Forget seeking talent who tick all the boxes; hone in on their behaviour instead
With the unemployment rate sitting at 5%, the lowest in a decade (ABS), and COVID prompting people to rethink what they value in their lives and careers, employers have their work cut out attracting and retaining top talent.
And the myriad of cutting-edge HR solutions on offer can make the quest to find and hold onto the right people appear even more daunting. However, it’s not necessarily about new tools, but new ways of looking at established practices, says Dina Ward, Chief Psychology Officer for Testgrid, which provides employment testing and consulting. And there are two established practices in particular that are worth revisiting.
The first is psychometric testing. The second centres on what we demand of prospective employees.
Psychometrics as a science has been around since the 1880s, and testing has proved a valuable tool for offering cognitive and behavioural insights into job applicants. However, while cognitive data is useful, it’s increasingly behavioural data where HR will derive most value, says Ward. And the payoff for homing in on behavioural traits? Happy, engaged workers.
“Our advice to clients is ‘don’t just look for those who do well in the cognitive test; look for those that have the right behaviours’. If the employee falls short in some skill areas or experience, that shouldn’t be a sign not to recruit but to ensure there are learning opportunities and a career pathway,” says Ward.
“Someone might score highly on numerical reasoning, but if they haven’t got the behaviours you want in a role, it doesn’t matter how smart they are. You can have the right skills and experience but if you can’t work well with others, collaborate, and drive a good team culture, you are probably not going to work out well in the job.”
And with behavioural data, you get to recycle it again and again.
“You can leverage it past recruitment,” says Ward. “You know for example that this person is not really oriented towards leadership, but that there is potential for them to grow. So, you create a pathway where they can move up through levels of leadership. You can ask from day one, what sort of learning will facilitate the growth of some of these behaviours?
“At Testgrid, we help clients ascertain the behaviours that come naturally. So, if someone is comfortable working on their own, getting technical and problem solving but is applying for a sales role where they have to collaborate, socialise, and share ideas, that won’t get the best out of them. If you are bringing so much energy every day to things that don’t come naturally, you start to feel exhausted, disengaged or bored and eventually that leads to turnover.”
The second part of the puzzle: the job advertisement. Here it’s vital to understand the roles you are recruiting for and what’s required, says Ward.
“We often see our clients overcomplicating things, looking for non-existent superhero candidates. The role might require operating in a small area, but they’re looking for a candidate who can do all this other stuff that isn’t necessarily related.
“This is the biggest challenge I put to clients: ‘your job ad says five years’ experience in industry X. Why?’ That five years’ experience may not have led to their developing more skills or insights. Yet someone with two years’ experience may have grown and developed in meaningful ways.”
Stipulating a list of ‘great-to-haves’ can create problems later on, says Ward.
Your high-achieving candidate gets put in a role that requires limited skills, and of course they become disengaged.
“Yet it’s easy, once you have people on board, to invest in their learning and development. That’s another way to drive engagement; you offer a pathway and you spend resources, showing you are dedicated to their development and growth within your organisation.”
Testgrid has recently released a guide that provides tactics to develop people into engaged employees who won’t get bored or disheartened by their role. You can download the guide here: https://testgrid.com/blog/insights/finding-and-keeping-engaged-employees/
