The Importance of Talent!

To remain competitive in the current business climate, you must attract, develop, nurture and inspire talented employees to ensure they remain within your company to meet current and future demands.

It is no longer enough to identify talent once they have been hired and worked for your company for a period of time.   

Identifying talent must begin with the detailed assessment of applicants during the selection and recruitment phase. It is at this time that desirable competencies and skills such as the ability to influence, divergent thinking, problem solving abilities and a strong motivation to learn and be successful will become apparent.

Talented individuals are driven. They want to achieve the best results in the most efficient way possible and often view challenges as opportunities to think more innovatively. Top performers are motivated by others like them, leading to stronger collaboration and higher-functioning teams. This fosters a bolder vision for your organisation and will impact the bottom line in a beneficial way.  Imaginative ideas which facilitate business growth and customer satisfaction will create enhanced productivity and profitability. This underscores the importance of attracting talent. If you can match such desirable qualities with the right position and align a team of like-minded thinkers, business outcomes will improve exponentially. 

First step! Discover what engages high performers so you can create an environment that is aligned to their needs and elicits their best qualities.

Research has found the factors which impact high performers the most are:

•             Employee autonomy
•             Risk Taking
•             Tolerance of mistakes
•             Open Communication
•             Good supervisory relationships
•             Education and training opportunities

Second step! Identify the organisational factors which influence an organisations ability to retain top performers. Research has highlighted that factors associated with retaining talent are:

•             A change driven organisation culture

•             High degree of organisational flexibility

•             Agile and innovative work culture

•             Strong leadership and vision

A final remark! It is possible to train an employee on any product or service. You cannot train someone to have integrity, resilience, self-confidence and work ethic!  So consider how you might assess the presence of such attributes reliably and objectively during the recruitment process. 

The two most favoured approaches are via interview or personality assessment, but with them emphasis on reliably and objectively, it may be more defensible to gather such data as strong hypotheses via a personality assessment and then validate these competencies via structured interviewdo yourself and your business a favour and start incorporating personality assessment into your recruitment strategy. The benefits of gaining talented employees will help your organisation stay aligned and to the organisations strategic mission!  

As in the organisation may well have decided what competence achieve success and set it apart from competitors, whilst the HR strategy might be to align a competency based HR approach with the corporate strategy.

Turning the Tables on the Interviewer

At the conclusion of nearly every interview, interviewers are likely to ask if you have any questions. Let’s not sugar-coat it- this is a test! The questions you ask will inform the interviewer about you as much as previous questions they have asked you. So just like you would prepare your answers, come prepared with questions to highlight your knowledge, enthusiasm and motivation to secure the job. 

Here are some suggestions for the kinds of questions you could ask:

1. What do you consider the essential qualities to become successful in this position?

This question highlights to the interviewer that you are interested in achieving your best and demonstrates you must also possess the drive and commitment in pursuing success. It also demonstrates a genuine interest in understanding what the organisation views as success. What organisation wouldn’t value a candidate who strives for success?

2. What experiences and skills would represent an ideal candidate for you?

This question will encourage your interviewer to pin point the key qualities and experience they are looking for in an ideal candidate. This gives you an opportunity to remind them of any skills or experience you didn’t mention during the interview.

3. Are there opportunities for training and education in this position?

This question shows your drive for learning, which is an invaluable quality in a candidate. It also demonstrates your willingness to expand your knowledge and grow with the employer which is great news for them if they are going to invest time and money in your development and training (hint hint-retention).

4. What are the organisations plans for growth?

This question allows you to add an observation or two that reflects the extensive research you conducted prior to the interview. This will give you a final opportunity to impress the interviewer about your knowledge and interest in the organisation which shows promising signs of commitment. It is also important for you to understand where the organisation is heading and whether you can envision yourself becoming part of their strategy.

5. What can I expect in the next stage of the recruitment process?

The ideal question to finish up with! This question shows you are aware of the complexities and often time consuming process of recruitment- but also indicates to the interviewer you are keen to progress and move forward to the next stage. You may even be able to gauge how many others they are interviewing for the position or how close they are to securing their ideal candidate!

