Consequences of Selecting Poorly
by Debbie Chester
The impact of poor job fit can extend well beyond the employee simply quitting their job. It can affect the organisation’s bottom line, other employees in the organisation and even the employee’s family.
Therefore, hiring the wrong person for the job can have serious consequences - not only can it compromise the morale of the rest of your team and affect the engagement of those employees, but may increase levels of absenteeism, impact on customer service, reduce productivity and ultimately affect your profitability.
The impact of a poor hire…
The cost
When employees are in the wrong position, they are more likely to leave the organisation and you need to spend your time re-filling the role. This may mean you have to go through the hiring process a second or even third time and spend time re-training new employees. The impact on customer service may even lead to a decrease in business earnings or revenue.
Health impacts
When an employee feels trapped in their job, or that the job is not the right fit for them, they may end up working longer hours to do everything possible to succeed. Their personal lives can be affected, for example, they spend less time with family and friends, and their stress levels escalate.
Job burnout may also occur, which is where you feel physically, mentally and/or emotionally exhausted from work. Your employee may doubt the value of their work and their own competency in getting the job done.
Impact on other employees
Disengaged employees can also undermine their co-workers’ success, decreasing productivity and morale in the organisation. And, as disengaged employees typically take more sick days per year than their engaged colleagues, the financial impact of disengagement is clear.
Why does it happen?
On the one hand, some people may pursue jobs that don’t match their behavioural competencies and on the other, employers do not recognise when their candidate is not the best fit for the position.
An example of this is an individual who excels at mathematics thinking that a career in finance is the right job for them. However, this person may be naturally more suited to a people--focused role. Similarly, a person may have the right traits for a management role (eg. the ability to influence others and get things done), but not have the skills and experience (or the desire to attain them) that will enable them to be successful in the long term.
In both these examples, the end result may be the same…the employees may show promise and enthusiasm at first, working extra hours to do what is necessary to get the job done, but then find it difficult to maintain that momentum if they are not matched for the job.
Breaking the cycle...
As the saying goes…you cannot expect different results if you are doing the same thing over and over again. If your recruitment strategies are not working well for you, then it’s time to consider a new approach.
Recruiting for a better fit
Traditional recruitment strategies have their place and assessing skills and experience will remain important for some roles.
However, understanding a candidate’s ability and personal qualities has shown to be a better indicator of an employee’s performance more often than not, as these candidates are likely to be retained for a longer period. Even the most talented and hard-working employee will find it difficult to succeed in a position that doesn’t match his or her skills, abilities and interests. Everyone has their own particular strengths and aptitudes, and will succeed best in positions that mesh well with those characteristics.
In addition, a highly engaged and motivated workforce will attract more employees of the same type!
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For further information, contact Debbie on 9629 9999 or email: dchester@dixonappointments.com.au