eyeployment.com Archives - Eye Care Business Canada

Resumes on Trial

Let’s be real. Have you ever stretched the truth on a resume? Maybe nudged your marks a bit higher or embellished your job responsibilities just a smidgeon to add some flair and polish? Chalk it up to being aspirational, perhaps. Jobseekers view the job market as an audition, and they know that putting their best foot forward may require some creative optics (pun intended).

These flourishes are far more common than you may think. HRDive found in one study that a third of Americans admitted to lying on their resume, while other studies estimate the actual number is higher. The reality is resumes are marketing tools designed specifically for self-promotion. Jobseekers can craft and draft content around what they think an employer wants to hear to give them an advantage over other potential candidates.

The Truth about Resumes
Here’s the real issue. Even if a resume is 100% accurate, the information in it is the statistically weakest predictor of someone’s likelihood of success in the job.

A resume is simply not a good reflection of a person. It is just a tailored list of education and experiences. It’s a brief snapshot that doesn’t shine a light on the truly important stuff – how a candidate makes decisions, manages change, or deals with disagreements. All the stuff you really need to understand.

Credentials may be qualifiers for very specific positions as is often the case when seeking a particular qualification such as an optician or optometric assistant. However, those qualifications aren’t reliable predictors of how an employee will integrate with your team, how they will perform or how long they will stay. Here’s the secret – you need to invest in resources that focus on finding people who will fit in your reality, not people who have the best resume writing skills.

Understanding a candidate better through an assessment can save you a lot of time in the hiring process and money in the long run. Spend more time on the right candidates and less time filtering through stacks of resumes. When you hire for job fit you are more likely to hire an engaged and passionate employee. Not only that – you may be very surprised to find your next superstar was hidden by barriers well beyond their control.

Fit First Technologies helps you see the real person behind the resume. Looking beyond the resume is exactly what you need to do to hire the right fit.

TIM BRENNAN

is Chief Visionary Officer with Fit First Technologies Inc, the creators of Eyeployment, TalentSorter and Jobtimize.

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Smart Recruiting: Avoid these errors in posting for jobs.

Human Resources, Talent Acquisition

Eye Care Business Canada studied over 100 publicly posted Optometry and Optical positions which reveal what Canadian practice owners are offering in the battle to recruit talent. Job postings included in the study were made between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31, 2022.

The study indicates that a significant portion of eye care professionals posting jobs are making a fundamental error, potentially confusing search algorithms and job seekers.

Top-Line Results
Unsurprisingly, Optometrists are at the apex of the pay scale, garnering salary expectations more than double that of Licensed Opticians.

Among non-licensed roles, the study reveals a wide range of hourly wages even within a specific job type. Many employers provide hybrid job descriptions and offered wages reflect a 50% differential between the minimum and maximum wage within one job posting. Why?

Job Postings can be Confusing to Job Seekers
While employers may specify a wider salary range based upon their willingness to pursue candidates with little or more experience, the study found that the wide $ per range cited in a job post is more often associated with “hybrid” job definitions, such as combining job postings for Opticians with Optometric Assistants in one post.

Tim Brenner, Chief Visionary Officer, of Talent Sorter and Eyeployment.com, indicates that such “mashup” job postings may compromise online job searches and might confuse the candidates as to what the job entails.

“Getting your job posting found by the right candidate requires a focused keyword approach. Job Titles should be clear and succinct and repeated in the post at least three times”, says Brennan. Posting multiple positions in one post creates a dilution of the impact.

While the general labour shortage might tempt a practice owner to cast a wider net by including two or more titles within one job post, this may be counter-intuitive to the way a job seeker finds and views your job post and be sub-optimal in a candidate’s an online search.

Brennan advises employers to make the extra effort to post separate jobs, with each job focused on the specific job title, description, salary expectations, and growth opportunities. “If you find your star candidate for one position, you can delete the other or keep it running”, says Brennan.

This approach fits with one other best practice for hiring; Always be recruiting.

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Managing a Productive Remote Workforce

Human Resources, Managing Others

With growing measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), a large number companies across the globe have had to suddenly tell their employees to work from home.

For many employees, this is something they’re happy to embrace – once they’re setup with the right tools, they will stay productive and continue with business as usual from a home office environment.

However, for some, the directive to work from home can spell disaster if management doesn’t fully recognize what’s required to help those individuals continue to thrive in a changing, more isolated environment.

Easing the Transition:

So, with no choice in the matter, how do we make this prompt transition to a home office as smooth as possible for everyone, regardless of their workplace preferences or personality?

