With the growth and success rate of the organisations being highly dependent on the human assets, getting the right candidate to the right task has become crucial. The human resource department is trying to come up with new innovative ways of ensuring the recruitment of the ideal candidate suited for the job. Like the six sigma approach trying to reduce the number of defects in the products generated, zero defects hiring aims at minimising the cases of wrong enrolment within the organisation.

Zero defect hiring process starts well before the actual calling for the interviews. The jobs needing fresh recruits are broken down into various elements to identify the features of the key processes for which the candidate is sought. The break up of the job gives an insight of the skills required for the job. Once the skills have been identified, the next step is to define the source to be approached to attract the right candidate. The advertisement calling for the employees in the lower level of hierarchy are generally placed in the company website, local newspapers, placement agencies, etc. Higher up the ladder the way of approaching varies with the discretion of the employees. There are certain placement consultants who specialises in the task of high level recruitment. P.N.Venugopal and Associates in Bangalore is a typical example of a placement agency which has specialised in the high level placements in the information technology sector.

The résumés are looked over by a team of experts so that a defect omitted by one can be pointed out by another. The type of interview approach also varies with the role in the entity. Some companies prefer an informal interview over dinner or lunch in the event of recruiting a senior manager thereby utilising the opportunity to assess the individual over a casual conversation. The time of arrival, approachability, casual discussions about the job; all should be made use of to assess the probable candidate. The method of interview determines the type of questions to be asked. Questions to be asked must vary with the type of interview – be it a formal interview or informal interview. Some interviewers provide the candidate with a set of questions and then give them a specific time limit to answer them so that the whole time can be employed in listening to the individual’s response. Some interviewers try to warn the candidates about the limitations in the timings as it is said that the significant outcomes can be visualised in the last few minutes provided to the candidate after the warning.

Some candidates, on scrutiny of their résumés, are asked by the company to analyse the company and give their point of view on the current scenario present in a specific job or a department. This method of case study results in lesser risk in recruitment. The references given by the candidates are to be verified in detail to reduce chances for false résumés. The individual is asked for the opinion that will be put forth by the previous employers regarding the work. This should be cross checked with that of the referred party.

The method for calling for the possible recruits, the type of interview, the questions in the interview, must be custom made to suit the job involved if it is to be effective.