Bad hiring decisions cost money but the real loss may be in the time wasted managing poor-performing employees. A recent study by Robert Half International found that supervisors spend 17 percent of their time each week overseeing poor performers. The study also found that 60 percent of CFO’s believe bad hiring decisions somewhat affect team morale and one in three said it greatly affects team morale. Poor hiring decisions clearly have high costs. Many managers like to blame chance for these decisions but Max Messmer, CEO of Robert Half International, said that the most common reason for bad hiring decisions is that managers “failed to give proper attention to the hiring process.” Assessments are a useful tool to ensure you are giving the hiring process the time, objectivity and analysis it needs. There are many different styles of assessments. When used in the right sequence, they can be extremely helpful in employee hiring. Here are five ways assessments can help you avoid bad hiring decisions:
  • Assessments help you determine if a person fits a particular job.
Total-person or job-fit assessments like the ProfileXT® can help you determine how well a prospective employee fits a particular job in your company. Job-fit assessments are typically based on performance indicators, behavioral traits, interests and aptitudes. Managers often hire people because they are hard-workers. This can be useless if their aptitudes and interests do not match the requirements of a particular job. Use assessments to help you keep a narrow focus on the requirements of the job before considering more general personality traits.  
  • Assessments help you remain objective while selecting employees.
The importance of networking in today’s society has created an “it’s not what you know but who you know” mentality when it comes to hiring. Networking is very important but far too many people get jobs because they are a friend or a relative of an employee. When certain candidates are given priority in hiring due to their connections, hiring managers can be more lenient about making sure the candidate has the necessary skills and aptitudes to do the job. A desire to hire a friend or acquaintance is never an excuse to rush through the hiring process. Requiring the candidate to take an assessment benefits the company by avoiding a potential bad hire. It also benefits the candidate by saving him or her from ending up in a job where he or she would not succeed.  
  • Assessments help align talent with business needs.
Every company has different human capital needs. Some companies place more value on an innovative workforce and other companies may have a strong need for employees that are expert written communicators. Hiring managers must know what particular skills contribute most to the success of their companies. Business needs should be the foundation of the hiring process. Assessments can help managers eliminate candidates that do not have the critical skills the company needs to move forward. Managers can easily fall into the trap of admitting that a candidate does not have a core skill but hiring him or her anyway because of perceived potential. Potential is great, but the skills your company needs to be successful are more important.  
  • Assessments can help you measure hard skills.
We have talked a lot about necessary skills being the foundation of any hiring process. But how do you measure whether or not a prospective employee has those skills? Any candidate can put a skill on his or her resume but that does not indicate expertise. A skills assessment, like the Profiles Skills Test™, can measure specific skill sets. The results of skills assessments will be the meat of your hiring process. If a candidate does not have the necessary skills to do a job, there is no need to waste time and money measuring job-fit and personality traits.
  • Assessments help you learn how to better manage your employees.
Once you are certain you have hired employees who have the necessary core skills, personality assessments like the Profiles Performance Indicator™ can help you develop them. These assessments help you understand how to motivate and manage employees with various personalities. Every employee has strengths and weaknesses. Assessments can help you identify the weaknesses in particular and address them so employees do not become bad hires due to lack of training.   When used correctly, a combination of assessments can be your best hiring tool. They move candidates along the hiring process based on skills and job-fit, the two most important factors to employee success. Bad hires happen all the time but they do not have to happen in your company. Implementing assessments into your hiring process is the first step to bringing in qualified employees who are able to effectively do their jobs.   How have assessments helped decrease the number of bad hires at your company? Let us know in the comments section below or on Twitter and Facebook.   http://rhfa.mediaroom.com/bad-hire