Filling the Talent ‘gap’- Recruiting tips that matter in 2016

Can you guess what the recipients of Fortune’s ‘100 best companies to work for’ 2015 award reported as their single biggest focus for 2016?

Employee development - the ability to hire the right people for the job (think innovative thinkers with a tolerance to ambiguity) and to be able to work with their abilities, skills and talents to develop them into valuable, driven and productive employees.

In most companies today, where job responsibilities, KPIs and work priorities vary so frequently, the difficulty of recruiting and retaining staff is receiving increased recognition amid this shifting scene. Additionally, the needs of employees (especially Millennials) are changing, and employers must respond. It all adds up to a bigger, more complex role for a company’s human resources function than has ever been seen before.

Attributes such as innovative thinking and the ability to produce work that hits the mark, increasingly relies on collaboration and high level cognitive thinking. According to a 2015 World Economic Forum study, half of employers globally expect their business performance to suffer due to gaps in talent. 

The following tips when you are considering hiring individuals with the aim of ‘filling’ the talent gap should be kept in mind.

Soft skills are important.

Consider candidate’s soft skills like their interpersonal effectiveness, communication skills, thought processes and emotional intelligence. Remember if you hire them you will have to work with them!

Check social media profiles.

How that person behaves on social media is a good indication of what kind of person the individual is and how the candidate might fit into your company's culture.

Ask the right kinds of questions.

It’s important for you to get a feel of how the candidate responds to a variety of questions - do they blame someone else for leaving their past organisation or give short one-word responses throughout the interview? Their degree of professionalism when responding is a good indicator of how they will act in your workplace. 

Let candidates interview you, too.

Don't be the only one to ask questions. To help determine if your prospective candidate has the right personality for your particular job, it's important to help that person understand the company's work environment.

Don't judge a book by its cover. 

It's easy to write off candidates based on their appearance, but it's more important that you consider how well they can do the job and if they're a good fit in other ways. John Schwarz, CEO and founder of workforce analytics company Visier comments:
"I have had the experience of hiring kids from school who were disheveled, unpresentable [and] inarticulate, but who had a very strong visceral commitment to what they were doing and passion for what they wanted to be," Schwarz said.

Above all, take the time to really think about what kind of person would be a good match for your organisation. Consider their skills - both hard and soft, experience, online presence and their personality when making your decision. What value can they bring to you and your company in today’s competitive and innovative global market? 

The Top 4 Qualities Desired by Managers

There is more to you than just your skills and experience. What your interviewer is really trying to work out is how you interact in a workplace situation.  Make sure you demonstrate these 4 qualities that are desired by hiring managers in your next interview.

1) Self- motivation: 

Employers want to hire someone who has the drive and enthusiasm to succeed in whatever task they do. Show the interviewer your desire to be successful and how you can set goals in order to get the job done. It’s all about high energy levels and productivity! Things that you can talk about in an interview that demonstrate self-motivation could be:

• being a an active member of a professional organisation
• taking part in a short course to enhance your professional development
• being involved with a volunteer organisation
• taking on extra responsibilities in previous positions, or
• providing an example of a personal goal that you have set yourself and worked hard to achieve. This could be anything from sporting achievements, saving for a house or even fundraising for a charity.

2) Flexibility: 

Your abilities in adapting to new and changing environments are key to making a big impression on your potential boss. Therefore, try to demonstrate situations where you have shown flexibility in the workplace. This could have been that time where you adapted to a new procedure in the workplace, were open to change, picked up extra hours for the benefit of your team or when you persisted through unforeseen issues on a project. Demonstrating these things will highlight that you are not resistant to change and can move with the business.

3) Creativity: 

Employers are sizing you up, trying to figure out if you can add value to their workplace. Even if your job isn’t an inherently creative one, there were probably still a myriad of times where you have had to think outside the box. Think of a time where you added value to the way in which your workplace functions. Chances are you had to be creative and generate a new strategy or idea. Take advantage of this and show your potential employer how you can bring fresh ideas to take their company to the next level.

4) Integrity: 

Employers want to hire people who are honest and reliable. Focus on providing examples of when you have dealt with sensitive and confidential issues; or, when you have had to handle an ethical dilemma. Perhaps one of the greatest ways to show your integrity is to remain authentic and honest throughout your application and interview. In other words: be yourself!

So, get ahead of your competition the next time you’re going for that big job interview by demonstrating these 4 desirable qualities.