Make Recruitment a Dream, Not a Nightmare – The Biggest Recruitment Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

What do you picture when you’re looking to hire a professional? Perhaps someone who works hard, brings in business and establishes rapport with your customers, raising the reputation of your company. Now while that all sounds like a dream come true, I’m sure you don’t have to be told that it doesn’t happen all of the time.  

The flip side of this is a recruitment nightmare. A hire gone wrong can mean wasted hours and dollars spent on-boarding and training and reduced morale within the team. With the wrong fit, it’s likely the first to notice will be your customers! 

Needless to say, those who are in the game of recruitment have a lot at stake. Avoiding these crucial errors will help you to sleep soundly when you make recruiting decisions. 

1) Know exactly what you’re looking for

Having a well thought out position description works in two ways.  Firstly it should help to direct job seekers as to whether their skills and experiences are enough to get them across the line. You can save time sifting through resumes by including a polite statement along the lines of “those without the minimum qualifications need not apply”. By spending extra time preparing a position description in more detail, you will also form more tangible expectations of your ideal candidate whereby you can quantify how many boxes each applicant ticks against your criteria, rather than going with a gut-feeling. 

2) Work within your niche

A huge mistake that many make when advertising a job in a specific field is to advertise it on a gigantic, generic job board. The risks here include having your add lost in the depths of the hundreds of other similar positions and frustratingly, having applicants without the relevant tertiary qualifications trying their luck and applying anyway. Using a more specific job board, ensures your job advertisement gets seen by the right people and the right people only. 

3) Don’t forget to consider recruiting internally 

Candidates already within your team are your best asset. Working to up-skill your workforce with continuous professional development can help you to move your employees step up to a bigger role. This may leave a lower ranked position vacant, for which hiring is less of a risk. Another benefit of promoting existing members is significantly boosting employee morale, thereby increasing staff retention. 

4) Keep up with the times 

You are aware that gone are the days of posting a job ad in your local paper. What you may not know is that even non-mobile friendly webpages may not make the cut on the market preferred by the upcoming generation in the workforce. Research suggests that around 80% of millennials expect to be able to browse and apply for jobs on their smart phone. Advertising your job in a way that is highly accessible on the World Wide Web, not only via a computer monitor, but also smart phone and tablet can help you to avoid losing out to the more tech savvy competition when looking to pick up fresh new faces for your business. 

5) Don’t waste your time meeting candidates too soon 

Job interviews take time and are expensive; for an hour long interview, your hourly rate multiplied by the number of job interviews conducted equals a costly process – which if used in isolation may lead you to making a bad hire! Avoid going straight into interviewing everyone and anyone that simply look good on paper. Resumes can be deceiving but questionnaires, especially well formulated psychometric questionnaires, can help paint an unbiased picture of your candidates. They can do much of the work for you and can help you to eliminate those who may not be appropriate  for the job before scheduling out your precious time.

Recruiting right the first time saves time and money. Not to mention helping those in your business to meet their full potential. 

If you would like to chat about an assessment based recruitment approach we would welcome your call.   

Working with assessment partner, Psych Press, Capable People’s recruitment process integrates the full strength of online assessments and video interviewing for fast, job-fit relevant, data-driven results.

• Using science not ‘face value’ – our assessments are catered to industry, role, and function and are able to pinpoint the most promising talent from a large pool of candidates
• We learn about your goals + company  – to  design  custom campaigns and assessments that are tailored to your situation, not just ‘off the shelf’ solutions
• Fast and cost effective – As more and more applicants are online nowadays, so are we! Our online approach allows us to give you great candidates faster, and we’re also able to budget flexibly based on your needs.

Need Capable People? Contact us on 03 9670 4275 or email info@capablepeople.com.au to find out how we can assist your next campaign.

How To: Conduct Effective Reference Checks

Reference checks are one of the best information sources and indicators of a candidate’s potential future performance. So, how can we tell that we’re gaining the information needed from the referees in the most effective way?  