First, ensure you’ve addressed any technical roadblocks by outlining a clear list of what is needed for each individual to get setup at home. Help fill in any hardware gaps, such as:

Loan of a laptop or desktop screens
A comfortable office chair
Desk phone and headset
Some extra printer cartridges

As well, make sure everyone is comfortable with remote file sharing on such platforms as:

Google Drive
Dropbox
MS OneDrive
OneHub

Next, help employees understand working hours and scheduling requirements whilst away from the daily office structure. Assist them with creating a sharable task schedule or tracking system, using such tools as:

Trello
Monday
SmartSheet
Jira
Toggl

Also, suggest that they build their own ‘Family Schedule’ with the other family members who are stuck in the house. This will minimize distractions and anxiety as everyone in the household has established guidelines and boundaries during work hours.

Stay Connected:

Once everyone is set up remotely, keep in mind that there is only so much you can communicate through text and group emails. Overtime, not working with people face to face can sometimes make it difficult to guide them or fully gauge their emotions, intentions and well-being – especially at this time when we are all dealing with a lot of change and unknowns in our daily lives.

When in a standard office environment, studies show that many employees rely on the morning team meeting to gain positive energy and feedback from the others in order to get their day started. And, during breaktime, workers often look forward to the social aspect of pouring a cup of coffee and engaging in spontaneous chatter about news, sports, or movies.

So, if you haven’t already, start by implementing an efficient messaging app (such as Slack) to make back and forth online discussion much faster and easier. But don’t stop there. Get your remote team in the habit of replacing some of those messages and emails with phone calls instead, even doing some of your calls via FaceTime. And for your team discussions, maintain a cohesive group feel by doing video meetings using Skype or Zoom on a regular basis – seeing faces and sharing screens can go a long way towards morale and productivity.

Extra Tools to Help You Manage:

With the long-term outcome of this pandemic still very much unknown, people may have to continue working remotely for quite some time. As this plays out, business owners and managers need to feel confident that they can maintain a motivated, engaged workforce from afar.

Consider tools such as the PXT Select suite of behavioural, engagement or leadership assessments to help you continue the alignment and understanding of your team’s strengths, weaknesses, and abilities – giving you more power to coach and develop your people to their full potential during this unprecedented time in the workplace.

Reassurance:

No matter what, make sure your team knows that you’ve got their back. ‘Social distancing’ does not mean anyone will be sent home and forgotten about – everyone should feel trusted, valued and looked after for as long as they’re working remotely and beyond.

Want to discuss more about this topic?

Get in touch to share your thoughts and discuss more options to help keep your staff engaged:
info@fitfirsttech.com
1-800-513-7277

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Hiring for Your Practice – A Confirmed Headache

Human Resources, Talent Acquisition

What hiring trends are emerging in 2019? The 3.8 million members of Alignable.com, the largest social media network of small businesses in North America, have identified three key trends from surveying nearly 6000 small business members. Do these themes sound familiar?

Trend 1: Hiring surges are predicted among many small businesses in the U.S. and Canada for the rest of 2019.

According to the survey results, 33% of small business people polled want to hire even more people than they had planned in early 2019. However, 59% of those hiring say it’s a growing struggle; finding the right people is a huge problem.

In Canada, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan businesses anticipate being the most active recruiters while Manitoba trails the pack. (see table below )

Trend 2: Small business owners who are hiring are having a tough time filling their open positions.

Getting a good number of quality candidates a problem? You are not alone. Unemployment levels remain low and are getting lower. The June 2019 unemployment rate nation wide fell below 5% in June and the trend is down.

Trend 3: Despite the heightened demand for help, thousands of Alignable members 50+ are still struggling to secure full-time or even part-time positions, pointing to blatant ageism.

Tim Brennan, Chief Visionary Officer of Eyeployment.com said the Ageism called out in this survey doesn’t surprise him, noting, “one of the most obvious visual discriminations is age and it’s a weak predictor of behaviour”. Employers may perceive that older candidates may want higher pay and employers do not necessarily value the experience and mentorship attributes an older employee might bring to the team.

Brennan’s hiring technology provides the ability to “meet the candidate before you see them”, which reduces all forms of visual bias and improves your odds of getting talent stars for your business and avoiding the passengers.

Brennan advises, it always better to get the best person possible rather than “settle” for someone who walks in your door and looks the part particularly in a tight labour market. Making a hiring mistake gets amplified under such market conditions.

% of Small Businesses that plan to hire more than initially planned in 2019.

NB – 60%

SK – 40%

BC – 31%

AB – 25%

QC – 25%

NS — 25%

ON – 24%

MB – 20%

Source:
https://www.alignable.com/forum/hiring-expected-to-escalate-among-33-of-smbs-for-the-rest-of-2019

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Hiring a Receptionist? Get it Right Using Behavioral Science.

