02 Feb Hiring Remains Strong – Hire for Job Fit and Culture Fit
Hiring continues to strengthen according to the US Department of Labor as employers added a surprisingly strong 353,000 jobs in January 2024 as the labor market continues showing solid gains. Unemployment stays at 3.7 percent, which has a significant impact on the strong economy as many businesses continue to grow and hire new employees. In a tight labor market such as this, the question remains whether those businesses are hiring the right people who can not only do the work, but who’ll fit in the culture of your organization. Remember, when you add one person to your team, you have an entirely new team.
One major complaint many organizations – regardless of industry – are registering is that they cannot find good people. The answer is surprisingly simple and it has less to do with the labor pool and more to do with their internal processes. Namely, they are not using science and research to guide the decision-making process when hiring, relying instead on what ultimately amounts to gut decisions or frankly in some cases, prayer. These same businesses would never think of purchasing a new piece of equipment or other system without thoroughly vetting the subject. But when it comes to people? “The old 90-day probation period should work out fine.”
Except relying on probation periods doesn’t drive results. Smart companies use people data assessments to help aid the hiring process. But here again there can be trouble. Not all assessments drive results. Why is that? Again, the answer is simple. They are not using the right assessments and then they fail to teach managers and leaders how to apply that data for onboarding, coaching, and improved communication with their people once they are on the job.
Some less-useful assessments can take 45 minutes to over an hour for an applicant to complete. Others ask useless questions that leave the applicant anxious, worried, and stressed out. Some are “either/or” questions that don’t truly reveal the motivating needs of the individual. Sure, some of the findings can be interesting, sadly most do not predict how a candidate will actually perform.
The smartest companies are the one that do use assessments that only take a few minutes to complete and that will not only predict how the candidate will perform as an employee, but (post hire) provide management training and performance management strategies to improve performance and productivity. That is how smart business drive Business Results.
Then, where most organizations need to recognize their own shortcomings is on their training and development of frontline managers and leaders. The best time to train a manager is before you promote them to the manager role. The next best time to train them is now. Training should include new supervisor skills, communication skills, delegation skills, and more. And training should never be a one-time event. Businesses must include performance metrics for managers to make sure they are employing leadership strategies and techniques with their direct reports.
Business Results trains managers competency-based interviewing, better coaching, how to improve communication, and better delegation skills, among other programs. Want to learn more? Contact us today for more information!