Making school matter - considering high-school grades in employee recruitment

HR Magazine, August, 1999 by Patricia A. Rouzer

Alternative Strategies

Uncertainty over the legal questions is the primary reason many companies endorse the concept, but not the process, of using school records in hiring, says Simon. "In my experience, very few companies ask for records because of the possible legal implications. When you combine that with the lack of established, universal standards in grading and in class content among schools and states, many companies can't justify putting the resources into collecting and evaluating a job applicant's grades," she says.

The SHRM School-to-Work Committee "has discussed the issue many times, but unless some of these very basic issues and problems are cleared up, I don't think we'll officially endorse the initiative," Simon says. "We certainly want to impress students with the fact that school and good grades are important, but most of us are still scrambling to find a truly effective and direct way to demonstrate that in the hiring process."

With so many issues involving school records yet to be settled, some companies require students to submit "proof of performance in high school" instead of a traditional transcript. They use the information - a list of courses with corresponding grades, the grade point average and extracurricular activities, honors and awards - as a basis for discussion during interviews, but not for actual hiring decisions. This approach drives home to students the message that school matters, but sidesteps the legal liability that could arise from using school records directly in hiring decisions.

Unum Corp. of Portland, Maine, uses this strategy to foster understanding among students that grades and other measures of school performance are important to employers. John Carroll, program consultant for Unum, a publicly held disability and special risk insurance holding company, says Unum views the required "proof of performance" as a matter of community leadership.

"We don't make any direct link between the records and our hiring decisions," Carroll explains. "They really serve as talking points in the interview process - a demonstration of interests that become the groundwork for discussing areas of strengths and possible career goals. And it also telegraphs to students that we believe in depth of knowledge and we are working to help build that into the school system. Ultimately, we're telling students that we believe students who are successful in the education system will be successful in life.

"We want to send a message of accountability - to demonstrate that we value young people who challenge themselves and work hard in high school, regardless of whether they go to college," Carroll says. "College-bound kids have a built-in incentive to get good grades. We need to create the same kind of incentive for students who enter the workforce from high school. The question isn't if we should do it, but how."

Carroll views some use of grades in hiring as a point on a continuum linking schools with the workplace. "The world is becoming more complex and the skills workers need to succeed are more technical and more sophisticated. Neither education nor business can afford to exist in splendid isolation," he says.