Human Resources, Managing Others, Talent Acquisition

The first face of your practice is, arguably from a customer service perspective, the most important. A friendly and empathetic first encounter can leave a lasting positive impression on your practice … or… it can go the other way and be the root cause of a nasty review on Yelp!

Using the scientific algorithm from Eyeployment.com, the behavioural characteristics of an “ideal candidate” can be determined with science.

Because of the way Eyeployment.com’s assessment engine has been designed, it is able to compare the personality traits and other attributes of an individual to those of people who have been high performers in a given role, and generate a FitScore™ that is a very accurate predictor of success in a particular role.

Ideal Candidate Traits: Health Care Receptionist

For each role in your practice, Eyeployment.com has identified the the ideal behvioural traits that can make the difference as to whether your new hire is a star or a passenger.

Extraversion: Degree to which one requires social interaction and authority.

Perhaps surprisingly, a Receptionist position calls for people that display this trait less prominently than most people. The ideal candidate will likely follow group consensus when required to work in a group.

Agreeableness: Tendency to be friendly, approachable, and easy to get along with.

This position calls for people that display this trait like most people. The ideal candidate usually cooperates with others in order to ensure group harmony as long as their goals do not drastically differ from those of the candidate.

Conscientiousness: Tendency to strive for perfection, sometimes at all costs.

Receptionist positions call for people that display this trait like most people. The ideal candidate prefers to be precise in their actions, but can take the big picture into account when necessary.

Stability: Degree to which one reacts positively to negative or stressful situations.

This position calls for people that display this trait more prominently than most people. The ideal candidate is usually objective in their decision making and actions, even in trying circumstances.

Openness: Willingness to try new ways of doing things.

Receptionist positions call for people that display this trait like most people. The ideal candidate usually appreciates being able to try new methods, but is able to accept tried and true methods as well.

Resolve: Willingness to work for the intrinsic benefit of work and its ability to enhance character.

This position calls for people that display this trait differently than most people. The ideal Receptionist candidate tends to be passionate about their work and get a lot of enjoyment and pleasure out of it.

Reliability: Tendency to behave in an uncompromising and consistently honest, moral, and ethical manner.

Receptionist/Information Clerk positions call for people that display this trait differently than most people. The ideal candidate always follows through on their commitments to others to the extent they are in control of a situation.

Cooperativeness: Tendency to be friendly, agreeable, and to be a team person.

This position calls for people that display this trait more prominently than most people. The ideal candidate is generally not one to express their opinions unless absolutely necessary.

Above all else, don’t short-change the evaluation process if you are hiring a receptionist. Using behavioural science can help you find the ideal candidate for this important position.

JAN G. VAN DER HOOP

Jan is the co-founder and president of Fit First Technologies, a company that applies its predictive analytics to the task of matching people to roles. Those algorithms drive platforms such as TalentSorter, FitFirstJobs and Eyeployment.com, which are relied upon by organizations to screen high volumes of candidates for “fit” in their open positions.

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Screening Job Candidates for Cultural Fit? Don’t Forget to Ask These 10 Questions

Human Resources, Talent Acquisition

You’ve posted your job opening online, sorted through dozens of resumes and selected the applicants you’d like to interview. Now you just have to pick the one with the best combination of education, skills, and experience, right?

Wrong. In all likelihood, you’ve already screened candidates for those factors based on their resumes. Why do the same thing twice? The interview is your chance to dive a little deeper and assess what really matters most when hiring – cultural fit.

Fit with your office culture is a key determinant of whether a new hire will be successful in their role. But how do you assess fit? Start by asking these 10 questions during the interview process:

1. Outside of work, what are you passionate about?

There is no right or wrong answer to this question. We recommend asking it to get a better sense of the person behind the resume – what inspires them, whether they prefer solitary or group pursuits, are they process or outcome oriented?

It also makes for a great ice-breaker early in the interview to stimulate conversation and create a bond over shared interests.

2. What are the first 3 things you would do if you won the lottery?

Another open question without a right or wrong response, this one reveals where the employee’s true priorities lie.

The risk-averse may focus on paying off debt and investing for the future, while more adventurous types may dream of starting a business or travelling the world.

A focus on family or charity suggests they are loyal and are motivated by a sense of belonging and feeling that their job contributes in a positive way to the community around them.

3. What does your ideal job look like? / What does your nightmare job look like?

Encourage the candidate to describe their ideal work conditions, daily routine, managers and team-mates, as well as scenarios that they would describe as a nightmare.

