The 'Good' and The 'Great' in Hiring

With candidate sourcing becoming easier with increased use of technology, and employer brand and employee advocacy being more effectively leveraged, one of the remaining challenges many organisations face is how to be sure that the right candidates are being progressed to the selection stage when faced with potential ‘information overload’, in this case, lots of CV’s from many adequately qualified candidates.

For organisations that want to ensure good market coverage, perhaps reach more passive candidates who may not be looking at your direct ad, or to find candidates with ‘hard to find’ skills, a good recruitment agency can certainly get CV’s on your desk in a short period of time, but this can present other challenges. An agency’s desire to quickly produce a shortlist, means quick decision making for the recruiter, often based on simply speedy CV scanning and a quick conversation. It is very possible, or even likely, that biases or inappropriate shortlisting criteria can creep in, however well-intentioned the recruiter may be.

With the growth of people analytics and more effective measurement of employee outcomes and the employee journey, the spotlight is really on making the right hire like never before, and executive teams are no longer just looking at the simple costs of making a wrong hire, such as the cost of sourcing candidates, training costs and loss of productivity.

Understanding of the positives aspects of making a truly excellent hire is growing in the business community. It is broadly accepted that high employee engagement means tangible boosts to profits and other business outcomes. HR departments are expected to supply highly engaged leaders of the future, innovators, and high performers. This means ensuring a good culture fit, making sure that the successful candidate is going to be fully committed and energised by the role, and predicting the likelihood of a good fit with their future team.

Getting these elements right means the best possible starting point for high employee engagement which is sustainable beyond the new hire ‘honeymoon period’, as engagement will be coming from a place of authenticity. Organisations who are successful in achieving ‘Best Workplaces’ recognition and consistently achieve high levels of engagement understand this, and actively work towards ensuring the best possible fit.

There is certainly a lot that organisations can do to promote a positive workplace and boost satisfaction in the short term, but there are no tricks that will turn around engagement levels in an employee who has taken the job for reasons which are not based on their own intrinsic needs, or who perhaps hold values and beliefs which are at odds with the organisation.

So with the current and future challenge being how to differentiate between ‘good’ candidates who will perform adequately, present few issues in the organisation, and stay for a reasonable amount of time, and 'great' candidates who will truly thrive in your organisation with sustained high engagement, the question is how can you best equip yourself to make this subtle, but important shift in decision-making between the 'average', 'good' and 'great' fit?

If you have found this post useful, please look out for my next posts, which will address each of the three levels of fit in turn. Next up for discussion will be ‘Role Fit'.

To discuss how we can help you improve your candidate shortlisting using our ‘Precision Fit’ model, please email me at [email protected] for more information.