HR MANAGEMENT - Employee Profiling in Manpower Planning

Employee Profiling in Manpower Planning

by Linda Ray, Demand Media

Define the profile of your ideal employee before the interview.

To hire the appropriate manpower for open positions in your company, you must employ some levels of profiling. You'll create a profile of the job duties as well as the expected experience and skills you'll need from an employee. During the recruiting process, you'll include profiling aspects from candidates through their applications, resumes and the personal interviews. Match the right candidates with the right jobs to reduce attrition rates and increase production and profitability.

Step 1

Analyze your current workforce to ascertain the various skill levels you employ and how the various workers interact with each other. Look at the educational background of your current staff as well as the length of service, age ranges, pay structures and duties performed. When you collect all the information on your current staff, you can use the information to develop a profile of what characteristics and attributes work best in which positions.

Step 2

Create a profile of your perfect candidate before you begin recruiting. If for example, you believe your employees should have a college degree to demonstrate their level of learning and commitment, you may direct hiring campaigns toward college campuses to find the best recruits. If your most effective managers started in entry-level positions, you'll need to focus on those recruits willing to start out at a lower pay grade.

Step 3

Review the applications to assess the total array of experience of your candidates before arranging interviews. Your preconceived profile should help you eliminate those candidates who haven't shown a willingness to take risks, for example, if your position requires a self-motivated risk-taker. On the other hand, you may look for longevity in previous jobs if you are more interested in finding someone who will keep the job for a substantial period of time and who has the proven ability to make commitments.

Step 4

Utilize personality tests that derive profiles by asking job candidates seemingly innocuous questions. Tests often referred to as DISC assessments provide you with scores on traits that include dominance, influence, steadiness and compliance. You can get a fairly accurate profile assessment from the tests.

Step 5

Devise a set of open-ended interview questions that you use consistently. Develop questions that reveal attitudes of the candidates as well as skills and experience. For example, you might ask a customer service representative candidate how she reacted when a customer got particularly angry with her. If you're looking for a stock person, you might ask how the person feels about working overtime when this may be requested at the last minute.