Their answers will offer a clear vision of how well they might adapt to your culture, allowing you to identify any red flag areas where fit may be a concern.

4. How do you define success in your job?

Not only does this question help you decide how best to incentivise and reward a new hire, it reveals how they themselves measure success.

Are they focused solely on their own goals such as compensation, bonuses and promotions or are they concerned with practice goals such as increasing profit, improving patient satisfaction, or making a positive contribution to the community?

Make sure the candidate’s goals and values align with your practice’s mission and values.

5. What’s the most successful way you have delegated a task in the past?

The answers to this question reveal not only what kind of work the candidate has done in the past, but what leadership skills they possess.

You want long-term employees who will develop, grow and move up within your company, so you need to assess their aptitude not only for the current position, but their potential as future leaders.

6. Describe a time when you failed at a task

Even employees who are an ideal fit for the job will face challenges. How they deal with adversity determines how successful they will be as a member of your team.

Are they willing to ask for help or do they prefer to go it alone? Do they blame others for problems or accept responsibility themselves?

7. What is your biggest pet peeve about your last job?

This question can open up a whole can of worms. Complaints about tasks, supervisors, pay, overtime, co-workers and customers will help you determine whether the applicant is really suited to work in your unique environment.

Even more importantly, they reveal a great deal about the candidate’s character, loyalty and judgement.

Unless you want an employee who will freely badmouth you and your customers to others, a candidate who does so in an interview may not be your first choice.

8. Imagine you’re riding a runaway elephant that’s about to go over a cliff. What do you do?

Yes, it’s a ridiculous question and yes, that’s the point. The answer itself isn’t as important as how the candidate deals with the unexpected.

Can they think quickly on their feet? Do they come up with a creative answer? Are they rattled by a nonsensical question in the middle of an otherwise ordinary interview?

9. Is there something you believe in that goes against established norms?

We all want employees who aren’t afraid to think outside the box. Independent thinkers may be more creative in the workplace and come up with unique methods and solutions to improve workflow and patient satisfaction if empowered to do so.

On the other hand, candidates who have little respect for authority and who resent being told what do and how to do it are unlikely to succeed in highly regulated work environments.

10. Which of our company’s core values do you identify with the most (or least)?

This seemingly innocuous question is actually one of the most relevant ones.

On its face it reveals whether the candidate’s values align with those of your business – clearly a key factor in determining fit. More importantly, it tells you how much the applicant wants the job and how much preparation they have done for the interview.

Have they thoroughly researched your business? Are they aware of your mission and values?

A candidate who will go above and beyond to prepare for an interview is more likely to be an employee who will go above and beyond for your business.

Bonus Questions

Q. Who was the best manager you ever had, and what was it about them that made them such a great manager, for you?

– Always follow with who was the worst manager… and what was it about them that made them a poor manager, for you?

Q. What’s the funniest thing that ever happened to you at work?

– Answers always give insight into underlying attitudes and beliefs. Also – is the answer self-deprecating or are they laughing at someone else’s expense?

JAN G. VAN DER HOOP

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10 Innovative HR Practices to Improve Employee Engagement

Human Resources, Managing Others

When it comes to increasing productivity and reducing staff turnover, many top companies rely on employee engagement programs to keep workers motivated.

Why is engagement so important? A 2015 study by Glassdoor reported that 54% of employees surveyed felt confident about finding a comparable position within six months if they quit or were laid off.

Today’s practices need to offer their employees a compelling reason to stay.

Which strategies are most effective? Check out our top-10 list of employee engagement tips designed to boost morale – and your bottom line.

1. Work on wellness

With job stress often cited as a reason employees quit, focusing on health and work-life balance makes sense.

Physical and mental wellness programs can include generous healthcare benefits, on site fitness classes, healthy eating options, and workshops on topics such as mindfulness and stress management.

2. Treat employees like insiders

Information is power. When you treat employees like insiders and share valuable information regarding your practice’s strategic plans, mission and goals with them, everyone can work towards the same objectives.

When facing tough decisions in a challenging business environment, make sure all staff members understand exactly what is happening and why, and what steps management is taking to mitigate any negative effects.

3. Inspire pride in your team

Do your employees feel their work has meaning and purpose?

Does their work make a difference to others? People who believe strongly in what they do are engaged in their work and inspired to do their best.

Be an inspiration to your team by serving as a leader and a mentor, nurturing their personal growth and supporting their chosen causes in the community through your philanthropy program.

4. Provide premium perks

Perks matter. A 2015 survey from Glassdoor showed that 79% of respondents would choose additional perks and benefits over a raise, given the choice.

