Recruitment of staff is critical for all organisations, big or small, as it’s through people that vision, mission, goals, objectives and daily activities are actioned. As much as this is the case, some business owners and managers do not pay a lot of attention to what informs their choice of staff over and above the minimum necessity of employing someone to do this or that.
In choosing suitable applicants for a particular vacancy, interviewers in formal and professional settings consider three key factors: qualification, attitude and experience. How an organisation combines these factors in order of priority and importance throws some light on whether they are mediocre, average or great players in their industry.
Prioritising qualification, followed by experience and then attitude typifies a mediocre organisation. The focus in such an organisation’s effort becomes qualifications, irrespective of when and how these were obtained. Promotions and pay levels are determined not by what an individual produces but often more by what qualifications they have, with the consequence that people spend time improving their qualifications. In daily interactions, it becomes very difficult for others to even have their views heard, as they do not have a particular qualification. Needless to say this stifles productivity and progress, which results in the organisation being a mediocre player in its industry. Emphasising experience, above qualification and attitude implies that experience is more important than the other two factors. Job applicants with more experience are favoured because length of service may mean loyalty and supposedly more knowledge. In this case newly qualified, creative and innovative applicants are lost, resulting in the organisation remaining average in its endeavours. When people with less experience try newer ways of approaching things, they are made to feel they shouldn’t because their approach has not been tried and tested.
In this way the organisation may remain unremarkable as it is robbed of the benefits of considering ground breaking and fresh way of doing things, especially in the fast paced digital work environments many organisations operate in. An emphasis on attitude focuses more on the applicants’ outlook on life in terms of their behavioural competencies, which include creativity, innovation, maturity and whether they are able to work with others or not. In this way, interviewers seek to understand whether there is a fit between an applicant and what the organisation stands for. It is apparent that attitude, experience and qualification is the winning combination. Only the progressive players, at the cutting edge of creativity and innovation in their industry, assess all these three critical factors. This approach is reflected in the culture of the organisation where individual effort is apprised and recognised on an ongoing basis. Employees qualifications take a back seat once they are qualified. Individual deeds and the legacy employees leave behind become more important and celebrated. Organisations taking this approach tend to make use of competence based interview techniques, behaviour assessment tools, role plays and presentations as part of their selection processes. This carries through even after appointment as employers recognise that attitude has to be kept in check all the time. Therefore ongoing personal development and learning is stressed. Any combination of the key recruitment factors gives some insight into the culture of your organisation. Unless this is something you have given some thought to, now is the time to start reassessing the thinking behind your recruitment approach.