City of Pittsburg, CA

Need:

The City of Pittsburg in California was challenged by an ineffective hiring process. The shortcomings of the process were reflected in the low success rate of new hires. Over a two-year period, from January 2001 to February 2003, 36 of 88 new hires were terminated before the end of the probationary periods—a hiring success rate of just 59 percent.

Solution:

The City partnered with DDI to develop a new, competency-based hiring process that would enable better hiring decisions. The first step was to use a DDI job analysis tool to survey those most familiar with various positions and identify the competencies that defined success in each of the job families. These competencies would then be the foundation for behavioral interview questions through which job-relevant candidate data could be gathered. They also replaced the old panel interviewing approach with DDI’s Targeted Selection® and certified 50+ interviewers to conduct effective interviews.

Results:

Here are some of their results. Two-year hiring success rate improved from 59 percent to 84 percent. Surveys of TS®-certified interviewers and candidates who had gone through a TS® interview showed that both groups found the new process to be more effective. This story includes comments from hiring managers and candidates about the new process.