Hiring the “Whole Person”

Over the past two decades, I have worked with many different organizations as a consultant and analyzed a variety of jobs. In this process, one question that I typically ask the job experts in these organizations is this: “what does it take for someone to get fired from this job?” Of course, I have heard many different answers, but most are fairly consistent. It is rare for someone to lose their job because they lack the knowledge, skill, or ability to do the job. If these are issues, training or even job changes can typically fix the problem. People losing jobs because of low skill and weak ability level does happen on occasion, but it is the exception rather than the rule.

Personality and motivation issues are much more common employee problems. Bad fit in a job typically results from an unwillingness to fit in, rather than an inability to do the job.

For example, I can cite years of my work with operators and maintenance mechanics at various manufacturing plants in the United States. Almost invariably, job experts respond in two ways to the question of what it takes for someone to lose their job. First, is a lack of safety orientation and violations of safety rules on the job; this seems to be the quickest way for someone to lose their job. And second, poor teamwork  behaviors is another common reason that people lose their jobs. Very rarely will they cite examples of people losing their jobs because they cannot learn the skills or knowledge that are required.

As a result, I strongly recommend that companies assess the entire applicant profile when evaluating job candidates and making hiring decisions. Both skills / abilities and personality / motivations should be factored in when deciding whom to hire. Although traditional knowledge and skills tests should be used to identify who are initially qualified for most jobs, bad hires often occur when personalities and motivations of individuals clash with the organizational culture and personalities of corporate leadership. Because of this, it is imperative that ways of measuring personality and motivation are part of the applicant screening process. In short, the whole person should be evaluated when considering candidates.

What non-cognitive psychometric factors would be most effective for screening applicants for key roles in your organization?