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An Emotionally Intelligent Workplace Culture: Is it For You?
If as much as 80% of adult success comes from emotional intelligence, what would it be like if your workplace had a culture that fostered emotional intelligence?
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Why Selecting Candidates Who FIT the Job Is Critical!
Anyone with the responsibility for hiring or promoting employees
knows how aggravating it is to select a candidate that seemed
right during the interview process only to realize later the new
employee isn't really a good fit for the job. Both the company
AND the employee suffer for it. Poor job fit often results in
lost productivity, the need for tough management, conflict,
burdens placed on other employees, acceptance of sub-par
performance, lack of engagement, poor retention and more - all
costly issues for today's lean organizations. Many companies
calculate their costs associated with turnover; that is one
measure. But the true cost includes all of the above and more.
Admit it, we sometimes (or is it 'too often') hire the wrong
person for the job.
First, let's acknowledge that selecting the right candidate to
work for you is hard. Here are just some of the reasons (e-mail
me with yours):
* A number of people who make hiring decisions are not trained
selection experts.
* Candidates are often 'less than honest.'
* Resumes leave out all but the good and safe stuff. * There is
a lack of clarity (by the hiring manager) about what is required
- beyond hard skills, experience and training - to perform the
specific job well.
* Candidates are often hired because they have skills and are
likeable.
* Candidates know a lot of people in the industry often have an
advantage - even when not justified.
* Candidates are often better prepared for the interview than
the interviewers (especially true of candidates presented by
some recruiters).
* Candidates who are not a good fit - and the hiring manager
knows it - get hired anyway. It's the "Who knows, maybe they'll
surprise us". (How scary is this one.)
How can you prevent hiring the wrong candidate in your
organization?
1. Define the 'hard' needs of the job including experience
required (and in what), knowledge of industry, training and
education, consistency of work history, willingness to travel,
what they need to be proficient at (like using Excel or driving
a truck). A review/background check is mandatory. Information
provided needs to be verified. Examples include the candidate's
experiences, references, education, skills and training. All of
this tells us WHAT they can do and whether it matches the
requirements of the job.
2. Develop a list of 3-6 key accountabilities (goals) that the
employee in this job will be held accountable for accomplishing.
Accountabilities are the reason the job exists. They must be
measurable. And these key accountabilities should occupy about
80% of the employee's time and focus. (Note: From my work with
clients, establishing key accountabilities is the most important
pre-hiring activity and the one most often neglected.)
3. Benchmark the job. We find that those companies that
effectively benchmark the soft skills required for success in
the job have the information they need to look for the right
candidate. And the information is objective (helping to
eliminate bias). Notice I did not say benchmark your top
performers in the job (such as sales). The reason is that your
top performers may just be top performers in your company. It is
not unusual for a company to benchmark the job and then assess
their top performers and find this to be the reality. All is not
lost. Two opportunities present themselves:
a. Using the benchmark you can upgrade the talent in the
position.
b. Using the benchmark and the reports generated from our
assessment reports, you will have great information with which
to coach your current top performers into even greater
performance.
Also, using a predetermined benchmark is fine for comparison
sake, but it may not be accurate for the specific job you are
filling or for succession planning.
4. Assess top candidates versus the benchmark. By using
validated, legal assessments designed for use in selection of
top candidates, assessing candidates' soft skills is easier
today than ever before. You can have the candidate complete
assessments via Internet access. And you will often have their
reports within minutes. The candidate's reports should align
with the benchmark which makes your analysis easy and quick. In
areas that are marginal, the candidate's reports should guide
you in asking interview questions that target the soft skills
that are most important to success in the job.
Soft skills are really important in all jobs?
There was a time when it wasn't very fashionable in business to
focus on soft skills. The trend was to focus on hard skills (Can
they DO the job?). Today, though, we
have matured and understand
that soft skills (sometimes called personal skills) often have
more to do with success and failure in a job than hard skills.
For example, I have heard more than one client say "We can train
them to do X, but if they aren't good team players (a soft
skill), they can't be effective." One of the early proponents of
soft skills was Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional
Intelligence. Soft skills comprise a person's job attributes,
their motivators and their behaviors.
* Attributes are a cognitive measure of how strongly a person
values certain competencies like customer service, leading
others, quality orientation, flexibility, internal self control
or self management. Attributes help us understand if the
candidate WILL do the job. If a person does not value an
attribute critical to success in the position, they will not
consistently use that attribute.
* Motivators tell us WHY a person does what they do. There are
six primary Motivators: Theoretical, Individualistic, Social,
Utilitarian, Traditional and Aesthetic. Here's an example:
Someone who is highly Utilitarian is motivated by results. They
are profit-driven and bottom line oriented. They are driven by
competition, challenges and economic incentives. If the job
provides and rewards these characteristics, the individual will
be motivated. If the job does not, the person will not be
motivated by the job.
* Behaviors tell us HOW the person prefers to and does work -
were once thought to be the key to success performance in a job.
While still seen as important, Attributes and Motivators are
often more important because it is easier to adapt behaviors to
the situation. That said, Behaviors can cause a person to fail
in a job or feel a great deal of stress because their style is
not a good fit for the job. For example, if someone is outgoing,
putting them in a job that has little people contact will be
very frustrating for them. Someone in a position of authority
who has difficulty making decision will have trouble leading. In
addition, an understanding of one's behavioral style and that of
others seems to be critical to effective interpersonal
communication.
(The right) assessments are the key to successful hiring.
What is really powerful about the use of assessments in the
selection process is that they can provide us with objective,
job related information that can really help us make good
decisions - information that is very hard to get to in
interviews. The right assessments are designed to help you
understand a candidate's attributes, motivators and behaviors.
Comparing a candidate's assessment reports to the job benchmark
can help you understand how good - or poor - a fit the candidate
will be for the job. Assessments help you get under the resume
and the candidate's interviewing persona. The right assessments
will unearth a wonderfully rich body of information which you
can use to help you continue the interviewing process and make
your decision. The information you get from a candidate's
reports can even serve as a coaching guide for those candidates
you hire or incumbents you are working to develop. One of my
clients, who has been using assessments for the past three
years, says "I don't know how we could effectively make a hiring
decision today without the information we get from these
(assessment) reports." Another client says "These reports have
saved me, more than once, from making a terrible hiring mistake."
The benefits of hiring employees who fit their job.
Managers who are clear about the requirements for success in a
job - including the ideal profile of personal attributes,
motivators and behaviors - will have high levels of success when
they select the candidate to hire. Filling each of your job
openings with candidates who really fit the job is simply good
business. It improves productivity, morale, and ultimately, the
success of your organization. It reduces the burden on the
manager because the employee will like their job. It creates
energy for those who work around someone who likes their job. It
creates loyalty (yep, there is still such a thing as loyalty).
It inspires creativity. And finally, it saves money and reduces
disruptions to the business which is the result of having to
fire someone or having them quit (whether they actually leave or
not).
Copyright © 2005 Joe McKenna.
About the author:
Joe McKenna, founder of The KENNA Company, is an expert in the
areas of employee selection, succession planning, executive
coaching, communication skills and team building. He can be
reached at (816) 943-0868 or info@kennacompany.com. Find Joe on
the web at http://www.kennacompany.com.
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