Reference checks, best practice:

• Identify yourself: It’s important to make sure that you establish your position, the name of your organisation and tell them that you are calling for the reference of a particular candidate you are considering
• Organise a time: If the referee isn’t  available right now ask what an appropriate time would be to reschedule a call
• Establish Privacy: Ensure that the referee understands all responses will remain confidential and that you have the consent of the individual to call them.
• What’s the role? It’s important to describe the context of the position and give a brief description of the role you are considering the applicant for.
• Keep it open: Allow time for the referee to respond to any questions asked, and try not to feed the referee answers or interrupt a response.

Good questions to ask in a reference check:

• In what capacity were you associated with (x applicant), and since what date?
• What were the strengths of (x applicant)?
• What were some of the areas of weakness or are there any areas that (x applicant) could improve on?
• Did (x applicant) receive any promotions or demotions whilst working for you? or did (x applicant) remain in the same role throughout their employment with you?
• What were the responsibilities of (x applicant) at your company?
• Is (x applicant) a team player or do they excel by working alone?
• Was (x applicant) on time and dependable while working at your organisation?
• Why did (x applicant) leave your employment?
• Would you rehire (x applicant)?
• Is there anything else you would like to add, regarding (x applicant)?

When conducting reference checks it’s important to ensure you tailor the questions specifically to the available job and the applicant being considered. You want the questions you ask to be specific to ensure your reference check will be worth the time. By adhering to the above information, and being sure to record responses, you will gain the necessary information to make the right hiring decision!

Avoiding HR Nightmares – a Career Exchange Emergency Kit

The outcomes from HR practices and implementations can be mountainous, and with frequent changes to work laws, the way we recruit and technology changes, the chance for shortcuts to fall through the cracks into peril are high.

Because of this, HR needs to be more careful than ever. Mistakes can potentially land you and your company in a sticky and very costly legal situation.

Even small companies can suffer greatly from being lax with their HR processes. 

Imagine the following scenario, you hire someone based on face value, and you later find out that they don’t have the capabilities to treat your customers correctly and land your company a malpractice suit. This  example is a situation that can drain your company’s finance and time resources, or worst, damage your company’s reputation. Simply put, this is a situation you want to avoid at all costs.

The following are some tips that can help you avoid getting trapped in a sticky HR situation.

Transparent work expectations, policies, and procedures

From the very first day, be very clear to your employees about their performance expectations, and all the company’s policies and procedures they are expected to follow. Transparency helps employees to understand their expectations better, and therefore maximizing their chance of achieving success. It also minimizes any discrepancies between the employers and employees, lessening the chance of experiencing any negative feelings for both parties. Additionally, a clear guideline of the company’s policies helps employees from committing any misconduct. Should a violation occur, transparent policies will also help you to justify your decision for a disciplinary action or termination. One way to ensure transparency in this area is to create clear policy templates.  You could provide policies to employees as part of their on-boarding to facilitate uniformity of communication across the board.  

Keep up-to-date with the current employment laws and workplace regulations

Employment laws and workplace regulations evolve over time. You need to make sure to stay up to date to ensure compliance. This is really important, because a violation of these laws and regulations can potentially result in dreadful legal consequences for your company. Online resources such as www.workplaceexpress.com.au provide this information to help employers keep up-to-date with current laws and regulations.

Document, document, and document!

Consistent and accurate documentation is extremely important in human resources, especially for work events that may pose legal issues in later down the track. Things that you unquestionably need to document include employees’ absenteeism and tardiness, deficient performance, misconduct and violations of company’s policies, disciplinary actions, employment termination, and any discussions with the offending employee surrounding any of these issues. On a brighter note, you can also document any recognition and positive contribution employees made, leading to provable movements in pay rises and promotions. These written records can serve as your legal justifications should someone question the decisions you made, and since HR have quite a high rate of movement; makes task hand down easier when you’re moving on to bigger things! They can also protect you from any lawsuit associated with workplace disputes, saving you from headaches! Having a filing system with a folder for each employee, up to date with all relevant documentation will help to make documentation easy and effective. There are also apps and programs that you can download to streamline your communications. They serve as a time saver and ensure accurate records.

Without good workers, businesses would fail. Therefore HR has a key role in the success of a company. By being transparent with what you want in a worker, keeping thorough and accurate documentation and ensuring that rules and regulations are adhered to, you can avoid HR nightmares. 

