Hire smart and keep people productive

Selecting new personnel is, at best, an expensive proposition. That's one reason why it's essential to hire right the first time. When companies hire right the first time, they are not only more likely to find and keep good people, but also keep them productive. One way to accomplish this goal is to determine the behavioural attributes of a position and compare those requirements to the applicant.

The Secret to Success

It sounds easy to hire the right person, but it is the single, mission-critical imperative that companies often get wrong. The reason for this is that only in the last ten years have behavioural tools been widely embraced. Usually, experience, education or skills become the prevailing factor determining the quality of the applicant, as opposed to behaviour. The secret to hiring the right individuals and keeping them productive lies in knowing what their natural talents are. To do this, follow a three-step process:

1. Define the behavioural requirements that distinguish the qualities necessary for each position. Does the job require someone who is very friendly, sociable and outgoing, or someone who is more analytical, quiet and introverted?

2. Identify each applicant's behavioural style, and compare it to the job prerequisites to find the best match for the job. If an applicant's behavioural style is restless driving and energetic, he or she might not fit in a business development role or a routine sales position. The applicant may want the job but not be able to do the job well.

3. Determine the motivators and working environment that tie in with the employee's personality to keep them emotionally engaged and productive. Is the candidate most likely to be motivated by internal competition and the achievement of attainable goals, or is the individual motivated by recognition and positive feedback?

Job Fit

Job fit makes the difference between hiring awesome employees or mediocre ones. An organisation may have productive people, but those in the wrong job will have difficulty performing at a high enough level for management to be satisfied. Remaining productive is easier for employees in the right job.

Understanding an applicant or incumbent's behavioural attributes helps determine if the person is a generalist or a specialist. Some employees come into entry-level specialist positions, yet they are generalists. In other words, they don't have the right personality yet aspire to doing more than just working in the back end of the business. Successful managers understand the desire of these individuals to move forward into more challenging positions. The key is to identify these employees and place them on the fast track. Otherwise they are likely to discover these new hires will become frustrated and often leave within about the same time it took them to get fully trained.

Specific jobs call for specific behavioural capabilities. Employees placed in positions ill-matched for their personalities ultimately experience a decrease in productivity an increase in stress and ultimate failure. For example, an employee who thrives on pressure and requires a level of autonomy and social stimulation will not last in a slow-moving environment where the job becomes mundane. This kind of environment would likely cause this person to become frustrated to the point where they quit. Properly aligning positions to employees' personalities will more likely guarantee employee success and longevity.