Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Group 1 - HRM - SG Cowen
Group 1 - HRM - SG Cowen
PRES ENTED BY - GR OU P 1
Ankur Sharma
Anish Gupta
Prakhar Nagori
Pratyush Lahiri Choudhary
Raghav Bhatnagar
Vinay Jain
Ya s h v a r d h a n K a b r a
Increased Public
Scrutiny
Dearth of Talent
Dependence of
Professionals
Characteristics
Competition in Labor
Market
Competition in
Financial Market
Company Background
In 1998
France-based
Socit
Gnrale
Group
Acquires
US-based
Cowen
Forms
SG Cowen
Hiring Process
1
Decision
Made in
Winter/Sprin
g
Involved
Maybe
decisions and
buffer offers
2.
1
2.
2
2.
3
Internally
New Hires
Presentation
at Core
Schools
Interns
Final
Discussion
and Offers
Super
Saturday
Assignment
of Team
Captains
Addition of
non-core
applications
5
Campus
Interview
Informationa
l Interviews
Company Presentation
Happened well before the interview rounds
Addressed four questions
Who we are
What do we do
What distinguishes us from competitors
What are the next steps
Cultural
Fit
Informational Interview
First stage ahead of formal interviews
Helped firm to gauge the seriousness and enthusiasm of candidates
For candidates, it helped to learn about the firm and industry
Team captains
Banking professionals
Alumni
On Campus Interviews
Conducted by associates/ senior associates
Encouraged to take detailed notes during the interview
Identification of talent
Assessing skills
Super Saturday
Interviews are conducted by senior employees of S G Cowen.
Multiple interviews/ interviewers: The candidate has to go through five
interviews lasting half an hour each
Yield: 66%
Pseudo social setting with a formal interview process
Attributes looked for in the candidates: Commitment to Firm, Maturity,
Interpersonal and technical skills, leadership and work ethics
Interviews completed till noon
Recruitment Funnel
Initial Screening
Rejected
applications
On Campus
Round
Super Saturday
Selected
candidates
10
Strong references
No business experience
Too mature
Difficulty to take orders
Married with 2 children
Lower willingness to work 24/7
Low GPA
Possibility to leave the company
and turn back to his own business
Unsatisfied compensation/ salary
Evaluation Sheet
Factors Considered
Commitment to the firm
Judgment/Maturity
Interpersonal Skills
Leadership
Technical Skills
Work Ethic
Candidate Evaluation
Chart Title
4.5
4
3.5
3
4
3.5
3.5
2.75
2.5
4
3.5 3.5
2.5
1.5
3
2.33
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Candidate 2
Leadership
Candidate 3
Technical Skills
Candidate 4
Work Ethic
Final recruits:
Andy Schenz
Natalia Godlewska
17
16.5
16
15.5
Overall Rating
Candidate 1
Candidate 2
Candidate 3
Candidate 4
Lack of attention to
resumes from noncore schools
Evaluation of
candidates from
non-core schools to
be done during
office hours
Lack of interviewer
training
On-Campus Round
Super Saturday
Senior managers
want to get done
with very quickly
since its on a
holiday
Selectors might be
biased based on
their own team
preferences and
demands
Difficulty in building
concensus
Way Forward
Human capital is arguably the most valuable resource of any organization
It is critical to select the best candidates to enhance company value and
achieve strategic goals
SG Cowen needs to reconstruct its recruitment and selection process to
more effectively identify optimal recruits while eliminating current
tendencies of subjectivity, discrimination, and hurried decisions
We believe that providing the bankers with HR interview and selection
training, implementing more standardized, defined assessment measures,
and encouraging greater time commitment would be beneficial changes to
better select new hires
Way Forward
Process
Improveme
nt
Interviewer
Training
Providing the bankers with HR interview and selection training, implementing more
standardized, defined assessment measures, and encouraging greater time commitment
would be beneficial changes to better select new hires