For help managing employee communications, Psych Press can be used to supplement your business' HR requirements. They provide an all in one tool that is useful for documenting and tracking communications with employees. For more information, contact our partner company Psych Press about what a tailored total HR solution can do for you. Email info@psychpress.com.au or call 03 9670 0590.

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know - The disadvantages of hiring friends and family

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know – The effects of nepotism in the workplace are far reaching and can impact employee morale, culture and even threaten business growth.  Nepotism is a form of discrimination in which family members or friends are hired or promoted for reasons that do not necessarily have anything to do with their experience, knowledge or skills. When personal relationships appear to take precedence over actual qualifications, the adverse effects are likely to be felt by all parties involved. 

Why does nepotism still happen?

This kind of prejudice still occurs due to a basic principle that many follow, often without realising, and that is to do with choosing what is more familiar. The saying ‘better the devil you know’ will allow people to choose someone that is ‘passable’ against someone that may be far better but still has a looming question mark around them. Some managers see that it can also be easier or quicker to choose what is under their roof rather than to seek out what may better suit their business goals.

What are the outcomes of nepotism?

One of the main complaints in a company that operates through nepotism is the obvious lack of fairness. It can result in dissatisfaction among workers and employees may have less incentive to perform if they feel that the path to promotion is undermined by nepotism. As a consequence, a company employing such tactics may find its employees looking for jobs where their talent is better recognised. Another pitfall is that by providing opportunities that are not based on merit means that managers will not give other employees a chance to develop, thus not raising the level of competency of employees or that of the business. Promoting under-qualified individuals into more senior roles can lead to an erosion of the company's leadership skills.  Nepotism can make employees feel unimportant and that their contribution to business is insignificant which can ultimately impact overall productivity and growth.  

What is the best way to tackle it?

The best way to prevent nepotism and avoid infringing the rights of the employees is to make employment decisions based on objective performance related reasons such as their skills, competencies and experience. By providing fairness and equality, employers can earn their workers’ loyalty and dedication, boost morale and achieve a more harmonious and productive workplace.

Want to learn more about testing personality directly related to your role and company?

Talent assessment and development Psychologists, Psych Press have a large selection of in-house and customisable assessment tools that link personality to performance prediction for a variety of companies. One such tool, Business Personality Reflections (BPR) has been used for a multitude of roles to ascertain a strong fit for recruiting decisions. Based on a wide field of research and multiple industry norms, this assessment provides a full report for your informed decision. To find out more visit the Psych Press Business Personality Reflections page.

 

Phone Etiquette For Job Seekers

These days, we are all expected to be accessible and available 24-7 and in the workplace, this is the time when we need information and we need it now! For recruiters, calling a candidate is the quickest and easiest way to get the information you need, when you need it. However, as a Seeker, if you are not expecting this, your surprise phone call from a recruiter can sometimes be a surprise phone interview. When speaking to or leaving a message for hiring managers or recruiters, it’s important to follow some basic etiquette rules.

1. Always sound professional and ready to speak to the hiring manager/recruiter… but also be prepared and have a well memorized or written out message in case you need to leave a message

2. If you leave a message, always leave your name and number twice…name at beginning and end of message and number twice at end of message (repeated back to them)

3. Leave the message slowly and carefully so they can take notes without having to replay the message

4. Let them choose when to call you back by stating in the message “please give me a call at your earliest convenience.”

5. If you do speak to someone, always start off with a brief introduction and question the call time: “Hi this is Matt Warzel calling about the sales position advertised in the newspaper…is this an OK time to speak?”

6. If you do speak to someone, use that time to schedule a meeting in person and not to speak in further detail, unless they wish to do so

7. A great time to call is Friday afternoon after 3:30.

8. Do not bug recruiters constantly because if they need someone with your skills, they will call you. They might not have an opening right away that fits your qualifications, but if they do, they will call you. (Quick non-phone related note: Only apply to the openings that fit in your realm. They do get the “jack of all trades” candidates who in actuality only fit the bill for one or two jobs at most. So be aware of your resume submissions. Follow the job posting directions and make sure you do what they tell you to do if you want to apply to their job. They implement rules for a reason)

Need Capable People? When you need fast and accurate performance indications for your next hire, you need Capable People!

