. Talk to a supervisor to determine the best course of action.


After you have performed a few new hire evaluations, take a look at the information gathered.


--> What does it say about the recruitment methods used?

-->How many new hires have left the company before their evaluation period was up?

--> What are the criteria managers use to evaluate new hires? Is it the same criteria you were given?

--> What are possible improvements that can be made in terms of recruiting?

--> What are some of the weaknesses in training that need to be addressed?

--> Are new hires happy?

--> What is the percentage of new hires that meet expectations and the percentage of those who are not?


This information can be used during the recruitment process in order to adequately provide a job description that can be used to determine who is qualified and who is not when a job opening becomes available. This will help prevent future hiring mistakes from happening.

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About the author: Dakotta J.K. Alex, social venture director and author of “Damn, I Need a Job. Again!” and “The Recruiters Guide Book,” is a Global HR Solutions Consultant specializing in human capital recruitment, process management and career analysis in the US, Europe and China. With over 9 years of consultancy experience he has found his niche in the social networking arena and now runs the 3rd largest recruiting network forum http://www.RecruiterGroups.com in addition to a candidate / recruiter forum known as http://www.AskTheRecruiter.com. Information regarding Dakotta’s other ventures, books, and articles can be found at http://www.dakotta.com. Dakotta and his team are always taking on challenging projects, please contact us for more information.