Hiring Right – What to Really Look For

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If you’ve ever been on the hiring end of the interview table, you probably started the interview by looking at a resume or an application to get a feel for the individual’s qualifications, right? And those qualifications, or technical skills is most likely what you focused on during the interview because you’re looking for someone who can handle the job duties, i.e.  has the experience to get the work done without a steep learning curve.

Would it surprise you to know that technical skills, or lack thereof,  is not the main reason that most new hires don’t succeed at their position? In fact, according to a study by Leadership IQ, in a survey of over five thousand managers, only 11% of new hires don’t make it because they lacked the necessary technical skills. So what about the other 89%? Keep reading, you might be surprised at the findings:

• 26% of new hires didn’t make it due to Coachability - they couldn’t accept and implement feedback
• 23% didn’t make it because they lacked Emotional Intelligence - the ability to manage your own emotions, and correctly assess other’s emotions
• 17% didn’t make it because they didn’t have enough Motivation to excel at their positions
• 15% had the wrong Temperament for the position
• And 11% failed due to lack of Technical Skills.

Interestingly, many (82%) of the managers that responded to the survey reported that they had cues during the interview that suggested that they might have problems down the road, but overlooked it because they were too focused on the skill set required for the job! Perhaps it’s time for a change.

The cost of hiring the wrong person, compounded by the lost opportunity cost of hiring someone who excels, can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars even for small businesses. So hiring the right person to begin with is worth the time to take a look at alternatives approaches.  Interviews, instead of focusing almost entirely on skills, should be re-structured to include an evaluation of interpersonal skills, motivation and temperament.

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