Think about the last significant purchase you made. It’s likely that you obtained some objective data to help with your decision making, but what objective data have you available when making recruitment selection decisions?

Recruitment process

So, your business is going well and you’ve decided it’s time to hire a new employee or two. You define the role, quantify the qualifications and experience the person needs to have, place your job advertisement all over the internet, or depending on your business, brief your HR Manager or engage a recruitment company.

The “fun” has only just begun. Research shows we get it right about 25% of the time! By “get it right” we mean hiring a top performer, not just a good or adequate performer. Think about that, a process that delivers the right outcome only 25% of the time – I doubt you would tolerate this in any other part of your business.

Yes, hiring new people is far more than checking a resume, ‘liking’ a candidate at interview, and trusting the rest to luck.

But don’t be too hard on yourself, given that studies show around 50% of candidates embellish their resumes and a staggering 81% tell lies during an interview, it’s no wonder you struggle to get it right.

There’s a science behind the selection of new employees which can revolutionise your process and the way you identify and develop top performers.

The importance of “Fit”

Having followed 360,000 people through their careers during a period of 20 years, a major study published by Harvard Business Review demonstrated that a key ingredient in selecting and retaining people is ensuring that they are matched to their jobs in terms of their abilities, interests, and personalities. The study discovered that educational qualifications, experience, age, gender or race are not statistical predictors of top performance in a job. That’s a bit scary, because that’s what we see on resumes and also what most employers use when selecting new people.

The study demonstrated though, that when you put people in jobs where the demands of the job matched their own abilities, where the stimulation offered by the job matched their particular interests, and where the cultural demands of the position matched their personalities, staff turnover decreased dramatically, and productivity increased drastically.

What exactly is “Fit?”

“Fit” is the degree of compatibility between an individual’s strengths, needs, and wants in a particular job and work environment. When interests align, the employee and the organisation experience a good job fit. Establishing job fit helps to identify and place individuals in positions where they are likely to be successful. Job fit determines if a person CAN do a job, HOW they will do a job, and if they will ENJOY doing the job.

Why should you establish fit?

Did you know that employees who are well matched to their jobs are 2.5 times more productive on the job? Studies show that proper job fit improves engagement and job satisfaction, resulting in increased productivity, while negative factors such as job related stress, tension, workplace conflict, and costly employee turnover diminish it. There are numerous studies over the past five to ten years that demonstrate the significant impact increased productivity, reduced employee turnover and early failure have on your bottom line. CHA-CHING! It makes sense to establish fit.

How to establish fit

Do you wish you could consistently replicate high performers? It’s easy to recognise top performers when you see them in action or review their numbers. The challenge is understanding what makes these people successful, and ensuring future candidates share these success factors.

A key component in establishing job fit is to know exactly what the role or position in question demands. The first step we recommend is to create a comprehensive and detailed job description.

Then, using a validated assessment, identify the characteristics of employees who have demonstrated success in that particular position. You can then use this data as a basis for developing a performance model (benchmark) which can be used when evaluating potential applicants to help predict their future success. Our Job fit solutions combine tested and reliable data derived from employee assessments with customised data to create a benchmark, which will match candidates to the job and specific company. In essence, our validated assessments and people analytic tools help you extract the ‘success DNA’ of your most productive staff.

How does job fit help?

Job fit assessments help you make better hiring decisions by helping you understand the core characteristics of your top performers. There is no greater tragedy in business than hiring competent employees into jobs in which they are destined to fail. When this happens, their potential is wasted and its costs you between half and two thirds of their salary!

Our hiring solutions measure the essential behaviour characteristics you need to make the most intelligent hiring and selection decisions. Our assessment tool kits help business owners, professional recruiters and hiring managers predict job suitability, and accurately assist in matching people with the work they will do in their new jobs.

Today, many organisations use job fit assessments throughout the interview process to learn more about job candidates. There are many kinds of employee assessments available, but the most successful hiring assessments use job fit as a tool to increase consistency and success in the hiring process. By including job fit as a key factor in their employee selection and redeployment process, our clients hiring procedure is significantly more effective, and results in an increase of up to 300% in identifying future top performers.

So, whether you are business owner or leader, a HR manager or a professional recruiter, we have a hiring solution tool kit to meet your needs. Of course, you can also stick with that process that works 25% of the time! Contact us to get started finding the right fit.

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