H
iring is an opportunity and risk every company faces. It can be a costly mistake when you hire the wrong person for a job, (or just as important, rejecting the right person for the job.) The opportunity to hire right talent is a key component of growth. To reduce hiring risk, consider the following six phases.
Phase One: Issues to Avoid
Emotional Bias: When going through the hiring process, managers make conscious decisions and choices such as; flagging resumes for opportunities, rejecting and/or moving clients forward, etc. What managers may not be aware of is how their emotions impact their hiring decisions.
Emotional bias is a significant factor in the hiring process. Managers may look positively on a candidate that is outgoing, involved and open about their value proposition for the company. However, it is important the manager takes a step back and determine if the candidate is the right fit for the team right now and in the future. To combat this, managers should take an objective look at the values and abilities an employee brings to the company.
The experience trap: Experience is great and may be especially important depending on the role the company is trying to fill, however experience isn’t the only metric that matters. It is easy for hiring managers to reject candidates with limited to no experience, however they may be overlooking a candidate that could be a good fit for the role from a behavioural perspective.
While a candidate with previous relevant experience brings proven capabilities, it is important for a hiring manager to look for fit as well. Relying strictly on the resume can be mis-leading, (84% of people have lied or embellished a resume). Or some great candidates can’t break into the market, and thus will never be hired on a “resume-only” model, no matter how great they could be.
Phase Two: Objectively look at your business strategy and people strategy
Talent optimization is a platform that relies on matching your people strategy with your business strategy. As mentioned in phase one, emotional bias and the experience trap impact the hiring process. It is important to have a balanced approach that includes objective data. The Predictive Index System® connects behavioural data with a job. Coupled with job-requirement data, it helps identify what uniquely motivates and drives the candidate.
Phase Three: Use behavior and cognitive assessment to gain insight into the candidate
The Predictive Index Behavioural Assessment tool provides your Hiring Manager information relating to the candidate’s behavioural drives. For example, the candidate’s behavioural data could predict that they will be very extraverted, meaning that they will like to work with others and talk through problems to find a solution. From here, your Hiring Manager can determine if this fits the behavioural profile of the job.
Cognitive ability is the number one predictor of on-job success. The PI cognitive assessment provides insight into how quickly a candidate can get up to speed with the needs of the job. It is important to note that a candidates cognitive test score does not reflex someone’s IQ. A cognitive score reflects how quickly someone can process and take on new information, not how smart they are.
Insights into a candidate’s behavioural drive is important information for the hiring manager to consider when assessing if a candidate will fit the behavioural needs of the job.
Phase Four: Create a strong interview process
When it does come time to meet your top candidates, it is important to make sure you and those involved in the hiring process are prepared. Before the interview, it is important to note down on what the needs and wants for the company, as well as read into the candidate’s profile. Accordingly, ask meaningful and impactful questions that relate directly to both the needs and wants of the company and the candidate profile.
Another way to automate the process for clients is to use The Predictive Index ® tool, which auto-generates interview questions based on the candidates fits and gaps in the If you have a candidate that has already completed the behavioural assessment, you will be able to auto-generate questions that examine whether a person can meet the behavioural requirements of the job.(As Shown in Figure 1). These questions are custom to each applicant and explore if the candidate’s behaviour; 1. can adapt to the job and 2. is accurate to their behavioural assessment.
Figure 1
On top of this, it is important to come prepared with your own questions about the applicant’s resume and experience. To judge company culture fit, try bringing an employee from a completely different department to the interview to ensure the cultural fit is positive.
It is important to identify warning signs early, whether that is cultural fit, or behavioural fit. 39% of bad hire decisions have led to lower staff morale and 34% have resulted in lost of productivity in the company.
Phase Five: Decide on people data
After interviewing your candidates, it is time to decide. Behavioural and cognitive assessment data is a data-driven method to ranking candidates. The better fit the candidate has, the stronger productivity and retention will be. An employee who is engaged will have 22% higher productivity. The Predictive Index will allow you to match up a candidate’s behaviour, and the behavioural needs of the job.(As shown in figure 2).
Finally, try and envision how the candidate might influence the team culture as well as what type of contribution you can project the candidate making. The hiring process is one of the major contributing factors into why a company will either fail or succeed in the future, so it is important to go through the process thoroughly and have people data to back up your decisions.
Examine each candidate with data, not emotion.
To try The Predictive Index, contact dmaluish@predictivesucces.com for 5 free assessments for your team.
Sources:
https://hbr.org/2013/07/employee-engagement-does-more#:~:text=Improving%20employee%20engagement%20is%20not,conducted%20by%20the%20Gallup%20Organization.
https://www.sterlingbackcheck.ca/blog/2016/10/the-risks-of-a-bad-hiring-decision/#:~:text=Robert%20Half%20surveyed%20CFOs%20about,and%20monetary%20cost%20at%2025%25.
