Research has shown that 46 percent of employees fail within 18 months of starting a new job – and it’s not because they lack the necessary skills.
During the hiring process, managers tend to focus too much on technical and educational requirements and not enough on interpersonal relationships and finding the right cultural fit. In fact, 82 percent of hiring managers in hindsight reported that their interviews unveiled subtle clues that a good fit was questionable, but they hired candidates anyway. Not so subtle after all!
Coachability, attitude and emotional intelligence are more predictive of a new hire’s success rate than any level of technical competence. Remember, hire for these qualities. You can always train for skills development.
Coachability
It’s critical that a new hire has flexibility and is adaptable to new job requirements and changing business needs. This indicates a willingness to learn, take advice, and remain motivated and self-aware.
- Look for candidates who are open to constructive criticism. They should be able to adjust their work habits based on direction from managers, peers and work groups, for the good of the company and their own careers.
- To find out if a person is coachable, ask. Have they been coached in prior positions? How did it go? Job seekers should be proud to describe successful coaching experiences as a sign of their willingness to develop and improve.
Coachable individuals are:
- Open to personal and organizational change. Your potential hire should have the ability to orientate smoothly to your culture and way of doing business.
- Self-aware. Look for candidates with the desire and aptitude to create awareness around their strengths, weaknesses, emotions and behavior patterns – and how these traits could potentially impact their results. Employees with a propensity for self-awareness are ahead of the curve toward becoming leaders.
- Motivated. If a person is coachable, they’re willing to try new things, form new habits and be dedicated to the process.
Attitude
If you hire for attitude, you will build the passionate, engaged workforce you need to grow and compete. Start by surveying your current employees. Ask them about high and low performance issues, situations and consequences. This will provide a foundation for developing an attitude-focused hiring and interview process.
- Attitude correlates directly with culture. Do your homework to clearly define your culture and company “attitude.” For instance, DoubleTree Hotels promotes its culture of freedom, informality and flexibility as it asks candidates to “tell me about the last time you broke the rules.”
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence accounts for up to 69 percent of performance success. It is crucial to any employee who needs to be adept at the give-and-take of working as part of a creative, dynamic team.
To hire for emotional intelligence, hone in on:
- Self-regulation. Emotionally intelligent people can regulate their own emotions and control their behavior. By being continually aware of feelings such as fear, anger or anxiety, they prevent themselves from losing control or spreading these emotions to others.
- The ability to read others and recognize the impact of emotion-driven behavior on them. Look for candidates with a well-developed social and emotional radar. They can sense how their words and actions influence their colleagues. Candidates with a high emotional quotient are deft persuaders and motivators because they’re so skilled at reading others’ cues and adjusting their own words and behaviors accordingly.
As you seek to avoid costly hiring mistakes, you may benefit from working with a niche staffing partner who clearly understands your business needs and culture. To learn more, contact PrideStaff Fresno today.