Recruitment is among a manager’s most important duties.
Some employers recruit using a skills matrix. Others attempt to read candidates’ personalities in the hopes of finding one equal to the challenge.
Here at Agendrix, we believe that new hires’ personalities must fit with the team and with our corporate culture.
Here’s why personality should be of paramount importance in your recruitment process.
1. Skills Can Be Developed; Personality, Not So Much
Here, beyond the employer and the employees, there’s the great Agendrix team. When hiring, we look for people who will be able to progress and be happy with us in the long term. So, personality comes first.
Some of the qualities our team members share are curiosity, a willingness to learn, and open-mindedness.
Professional skills can be learned and improved, but personal and relational skills, not so much.
Personality Fit and Recruitment
Of course, it’s not all black and white.
For a more technical job, such as developer, skills are essential; a lack of skill can’t be overlooked because of a candidate’s sense of humor or openness, for example. However, even the most qualified developer won’t be an asset to your business if their attitude brings everyone else down.
Food for thought…
What About Professional Experience?
A candidate with 10 years of experience in a similar position can be an asset in that they already know how to do their job. But training fresh employees from the ground up also has its advantages; you can build them up according to your own way of doing things. These recruits won’t have assimilated another organization’s processes, nor will they have developed potentially unwanted reflexes.
Here at Agendrix, interns and fresh graduates are welcome. Our strategy is to train staff our way and brand them with our corporate culture. In other words, they present an opportunity, and we’re seizing it. A lack of experience doesn’t always have to be an obstacle.
2. A Tight-Knit Team Works Well Together
Everything in a business relies on the team.
And I’m not the only one who thinks so 😛!
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that as a business, if you have a clear vision of what you’re doing and surround yourself with people who can help you make it happen, you have everything you need to succeed. Conversely, even the best ideas can fail without a proper team.
Cultivating team dynamics is therefore not to be neglected.
Compatibility: An Essential Criterion
Have you ever imagined how difficult it would be for coworkers to work together if they all had randomly selected, incompatible personalities? Complementarity and compatibility are things you can’t force, and have to be carefully considered.
This is why your selection process must at all costs take personality into account.
The Agendrix Selection Process
Let me tell you about our marketing department’s selection process. Aside from the conventional interview, the candidate takes a practical test, the last step of which is done with a current employee. The final brainstorming session lets us see how the candidate reacts when their ideas are challenged, and how they work in a team.
Needless to say, this step of the process is of prime importance. It shows us glimpses of the candidate’s personality, and prevents us from relying solely on what they tell us about themselves.
And so the people we pick aren’t mere employees, but soon become members of a great tight-knit team… ambassadors of what our organization is all about.
3. Positive Work Ambiance Increases Staff Retention
If you’ve read up to this point, you might have an inkling of where we’re going with this. All managers want their teams to stay as long as possible. Staff retention saves a lot of time and money. Contrastingly, the loss of an employee costs 0.5 to 2 times their salary.
If your new hire feels at home on your team, they’ll be ready to make efforts to continually improve. Chances are, the employer-employee relationship will last.
Are Friends at Work a Plus for Staff Retention?
Working with friends is good for morale, and the same apparently goes for work quality. According to Hello workplace, it also boosts employee engagement by 35%.
Attention, Managers!
To conclude, personality isn’t everything, and it doesn’t necessarily make up for lackluster skills. However, one thing’s for sure: it drastically influences corporate culture. Having employees with aligned personalities has a tremendously positive ripple effect on staff retention, work ambiance and employee satisfaction and efficiency. Ideally, you want a balance between skills, knowledge and personality fit.
Do you give due consideration to personality in your hiring process?
