Peer interviewing is the process of hiring with the input of employees in the organization. Peer interviewing is done by employees of the specific work group of the position available. In other words, employees get to participate in choosing their future co-workers. There are many advantages with peer interviewing, people in specific work groups know best which candidate are most qualified and would best fit in the work group. The peer interviewing process not only helps your organization in selecting the best candidate for the position, it also promotes involvement from employees in the organization and helps increase morale within the company. Many successful companies such as IBM, Motorola, and Amazon use this method of interviewing.
Benefits of Peer Interviewing
One of the benefits of peer interviewing is that employees and candidates get to know one another during the interviewing process. During the process of peer interviewing, the candidates also gain a better understanding of the culture and structure of the organization. This helps new employees ease in the work environment and start performing sooner. Employees in the work group will also have more confidence in the ability of the new employee since they will have taken part in the selection process. Another advantage of peer interviewing is that the employees tend to put in more effort in to helping the new comer succeed because they have been involved in selecting the candidate. Turnover rates decrease and there is more harmony in the work environment. These are all factors found to contribute to the increase of productivity and performance.
Disadvantages of Peer Interviewing
Although peer interviewing brings forth benefits, there are some disadvantages to this method of hiring. Teams may experience problems when there are several qualified candidates and only one position open. It is not recommended when certain members of the work group have been terminated and the remaining employees from that work group select a replacing member. Peer interviewing may also decrease productivity as employees take time away from their jobs to do the interviews.
How to Conduct Peer Interviewing
It is recommended to select approximately four people from the work group to conduct peer interviews. The four employees selected for this task would be responsible for a different area of interviewing. For example, if one is responsible in finding out the relevant skill sets of the candidate, another employee would be responsible in assessing the interpersonal skills of the candidate. Similar to traditional interviewing, employees must understand the specific qualities the company is looking for. A Candidate Evaluation Form would be a great tool for this task. Make it clear to the peer interviews that their feedback will be taken into high regard, but the HR Department and Senior Management will make the final hiring decision.
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