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WHY COMPANIES FAILS TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN STAFF EFFECTIVELY
A PEOPLE DIMENSION REVIEW - PRE INTERVIEW PHASE
Ang Christopher (April 2016)
A classical question in meetings: Why company fails? Sit in these discussions and you will mostly like see fingers
pointing everywhere, every functions (hence office politics, toxic workplace, evil b***h, and more), and
everyone else except the speaker. The purpose here is to examine areas (not exhaustive) where things can go
wrong. Do some reflection and redo them in a better way. To begin with, let’s look at people, yes, the
management of people, as people is one of the key the pillars that has the power to make or break it.
‘People’ is widely studied in business and social sciences, in academic, researches and workplace. It is well
documented and known to be most diversified, complicated, and has the most varied effects in determining the
fate of an organization. For many years, the hiring process or equation is one-sided, it is defined and decided
by the company and the few interviewers involved. Strategically, businesses have preferences and focuses on
its finances, productivities, processes, technologies, marketing, and give lip services on people (like personnel,
manpower, human resources, and human capital). This is not true anymore. People are becoming more
intellectually inclined, knowledgeable, emotional, and even more complicated. Beginning with “attracting
people” (or some say ‘talent’), interviewers including non-HR professionals, must understand and need to
remember that:
 People who need or are seeking jobs, are not desperate: the era of Model-T is over
 People listen and respond to the moods, tones and body languages of the interviewer(s)
 People also make a decision to join you or not to be part of you (some interviewers like to ‘test’ and
‘anger/upset’ the interviewees, you may end up with an-eye for an eye result thus missing the talent)
 People also look for trust in other people, and include the mindset/behaviours of the interviewer(s)
 People look for a good boss, team or co-workers (the top real reasons why people resign: “I can’t work
with the boss”)
 People want to move on with their lives, do not dwell too much over their unpleasant past and/or later use
it against them
 People want to be appreciated not criticized nor accused
 People change over time and make apparently contradicting decisions from the norm, so do not jump to
conclusions on their inconsistencies
 People rank and think of HR lowly

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Now, reflect and re-examine some of the issues in perspectives. Let’s start with pre-interview phase, that is,
before the actual interview takes place, and be consciously aware their possible consequences. (Note: There
are people who play the game well and get the job, but later ended it as a “regrettable employment”.)
JOB REQUIREMENTS AND ADVERTISEMENT
Time can be very tight and urgent. In the event that an advertisement is required to be put up no matter how
imperfectly it is, be sure that all interviewers and candidate have the same expectations and understanding.
Candidates returned from interviews feedback that the advertisement and the interviewers’ expectations and
requirements are not consistent. There are more “must have” requirements which are essential to the role and
somethings make you wonder “are we talking about the same thing?”. They may come out from the interview
feeling being penalized, marginalized or mocked at. Interviewers who display such acts should be counselled or
reprimanded. It is damaging to the company’s effort at building the right workplace, culture and to progress
forward. Make sure they know the job ads and have read the resume(s).
POSTING UNPRECISE JOB TITLES
Advertisers to use terms like “Assistant/Manager” or “Senior/Executive” without any
objective/precise qualifier. If there’s only one position, be precise about it: do not play
the game of the more the merrier and the cheaper the better. It may reflect that the
hiring company may do not have a clear career growth plan or path. The absence of such
may cheapen the company and show how unstable you can be. Note, the more
experienced person may progress faster and to fill up the gaps.
UNREALISTIC REQUIREMENTS
It is becoming unrealistic to look for a person with a bracket of over eight to fifteen years full-time work
experience in one company (except being retrenched or made redundant due to changes). Conversely, ask
yourself this question, do businesses, in today’s context, have the same patience to wait for such a long time to
realise an outcome? How about those with fixed contractual terms or on flexi working hours? Others include
niche industrial experience, a long and detailed job specifications, and duties. What happens to learning and
development, opportunities to grow, work-life balance, and so forth?
