Personality or a Paper Fit decision ….

Sales tem

 

How many times have you experienced a candidate that looks great on paper interviewed well had all the necessary qualifications for the position but still fell flat on their face after the first few months?

It is understandable that we all want the absolute “Right Fit” for our companies but, too often many of our hiring decisions are based on the opposite of what we should be looking for.

 

 “Someone who will Excel in the Position”.

Most position listings have a comprehensive inventory of needed degrees, certifications, qualifications and requirements all too often undervaluing the right personality!

Too often get caught up in what looks good on paper and forget to reflect on what we need hour by hour day by day month by month from a synergized team working together. A CHEMICAL FIT is crucial to recruitment success, without it the relationship does not survive the long term. A Master’s Degree will not tell you if a person is a self-starter, or a certificate will not give you any idea if this person works well with others. Disqualifying unqualified candidates too early may wipe out individuals that could be a great fit before they can prove themselves and perhaps bring innovative solutions to the team.

We need to remember knowledge can be gained, skills can be learned but it is impossible to train someone to get along with existing team members or importantly our culture. Studies have shown that attitude and cultural fit are much larger contributions to success and longevity to a team environment. If we fail to connect this dot in our recruitment process it can cost an organization between 50-60% of the person’s annual salary, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

It’s important to define and articulate the organization’s culture – its values, goals, and practices – and a behavioral profile that works best for the position success then weave this understanding into the hiring process.

For example, if a strong sense of entrepreneurism is one of your organization’s cultural hallmarks, ensuring that potential candidates are entrepreneurial, with a track record of thriving in similarly entrepreneurial environments will be imperative. This would be a key signal of culture fit.

Here are some questions that will help assess culture fit in an interview:

  • What type of culture do you thrive in?
  • What values are you drawn to and what’s your ideal workplace?
  • Why do you want to work here?
  • How would you describe our culture based on what you’ve seen?
  • Is this something that works for you?
  • Tell me about a time when you worked with/for an organization
    where you felt you were not a strong culture fit. Why was it
    a bad fit?

 

To define a behavioral profile a tool called DISC utilizes a method for understanding behavior, temperament, and personality. A DISC Profile provides a comprehensive overview of the way that people think, act, and interact. It is the most widely used profiling tool of its kind, and is supported by decades of validation and reliability studies. We have used this profile extensively in our hiring process and have this testing available independently for companies that have their own HR departments and value the important factors this profile provides to the hiring evaluation ask us for a free review at www.findsalestalentcanada.com  or www.findsalestalentusa.com