Working with assessment partner, Psych Press, Capable People’s recruitment process integrates the full strength of online assessments and interviewing for fast, job-fit relevant, data-driven results. We use science, not ‘face value’; we learn your goals and company intricacies, not an off-the-shelf solution; and, we are fast and cost effective. Contact CapablePeople on 03 9670 4275 or email info@capablepeople.com.au to find out how we can assist your next campaign.

Predictors of job performance: How important is Personality?

It is considered that experience and skill are important predictors of job performance, and traditionally the hiring process has been based on these qualities. In recent years, however, personality has increasingly been recognised as an equally important predictor of job performance. 

Business mogul and entrepreneur Richard Branson is known to place more value on personality than skill set when hiring. Branson maintains that most jobs can be taught relatively quickly, and suggests “if you can find people who are fun, friendly, caring and love helping others, you are on to a winner”. Indeed, more and more businesses are incorporating personality testing into their hiring processes.

Attributes that make up Personality

Motivation, resilience, flexibility, and the ability to take initiative are examples of personality characteristics that strongly affect individual job performance. When planning your next workforce addition/s, it is important to underline which mix of these attributes equals ‘getting the job done effectively’ for the short and long term in your unique setting.

For example, the way individuals approach and complete tasks, adapt to change, and deal with stress are strongly influenced by personality and can have various connotations to performance depending on the environment and culture, not just the role at hand. A receptionist at a health clinic may have to be far more open to sudden adaptation and change than a law firm receptionist.

Predicting environment match 

Personality may also determine the workplace environment in which an individual is most likely to be successful. For example, introverted individuals are more likely to perform well in a job involving independent work, whereas extroverted or outgoing individuals are generally better suited to jobs involving more human interaction. 

Matching personality types together

Employers should also keep in mind how the workplace dynamic is influenced by the personalities of employees, who are more likely to stick around if they are happy in their workplace and get along with their co-workers. Matching younger up and coming employees to more experienced mentors can have great benefits for both parties, but be sure that there isn't a large clash in flexibility or openness.

Recruiting based on personality therefore has a noticeable effect on your organisational goals. Being sure that your chance of turnover is significantly reduced is ultimately going to save costs, knowing that your staff members are adaptive to change will allow larger changes to become successful more quickly, and knowing that your staff are resilient during times of stress will reduce complaints and increase openness to job rotation and potential promotion.

Whilst experience certainly counts for something, the role personality plays in predicting job performance should not be discounted. Businesses can benefit from including an aspect of personality testing early in the recruitment process.

Want to learn more about testing personality directly related to your role and company?

Talent assessment and development Psychologists, Psych Press have a large selection of in-house and customisable assessment tools that link personality to performance prediction for a variety of companies. One such tool, Business Personality Reflections (BPR) has been used for a multitude of roles to ascertain a strong fit for recruiting decisions. Based on a wide field of research and multiple industry norms, this assessment provides a full report for your informed decision. To find out more visit the Psych Press Business Personality Reflections page.

