Article Contributed by Sara LaForest and Tony Kubica
The hiring retention success rate is disheartening with some studies reporting a rate lower than 50%. Through more than 50 years of combined experience 50+ in helping organizations improve their business performance, we (Tony Kubica and Sara LaForest) have uncovered three reasons why most companies and organizations fail to hire and retain top talent.
The First Reason Why Most Companies Hiring Retention Rate is Less Than 50%!
In the movie “Field of Dreams” , Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) hears a voice as he walks through his cornfield—”if you build it, he will come”. Over the years it has since become part of our lexicon of misused quotes. It has even seeped into the talent integration and talent management world.
Many CEOs, executives, managers and HR directors believe if you hire them (or promote your employees) they will contribute. Well, to use another well- known phrase—”not exactly”.
Why would you believe that hiring or promoting employees into a new job or position will result in immediate success?
The Second Reason Why Most Companies Retention Rate is Less Than 50%!
Many executives, managers and HR managers fail to plan out completely:
. The job requirements
. What needs to be done
. What skills, behaviors and attitudes are required for success now
. What role adaptation is anticipated for the future
If you fail to map out exactly what you are looking for as well as the position you are hiring for – you might as well spend your money on a trip to Las Vegas to roll the dice! The chance of winning is about the same – or maybe slightly better in Vegas (and likely you will have more fun).
The Third Reason Why Most Companies Retention Rate is Less Than 50%!
Most companies are still hiring and promoting candidates using the standard elements:
. An application
. A resume
. An interview (or two, potentially including a panel)
. Perhaps a background check,
. And references.
However, these really only tell you only what the candidate wants you to know. Meaning, good creative writing and strong impression management skills do not necessarily equal the most suitable candidate for your organization. Just because candidates can report experience and expertise on a resume does not mean they have the personality and character attributes to do the job and it doesn’t mean that they are the right fit for your company.
For example, we saw one of our clients hire a department director who was charged with turning around an under- performing department. He appeared to be well- qualified, coming from a department that recently had undergone a very successful turnaround. He was the assistant director.
But, he floundered in the new job. One of the reasons is that he was too empathetic and had a very high- interpersonal sensitivity toward others. Simply, he could not make the tough people decisions. Nowhere on the resume, during the interview, nor with the hand- picked references did this come out.
To Integrate Your New or Promoted Talent Effectively, You Need to Start Considering the “Talent Integration Potential”
This means, you need to look specifically to how a candidate fits the prospective role and how suitable the candidate is to your organization. Just as you cannot fit a square peg in a round hole (without damage), you cannot make successful a person who does not have the basic ingredients for success in the job you need done.
This does not mean the person cannot be successful. It just means they cannot likely be as successful in a particular job or perhaps even in your organization.
So, how can you know?
4 Ways to Uncover If a Candidate is Perfect For the New Role & For Your Organization
1. Use behaviorally- based interview questions that probe their history of actions and outcomes respectively
2. Include some culture- based questions to help you determine values and motivators as compared to company values and attributes
3. Include/give them time for a scenario based problem to work and resolve and report back on
4. Have top candidates complete personality- based and job performance indicators that measure a candidate’s potential for success in different business environments and roles. (Though such an assessment should never be used as the sole criteria for selection. As part of a selection set, it can be an invaluable tool to avoid hiring the wrong candidate for the job.) It can also be used as a tool to support and coach the new employee in areas that need to be addressed to ensure a fast and effective integration into a new job and organization.
Now, are you ready to start increasing your top employee retention rate? Great! Then, change your thinking from “if you hire them or promote them – they will contribute” to “if I hire the right talent, they will contribute.” And, start following my advice by taking action on the items listed in this article – along with the information we reveal in our free talent integration white paper at: http://www.kubicalaforestconsulting.com/resources.php
About the Author:
Management consultants Sara LaForest and Tony Kubica have 50+ years of combined experience in helping organizations accelerate their business growth in record times. Now, you can learn how to manage transitions and hire the right executives with their free special report on talent recruitment and integration at http://www.kubicalasforestconsulting.com/resources.php
