Do you ever feel like you are missing a piece of the puzzle in your hiring process? Finding the right person can be a bit like finding the missing piece of a puzzle. Sometimes you find the correct fit, and sometimes you will find yourself forcing a “fit” that just doesn’t feel right. A key area that cannot be overlooked when hiring is job fit. Does the applicant have what it takes to thrive in the job?
A good job fit means that a potential candidate is able to reach their true potential in that position, because the job matches with their skills, internal motivations and strengths. If any of these factors are missing, the employee will not be able to achieve success and satisfaction in their work. A thorough and successful hiring process truly answers three key questions:
• Education, Training, or Experience: Can they do the job? Finding candidates who already posses these job requirements will make their transition much quicker; however, background alone is never an indicator of success or failure on the job. Remember that many times skills can be trained, but motivations cannot.
• Job Composition: Will they do it well? Does the candidate enjoy doing the tasks that are a part of this job? Will the job enable them to exercise their areas of strength? A good job fit means that the requirements of the work match with the candidate’s values, goals, and needs.
• Values and Goals: Do we want them on the job? To allow a good fit into the company culture, the candidate should have values and goals in common with those of their coworkers and the corporation. The candidate whose beliefs and outlook do not match the culture of the job will be frustrated and will cause frustration among the rest of the company. These “poor fit” candidates may not last very long, or potentially even worse, may affect those around them negatively.
The ideal candidates to be interviewed would excel in all of the 3 questions listed above. If a candidate does not prompt a “yes” answer for one or more of these questions, you are settling for second best in your organization.
Another key piece of the puzzle is this: Does the job meet the needs of the candidate? A job is more than just a paycheck, or at least it should be. Candidates will be more satisfied and more productive in their work if the job meets their needs. A good job fit means several of the candidate’s needs are being met, such as: purpose, appreciation, meaning, significance, community, and opportunities for growth.
By considering job fit during the hiring or promotional process, the employer is better able to find a match which will prove satisfying both for the candidate as well as for the organization as a whole. Engaged and thriving employees build a better workplace and help a company to become the best version of itself it could be.
Select Advantage has been helping organizations improve their hiring process, and helping them thrive, for more than 20 years. Our job specific, behaviorally based, pre-employment assessments provide an unparalleled view into job fit for an individual. For more information, call (800) 377-0554.