Psychometric Assessments and Hiring Staff

An ever increasing number of employers are identifying the benefits of psychometric testing and are reaping the rewards of adding it to their recruitment process. Gone are the days where ‘gut feeling’ was an acceptable justification, decisions must now be based on tangible, objective data. Furthermore, current research suggests that replacing a skilled-person can cost an employer upwards of 150% of that employee’s annual salary. This means that even one bad hire can be extremely costly! This is where psychometric assessment comes in. Whilst there may be a bewildering array of psychometric assessments on offer, they all aim to provide objective data about a person. This data may be on the candidates’ personality attributes, past behaviours, and intellectual abilities. This information can then be used to predict future occupational success aka: job performance in a wide variety of workplace environments, including sales, human services and even the defence force.  This data can be used to predict how your future employees make decisions when under pressure or how likely they are to damage positive relationships with customers or clients. The objective results that are obtained are comparable between different prospects; to ensure you choose the right person for the job and be safe in the knowledge that you haven’t overlooked anyone you have screened. It is important to note that Psychometric Assessments should never be used as the be-all-end-all. They are most effective when screening potential employees, as simply relying on a resume and interview allows the prospect to tell you exactly what you want to hear. There is currently a lot of talk about Unconscious Bias and the best way of managing this is through supporting your keen observations with the objective, comparable data that psychometric testing provides. Employers are often concerned about how difficult they think these tests may be to deliver and interpret. Fortunately, you don’t need a degree in psychology to understand them! Psychometric assessments are written using plain, ‘real world’ language, so that any employer can easily understand what is being measured, why it is important to them and how their candidates’ results compare to the ‘average’ result of a relevant population (i.e. managers or graduates etc…) All of this allows the employer to determine if a candidate is suitable for such a role, how successful they will be and if they will fit the culture of the organisation or team. Psychometric assessments can also be tailored to meet the employer’s individual needs based on the specific attributes and qualities an employer is looking for in potential candidates. Psychometric tests can be used in recruitment for culture-fit, team-fit, role-fit and a candidates potential to be trained. Assessments can also be used for existing employee training and retention purposes as well. Assessments allow you to profile employees, identifying their strengths, development areas and work styles.  This data can be used for promotions and to reorganise work-flow. By reallocating tasks to employees to suit their work style you can increase engagement, productivity and job satisfaction, leading to a happier and more efficient workplace. If you are interested in learning more about psychometric assessments to help you hire the right people, please speak with Dr. Gavin Didsbury or a consultant from our assessment partner PsychPress who provide a variety of psychometric assessment solutions. Please call on 03 9670 0590 or email info@psychpress.com.au.

Psychometric testing and hiring in 2015

An ever increasing number of employers are identifying the benefits of psychometric testing and are reaping the rewards of applying it to their recruitment process. In 2015, the decision to use technology in order to save time and money in hiring may make or break both recruitment agencies and frequently hiring enterprises. Gone are the days where a ‘gut feeling’ provides acceptable justification to decide the fate of one's career and more importantly, business success. Instead decisions must now be based on tangible data in order to compete with a fast paced environments, and fast paced staff. Furthermore, current research suggests that replacing a skilled person can cost an employer upwards of 150% of that employee’s annual salary, meaning even one bad hire can be extremely damaging! This is where online psychometric assessments can turn things around. Whilst there may be many kinds of objective testing on offer, they all aim to provide scientifically backed data about a person. This data may be on the candidates’ personality attributes, past behaviours, and intellectual abilities. This information can then be used to predict future occupational success in a wide variety of workplace environments, including sales, human services, and even the defence force. Listed below are some of the benefits and outcomes achieved by using such a process that traditional methods such as interviews, resumes or even years experience cannot achieve: 1.      Predicting future behaviour Information gathered from psychometric tests can be used to predict how well potential candidates will behave in the future. This can include how well they make decisions under pressure or how they prefer to manage important tasks. This kind of information makes an assessment report an integral ongoing tool as it can be used post-hire to provide vision into how best to manage an individual and receive the most value from their role (not to mention allows you to identify which directions NOT to point them in!) 2.      Comparing candidates Sometimes it can be hard to choose between your shortlisted candidates. Using psychometric testing to compare candidates allows you to look past aesthetic disruptions or perceived value shown through interview confidence to highlight number driven abilities and reasoning as it relates to verbal, abstract and numeral skills which have been shown to be far better indicators of job performance. 3.      Evidence and accuracy Even the most experienced interviewers may miss out on small, crucial details about their candidates, potentially leading to a bad hire. This is not because they are incompetent, but because simply relying on a resume and interview alone allows the candidate preparation to tell you exactly what you want to hear, without any way for you to determine how truthful and accurate the information really is. It's not the candidate's fault as it's natural to appear more able, more agreeable, and more confident in an interview situation than a working situation where they need to use their reasoning and intelligence to get the job done. Including research based psychometric tests to your recruitment tool box eliminates such guess work by adding reliable insight into the traditional hiring model. 4.      User friendly Often employers are concerned about how difficult interpretations of psychometric tests are. Fortunately, you don’t need a degree in psychology to understand them! Psychometric assessments are written using a practical language, so that employers can easily understand what is being measured, why it is important to their goals, and how their candidates compare to the ‘ average’ in any given assessment. This allows employers to determine if that person is suitable for the advertised role, and how successful candidates are likely to be. 5.      Specialised tailoring Some providers' psychometric assessments can be tailored to meet the employer’s individual needs based on the specific attributes and qualities an employer is looking for in potential candidates. In some cases a consultation can be organised between the employer and the psychometric assessment provider to understand their organisational goals and how these can be achieved through the right balance of talent management. Such a quality will not only increase the relevance of the tests, but also strengthen your hiring choices. With candidate's changing organisations more rapidly today, customisation in the recruitment process can ensure you're hiring longer term staff whom already have the required skills needed, saving you from training up workers to a beneficial level only to have them leave. 6.      More than one application Not only can psychometric tests be used for recruiting, they are also often used for training and retention purposes. These assessments allow you to profile employees, identifying their strengths, weaknesses and work styles. This information can be useful when considering promotions and reorganising work-flow. By reallocating tasks to employees that suit their abilities, you can increase productivity and job satisfaction, leading to a happier and more efficient workplace… and of course, increase revenue! If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of psychometric testing, or are ready to add them to your recruitment tool box, contact the dedicated team of psychology professionals at Psych Press for a confidential discussion about the variety of psychometric assessments they provide. Please call Psych Press on 03 9670 0590 or email info@psychpress.com.au

