JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN FOG A MIRROR...DOESN'T MEAN
YOU SHOULD HIRE THEM!
St. Louis DMA Newsletter - Spring 2001

But unfortunately, in this current market of applicant shortage…the temptation is strong to hire the next warm body that walks in the front door! However, that type of hiring does a disservice to the applicant, to your other employees and to your organization as a whole. Have you ever hired a mistake? You know how disruptive and costly that can be!

How do we help provide some objectivity to our hiring decisions in the face of this pressure to fill an open position and keep pace with the growth and expansion our business is facing? The answer is to use assessment tools that allow you to create valid benchmarks of the required characteristics that lead to successful performance of the job. Once the benchmark is established, test applicants against that benchmark to ensure that valid criteria are used to make the final hiring decision.

There are many tests available on the market today and the caution for any company using them is that they must be validated. The criteria used to determine a person’s success in a particular job position must include performance dimensions that 1) are relevant to that specific position and 2) can be measured against successful employees currently in the position with those dimensions. If those 2 criteria are met, an employer can feel comfortable they are using a tool that has no personal biases and can be applied without discrimination to all applicants. If the applicant meets the criteria for the benchmark, then the employer has the objective information needed to make the hiring decision.

How does an organization benefit by using validated assessments for recruitment and employee development?

1. Reduced turnover because new hires are selected who have the characteristics to be successful…in THAT job!
2. Improved employee morale because new additions to the team will “fit” the team
3. Recruitment and training costs SIGNIFICANTLY reduced! Exhausting interviewing time is eliminated and new hires need less upfront training because they come into the job with core skills to handle it
4. Productivity increases as more employees stay longer and as the learning curve is shortened.

New hire candidates who match the job requirements are productive on the job much faster!
So, don’t let the pressures from management and staff force you to make a hiring decision that you may regret down the road. Use an objective tool - validated testing that assesses a candidate’s match to the specific job requirements. And don’t use a “cookie cutter” job pattern or benchmark; an account executive at Company A may need to be much more Assertive and Innovative than one working at Company B, depending upon the level of responsibility and the corporate environment. Use an assessment tool that allows YOU to customize the success criteria for the job at YOUR company!

Stay Objective, Hire for Job Match…not just because they can breathe!