Finding the right hire depends not just on finding someone who can do the job, but finding the right talent for the right job. It’s so much more than just getting the right people in the door, but getting the right people in the right positions!
Applicants can have a great resume, impress you in the interview, and even have relevant experience, but you are probably well aware that none of these are a guarantee of being successful on the job. Finding the right fit for the job means you need to look below the surface. Finding someone who fits the job means they are more likely to stay in the job and be effective on the team, which impacts the overall bottom line of your agency.
Securing a great job fit means looking for an applicant whose motivations, strengths and behaviors are a match to what is needed for the job. Relying on an employee’s past experiences, their own claims about ability or strengths (and possible exaggerations), or “going with your gut” in your hiring decisions can easily lead you down the road of hiring the wrong person for the job, and ultimately cost you time, money, and headache.
The advantage to using a job-specific behavioral analysis in your hiring process is that you will learn who possesses the behaviors which are most likely to determine success in that position. Analyzing behaviors will tell you much more than a skills or personality test can. The behavioral test is created using superior performers working in that same job as the standard, and reveals which applicants possess the greatest match to those innate behaviors which superior performers possess.
Just as not all applicants are the same, not all assessments are the same either. Use an assessment that was created for that specific position, as opposed to a generic test that has been normalized for your industry. It is also important to implement a behavioral assessment early in the hiring process- before you have invested too much time or energy into someone who may turn out to not be a good match. Getting beneath the surface and beyond your “gut” will undoubtedly reward you, as you begin to discover which of your applicants are really the “Mr. or Ms. Right” you’ve been searching for.