Predictors of job performance: How important is Personality?

It is considered that experience and skill are important predictors of job performance, and traditionally the hiring process has been based on these qualities. In recent years, however, personality has increasingly been recognised as an equally important predictor of job performance. 

Business mogul and entrepreneur Richard Branson is known to place more value on personality than skill set when hiring. Branson maintains that most jobs can be taught relatively quickly, and suggests “if you can find people who are fun, friendly, caring and love helping others, you are on to a winner”. Indeed, more and more businesses are incorporating personality testing into their hiring processes.

Attributes that make up Personality

Motivation, resilience, flexibility, and the ability to take initiative are examples of personality characteristics that strongly affect individual job performance. When planning your next workforce addition/s, it is important to underline which mix of these attributes equals ‘getting the job done effectively’ for the short and long term in your unique setting.

For example, the way individuals approach and complete tasks, adapt to change, and deal with stress are strongly influenced by personality and can have various connotations to performance depending on the environment and culture, not just the role at hand. A receptionist at a health clinic may have to be far more open to sudden adaptation and change than a law firm receptionist.

Predicting environment match 

Personality may also determine the workplace environment in which an individual is most likely to be successful. For example, introverted individuals are more likely to perform well in a job involving independent work, whereas extroverted or outgoing individuals are generally better suited to jobs involving more human interaction. 

Matching personality types together

Employers should also keep in mind how the workplace dynamic is influenced by the personalities of employees, who are more likely to stick around if they are happy in their workplace and get along with their co-workers. Matching younger up and coming employees to more experienced mentors can have great benefits for both parties, but be sure that there isn’t a large clash in flexibility or openness.

Recruiting based on personality therefore has a noticeable effect on your organisational goals. Being sure that your chance of turnover is significantly reduced is ultimately going to save costs, knowing that your staff members are adaptive to change will allow larger changes to become successful more quickly, and knowing that your staff are resilient during times of stress will reduce complaints and increase openness to job rotation and potential promotion.

Whilst experience certainly counts for something, the role personality plays in predicting job performance should not be discounted. Businesses can benefit from including an aspect of personality testing early in the recruitment process.

Want to learn more about testing personality directly related to your role and company?

Talent assessment and development Psychologists, Psych Press have a large selection of in-house and customisable assessment tools that link personality to performance prediction for a variety of companies. One such tool, Business Personality Reflections (BPR) has been used for a multitude of roles to ascertain a strong fit for recruiting decisions. Based on a wide field of research and multiple industry norms, this assessment provides a full report for your informed decision. To find out more visit the Psych Press Business Personality Reflections page.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com.au/richard-branson-hires-for-personality-2013-9