In recruitment terms we are always discussing the skills versus fit scenario, and which is more important for any particular role or business. Time and time again, businesses agree that you should hire for fit and train for skills. Whilst assessing team fit often comes down to gut feel, team dynamics and ‘personality’, there are some critical traits that you as the employer want to assess any new hire for. These traits form the basis of a good work ethic, and appropriate motivation towards the role, without which the new hire will almost certainly not be a long term fixture within your business.
Flexibility
No matter the size of the company or how structured the role may be, from time to time employees will be asked to do something which is outside the scope of their role. We have all been in situations where someone has been reluctant to, or even refused to complete a task because it’s not part of their job – and it’s frustrating for you as a manager and for the rest of the team. Determine how flexible they are at interview to ensure you avoid having someone like this in your team.
Reliability
Of course we want our staff to be early to work every day, never have a sick day and stay back whenever we need them. This however is a little unrealistic. When assessing reliability what you want to find out is overall, how reliable were they? And the best way of doing this is via reference checks. Ask the referees:
- How many days per year did they have off sick?
- How often were they running late for work? When they were, how did they notify you?
- If you needed them to work back, how did they react?
Honesty
If staff aren’t honest with you – will you ever trust them? Do you want someone you can’t trust in your team? Obviously not, so how do you assess honesty and how honest is too honest? Structure your interview questions to invoke an honest response from your applicants – and see how honest they are. You don’t necessarily want a ‘warts and all’ story, look for honesty with a level of respect, and appropriate thought process. For example, you might ask your applicant “tell me what you liked least about XX Company?” or “which of all of your previous managers do you feel was the weakest leader and why”. Questions like this force an honest response, but also allow you to assess how likely they are to give ‘too much’ – will they speak derogatively or negatively about a previous employer or manager, or will they use appropriate caution and give honest but measured feedback? Which would you want them providing to their next employer about you?
Loyalty
When we talk loyalty we are not talking about the person spending the rest of their career with you. In fact in the current workplace this is both unrealistic and in some cases undesirable. When we discuss loyalty as an important trait, we are really talking about how loyal they are to the brand, the business, the role, the company and the team during the time they are employed with you. So are they likely to promote the business in a positive light when they are out with friends, will they spend half the work day focusing on non-core work activities, will they speak more highly of a competitor’s product or yours? Again past behaviour predicts future behaviour, so ask appropriate interview and reference check questions to assess this.
Motivation
By this we mean are they motivated towards this position – and why? Understanding the candidates motivation to change jobs, secure a new role and progress their career in any specific direction is imperative. Why? Well if your role doesn’t tie in with their underlying motivations, they will not be a long tern hire, and will treat your role as nothing more than a stop gap or stepping stone. Asking appropriate questions at interview surrounding this is vital. Examples may include:
- Why are you leaving your current role? (and ask this question for all previous positions to establish any behaviour patterns)
- What is your ideal role?
- If you could work in any industry what would it be?
- What made you apply for this role?
- What part of the ad was most of interest to you?
By assessing core traits such as these, you will ensure that at the base level the new hire has the work ethic you are looking for. Combining this with your assessments surrounding their fit for your team, their experience and skills for the role, and you increase your chances of a successful hire.
