In our approach to helping client organizations select the best people for them, we facilitate a job profiling process that we call “letting the job talk.” There’s a dimension to that approach that helps us create and utilize what’s typically called a Realistic Job Preview (RJP) – a quick sketch of the absolute requirements of the job that may attract or repel candidates. Research has shown that the consistent use of a clearly constructed and communicated RJP can reduce unwanted attrition by nearly 10%. Too often, organizations eager to fill positions choose to mask what they think may turn people off. In the world of enhancing satisfaction if not loyalty through setting and meeting expectations, this is a sure way to fail. In short, if you want an employment (or any) relationship to work, be honest. There’s an effective, relatively easy way to do this; and the benefits are significant and universal.
Being the holiday season, it’s timely to mention that my family engages in the epitome of the American Jewish Christmas cliché: on December 25th, we eat Chinese food and see a movie. This year, for the first time, we are a house divided. My daughter plans to see the movie, “Into the Woods,” while my wife and I likely will see, “Unbroken.” I have read that, “Into the Woods,” based on the Sondheim play, is taking the risk of being a movie almost entirely devoid of dialogue. It’s all songs. Yet, the trailer we’ve seen is all dialogue except for one snippet of Meryl Streep singing. My guess is that preview audience reaction to a movie without dialogue has raised studio concerns. Since they can’t edit or reshoot scenes at this point, they seem to have opted to mislead potential viewers. Good luck with that. Even the most successful movies have a Week 2 box office drop-off of 50% or more. Imagine what the impact of the Week 1 audience reaction to feeling they were tricked into the theater will have on this movie’s box office. The movie had a reported production budget (before marketing) of $50 million…so we’re talking about a high stakes game here. We’ll know how the studio’s hand plays out soon enough…I’m betting the numbers will reflect poorly on their strategy of misdirection.
In the recruitment process, our stakes are similarly high. Bad hires cost organizations at least 1.5 times the total first year compensation of that job. Among the many factors and tools you should employ to make the best hire is an accounting of the features of the job that reflect what the right candidates will view as attractions or not be concerned with, and the wrong candidates will use to opt out of the selection process or say no to a job offer. And, as noted, when this information is shared, you can reduce the number of people leaving (and being disengaged before they leave) by a lot. Sounds good. So what information is used in an RJP and how do you use it? Let’s take a look:
• Realities and requirements—I used to say that this was the, “good, the bad, and the non-negotiable.” What I’ve learned is that one person’s 'bad' may be another’s 'good' (some people crave a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment that they see as exciting while others look at that setting as a pressure cooker that will burn them out). As a result, the realities of the job without classification are clearly presented. For example: “this is a process-intensive organization and a role that requires, above all else, a laser focus on getting it right the first time.” Candidates’ alignment with these criteria can (and we would say should) be assessed through a validated testing instrument as well as agreed to. Requirements such as weekend or evening shifts, overtime with short notice, and travel are examples of areas that we should make known to candidates in the most accurately stark manner we can. Doing so through the RJP helps us avoid asking about things we shouldn’t but sometimes are tempted to in order to establish fit.
• Consistency—Scripting these realities and requirements for your hiring managers and assigning the responsibility to a particular person in your recruitment and selection process ensures this gets done and gets done in the right way with each candidate. RJPs are worth sharing with all candidates who begin the process. In addition to managing attrition, a well-constructed and uniformly disseminated RJP adds to the professional ethos of your company and stokes the brand you’re creating through every interaction.
• Connection—RJPs should be viewed as dynamic documents reflecting your organization, the job, what makes people fit and excel in the job, the candidate market, and the overall environment of the day. Expanding your mindset to include using the RJP as a reflection of what’s currently working encourages you to actively stay in touch with your incumbents and candidates, among others, to ensure that you’re best connecting with people and adapting to current needs and opportunities…and refining what you’re doing, saying, and more – including in the RJP.
Popeye was fond of saying, “I yam what I yam.” We should know who we are, who we want to be part of our team, and be confident about sharing that information with candidates and the community in which we operate. The Realistic Job Preview is a terrific tool to frame the collection of this information and to share it consistently and effectively. The power of this approach feels good and does good. Do it!
Jeff Lesher, Principal at entreQuest, blends his deep knowledge of organization design, human capital, and leadership with a pragmatic approach drawn from his own business experience and eQ's philosophy to help eQ's clients focus on their core purpose and move people effectively to action.