POSTING WRONG OR MISLEADING JOBS
Imagine this, a senior position is advertised to cover a few job functions. However, in reality it does not exist, it
is not accurate and/or untrue totally. Candidates who attended for such interviews will soon find out. They
may feel cheated or marginalized when a lower position and scope is being offered instead. This is a very bad
publicity and branding for the company. Ensure such advertisement mistake is not repeated in other channels.
First thing first, confirm the needs, and make sure the interviewers are aware of them even before posting.
Keep changing the same job advertisement back and forth is neither a better solution. People will soon find out
and avoid applying to company totally. Be reminded of this, people also do background checks on hiring
companies and their bosses, formally and informally and sometimes through their networks!
COMPANY IN CONFIDENCE
Why mark it as Company in Confidence? For every action there is a reaction. You want to
protect the branding and reputation of your company, so do the candidates on their
personal details. This can be deemed as an act of a hypocrite and be perceived as a scam.
So why pick on your candidates if they withhold details? Be transparent and consistent
with you acts that reflect your company’s true values! If you want to attract people to join
you, demonstrate it and walk the talk, right from the beginning.
DECISION MODEL IN HIRING AND RESUME SCANNING
“Regrettable employment” has two perspectives, the hiring company and the candidate. Whichever the case, it
is not good for either. It is important that you have a clear and consistent standing in your hiring decision
requirements like experience, job scopes, specific lateral skills, transferable skills, potentials to grow self AND
OTHERS, and maybe more. Everything remains the same; such factors should best be excluded except it is

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required by the job nature, deemed offensive and/or inappropriate: gender, age, religion, ethnicity, distance
learning/e-learning/study on campus qualifications, sexual orientation and the list goes on.
Be COMPETENCY BASED and look for REAL potentials perceived (Interestingly, successful top businessmen
relies on scientific evidences [competencies and work experiences], and perceptions and intuitions [potentials
perceived in a person] in making their decisions). Also study the growth paths of the current position, in
conjunction with external factors, company’s strategies, and the current and
perceived future needs. While there are advantages of having a young baby-
like team, it still requires seniors and matures people to guide, nurture and
collaborate with them to build a sharper and stronger forward looking
company. In business, people are becoming less tolerance to ignorance or
“baby” mistakes.
Avoid the stamping candidates as being “over qualified” (unless you are
looking to hiring stupid or average performing people into your company),
they may become the jewel of the company which you will never know. In the tight labour market with
shrinking population, learn and adopt tapping on the experience ones. The workforce and people are not
getting younger by the second. Likewise, would you reject your partner who has become richer or older? Think
again.
Do not label people as “under qualified” as they change jobs (they can be fallen into this category if they change
jobs at least three or four times a year over a consecutive periods of five years. Also, by doing so aren’t you
mocking their previous HR and managers?). When in doubt, call and have quick chat with the person. Look at
people’s potentials (work experience), competency assets (KSA), and how
they CAN and WILLING to add value to help you build a better organization.
Also, what sorts of needs they are looking for in order them stay with a
company and match them to your company’s cultures, resources and
priorities and capabilities. When they are less successful in one company,
they can be a superstar in another.
Do not look for a perfect match and/or post a 3-to-4 page job description
and requirement when printed out. You may give the impression that
already you have someone in mind and now getting “market quotations” to
comply with legislations, et al; which can be contested as being unfair
employment practices and discrimination. (This may be required in some places, please check with the
respective prevailing laws on its details) Conversely, if a person is perfect for a job, what motivates him to join
and stay with your company doing the same again? What is in it for him? For how long can you hold him and
how much will it cost the company before he exits from the company?
As labour mobility increases especially in this internet times, it is recommended that you look at the local
employment laws in conjunction with regional and international employment laws; make provisions and
adjustments to your hiring decision model. You do not want them to slam on your face and haunt you years
later.
The initial stage of hiring is important and will have a spilled over effect, not just for hiring but also on retaining
them. Review and improve them right from the beginning.
*Disclaimer:
 This essay/document makes no intention to refer to any particular gender or groups of people. It is used interchangeable.
 This essay/document does not refer to/report on any one organization in particular. Any resemblance is coincidental.