Your organization depends on its human capital to survive. As a recruiter or hiring manager it’s your job to make sure the right people are hired to do the right job which ultimately makes the company thrive financially.
This, indeed, is a tall order. Yes, hiring new employees is taken for granted but finding the proverbial ‘needle in the haystack’ (top performer) is not. You are expected to meet a complete stranger, spend a very short period of time getting to know that person and find out what’s going on ‘behind the scenes’, cognitively and behaviorally in order to match that person up with the prospective job. Candidates can be quite complicated, multi-faceted and sometimes adept at displaying an ‘all capable’ persona while really being capable of very little.
On the other hand, a humble or self-effacing personality can perhaps drive a company’s revenues to beyond anyone’s expectations. ‘Show and tell’ begins with the resume, continues with an interview, and concludes with much guesswork as to whether or not this person is truly a good fit for the job and with the potential manager. What’s hidden in between the lines of the polished resume and nice smile or intelligent answers in that first interview?
Remember, the human being applying for the job is quite intricate and much is at stake in terms of a potential bad hire (and your own job for that matter). According to one study, 46% of new hires fail within 18 months while only 19% achieve unequivocal success. Even worse, another study found that 85% of job applicants lie on resumes; and by the way, have you ever heard of someone giving a bad reference? Hiring is all about deciphering; being a detective and investigating if your candidate is a perspective Dr. Top Performer or Mr. Joe Average or neither.
Is there a way to objectively cut through the clutter, noise, and lies to quickly and accurately identify and select a top performer and perhaps even compatibility with a future boss? Is there a reliable, predictive indicator that can measure future success on the job? How can the recruiter and hiring manager remove the guesswork and get an edge in this process? A pilot would not fly blindly without an instrument panel and a doctor can’t diagnose without lab test results; so too are assessments indispensable to the selection process.
Assessments, when used as part of the hiring process, fill the gap between the resume and the interview. They provide the objectivity, clarity, specificity, and metrics needed to select the right person for the right job. Assessments significantly lower turnover and the risk of a bad hire, increase retention and productivity. Countless organizations world-wide have collectively saved hundreds of millions of dollars using assessments, dramatically increasing productivity, and producing happier, more engaged employees.
In the big picture, we can reach our goals and potential individually, collectively, and organizationally with the right tools. It’s your turn now if you have not already joined the assessment bandwagon.
Yosef Lester
HR Staffing Tools
