Identifying and hiring the right talent to best fit your organisation

Today, more than ever, the success of any business is largely determined by the calibre and amalgamation of the most suitable talent. In the absence of a rigorous hiring process, recruiters can really make or break your company.

A survey of talent acquisition leaders found that 52% indicated that the most difficult part of recruitment was identifying the right candidates from a large applicant pool.

According to industry stats in South Africa:

The average job posting receives up to 250 applications,75% of applicants are unqualified for the job,88% are not strong enough to move forward to an interview,The average time to successfully fill a vacancy is 39 days,The best talent is hired within the first 10 days.

Cost and Expenses

Increasingly, organisations realise that the cost of making a bad hiring decision is immense, as it does not only entail the cost of restarting the entire recruitment process, but can lead to significant legal expenses and ultimately irreparable reputational harm.

There are several expenses included in a single hire, including:

the vacancy advertising costs,productive hours of reviewing applications and performing interviews,shortlisting suitable candidates.

Industry research in South Africa indicates that the cost of making a single hire is approximately R30 000 – or more 

Assessment

Reliable human capital screening and scientific assessment tools and practices have become one of the most important mechanisms that successful companies are leveraging in order to identify top talent – and thus hone their competitive advantage – by ensuring the right hire, first time round.

Utilising a blend of behavioural science and the latest digital technology will ensure an effective and efficient recruitment and selection campaign and will assist in identifying and hiring the most suitable talent.

Screening and assessment practices in the selection process offer organisations huge financial benefits, as the objective and scientific generation of data and information obtained will:

enhance the accuracy of the decision,improve the quality of hire,reduce time-to-hire,increase diversity,reduce unfair bias,increase employee retention,allow for a more accurate placement decision.

Retention

Assessing applicants in selection practices increases the probability of hiring the best candidates. People with a suitable skillset to perform optimally are much more likely to be retained. To ensure a seamless person-organisation fit, a potential employee’s range of applicable abilities should be assessed against the competency outcome of the job, aptitude, personality, behaviour styles, and values. These attributes are critical to optimise performance and reduce turnover.

Those employees that are truly right for the vacancy will also be more satisfied, given that their personal attributes will match the requirements of the job and company culture accurately. By ensuring a person-organisational fit, the retention of those individuals that are most competent is enhanced, and is likely to:

yield long-term increased productivity,decrease unnecessary conflict,decrease disciplinary action, anddecrease the rate of re-hiring.

Building a team of competent, diverse, dependable, and motivated employees will directly affect your organisation’s bottom line, which is why recruiting the right people carries supreme importance for the enduring success of any organisation.

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Written by: Dirk Pretorius, Senior Industrial Psychologist, 21st Century