Katherine Wiid of Recrion writes:
A number of clients I coach to increase their accuracy when hiring new staff, admit they get it right 50% of the time.
The other 50% of the time, their recruitment is costly. It holds their business back as they manage the fallout, spending 80% of their time managing under-performing staff. This cycle can also result in hiring managers losing confidence in their ability to select the right people.
If this is an issue you are facing and would like to get your recruitment and selection right 90% of the time, consider the following:
Don’t rely purely on the CV / interview process
Relying on how people present themselves is risky. People respond differently in job interviews. What you see isn’t always what you are going to get. Nerves have scuppered the chance of many top candidates, while others find it difficult to prove and emphasise their capabilities. Meanwhile, ‘good talkers’ tend to succeed and may well charm the interviewer(s), regardless of whether they are the best person for the job. It has left many of my clients realising that their new charming employee is actually ill-equipped to cope with their position.
Cheap user-friendly psychometric assessments may hinder the process
With a plethora of pre-screening and online assessment tools available, it’s easy to sit back and let the results lull you into thinking you’ve found the perfect person. I recently read Harvard Professor Todd Rose’s new book, The End of Average, in which he makes a compelling argument for throwing out the majority of assessment tools currently used to pre-screen candidates. This is because individuals behave, learn, and develop in different ways. These unique patterns of human behaviour get lost in assessments that are based on the premise that our personalities are fixed no matter what the circumstances are.
Find solutions that predict on-the-job performance and motivation
What should be measured when assessing a potential employee is what drives them and how they make decisions in specific situations. This flexibility to adapt our behaviour is not measured by the majority of pre-screening assessment tests. Another reason assessments can create inaccurate results is because 99% of tests require a candidate to self-select answers using an online questionnaire to determine their unconscious behaviours.
Adopt a scientific approach to uncovering what makes a candidate tick
Working with hiring managers over many years to increase their recruitment accuracy, I finally discovered a psycho linguistic tool that enables us to uncover a candidate’s real motivations and attitude to their work.
What is refreshing about the Language & Behavioural (LAB) Profile is that all it requires is the ability to closely listen to how candidates speak and respond to specific questions – with not a computer or questionnaire in sight!
An ideal way of using it is to have a 45 minute telephone interview with a candidate. The LAB Profile questions enable us to detect and analyse their subconscious patterns which means that we are able to know before hiring someone what sort of working relationship there will be and, most importantly, if the candidate wants to do the job.
Some of the answers you will get using the LAB Profile listening methodology:
- Are they in it for the long haul, or are they someone who needs to change job regularly to maximise performance?
- Are they proactive and want to take the initiative or more reactive and happy for others to take the lead?
- Are they motivated to achieve goals, or are they more motivated to avoid problems and are natural trouble-shooters?
After a 45-minute telephone interview, the hiring manager has a much clearer idea whether the candidate is motivated and will perform well in the job. By knowing exactly what motivates that person, you can ensure that they are motivated and passionate right from the word go.
With such an accurate pre-screening tool available, LAB profiling can minimise the risk of hiring the wrong person and ensure that you won’t have to repeat the whole recruitment process months down the line, when a candidate’s true feelings are revealed!
If you would you like to find out more about LAB and Job Profiling and how it could help you to hire and retain great employees please get in touch.