Some of the most popular perks include increased vacation days, paid sick leave, flexible work hours, employee discounts, wellness programs, and professional development opportunities.

5. Reward responsibility

Do you give your staff jobs to complete or responsibilities?

Employees are more invested in their work when they’re aware of the big picture and bear responsibility for the outcome.

Empower workers to take ownership of entire projects and provide them the tools to succeed rather than simply assigning piecemeal tasks.

6. Pay for professional development

Investing in your employees is an investment in your business’ bottom line.

Helping your employees develop their current skills and learn new ones is a win-win-win.

They appreciate your support, which in turn fosters loyalty and engagement. They improve their performance, increasing your practice’s productivity and contributing positively to its bottom line.

7. Let employees walk a mile in others’ shoes

Collaboration and productivity can’t exist in a silo.

Foster an environment of teamwork and cooperation by allowing employees to experience what colleagues in other departments do.

Let selected staff members choose which role they’d like to assume, assign a mentor in that role to provide basic training, and let the workers enjoy trading places for a day.

8. Gamification gets results

Can gamification really make work more fun? Yes!

Whether encouraging friendly competition between teams to hit certain targets, rewarding achievements with redeemable points, or using one of the many mobile gamification platforms gaining popularity with HR departments, introducing elements from the gaming sphere into the workplace can enhance both performance and team spirit.

9. Brainstorm from the bottom up

Your employees are your greatest asset.

Take advantage of their diverse backgrounds and experiences by opening brainstorming sessions up to all employees.

Encouraging input from everyone results in creative, out-of-the-box solutions and helps all employees feel like they can contribute to the practice’s success.

10. Consider your office culture

One of the easiest ways to ensure employee engagement is to hire employees who suit your existing office culture.

Employees who are a good match for the job, the manager, the work-style of their colleagues and the practice’s values will work cooperatively and productively as a harmonious team.

A fitting way to increase engagement

Of all the tips above, none will have a greater impact on employee engagement, productivity and turnover than hiring for fit first – but how?

“Fit” isn’t something which can easily be determined by reading a resume or interviewing a candidate.

Eyeployment.com’s interactive app can help you attract, screen and hire the right employees for your position and your company. Click here to learn more.

JAN G. VAN DER HOOP

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High Tech Hiring: Why Predictive Analytics Is The Key to Successful Recruiting

Human Resources, Practice, Resources, Talent Acquisition, Technology

2018 is proving to be a challenging year for hiring managers. Relatively low unemployment rates, a shortage of skilled workers, and a highly competitive marketplace are adding increasing pressure to practices already struggling to attract and retain top talent.

According to a recent survey, some 45% of companies are unable to fill vacant positions. If your business is one of them, we’ve got good news.

A number of new HR tech tools have harnessed the power of artificial intelligence, machine learning and predictive analytics to help take the guesswork out of hiring.

These technologies may well be the key to successful recruiting for your practice, no matter how big or small it is.

What is predictive analytics?

Predictive analytics takes large amounts of data gathered through data mining, modelling, AI, machine learning and statistics.

The information is analyzed to make accurate predictions about future behaviour or events.

In HR, past trends, patterns and relationships can be identified and used to assess which factors and characteristics are most likely to contribute to a candidate’s success or failure in a specific role.

How can predictive analytics help you hire better?

There’s a reason major enterprises such as Google and Hewlett-Packard employ predictive analytics tools throughout the entire spectrum of the talent management process.

How you hire is just as important as who you hire. From acquisition, retention, and development of new staff, all the way through to exit surveys and the process of hiring replacements, using predictive analytics can improve hiring processes in a number of ways:

1. Streamline success

Predictive analytics HR tools help cut through the clutter, identifying the factors critical to success and predicting which job seekers are most likely to succeed – both in your specific position and your unique office culture.

Reducing the time spent sorting resumes, ranking applicants and interviewing unsuitable candidates streamlines the hiring process, saving time, money and resources.

When the hiring process is not only faster, but more efficient and effective, everyone benefits.

2. Knowledge is power

Better decision making is based on having better knowledge.

Predictive analytics can help you gather crucial data regarding employee performance and productivity, turnover rates, engagement and job satisfaction.

Patterns and trends help identify which factors had a negative impact on your employee lifecycle in the past, and can predict which changes in your hiring processes will have a positive effect in the future.

3. Quality, not quantity

Many employers rely on certain job sites and recruiting tools because they consistently deliver a high number of candidates. But quantity is not an effective measure of the quality of candidates referred.

Why waste your time and resources sorting through a huge stack of resumes from job seekers who aren’t likely to succeed in the role?

Use the power of predictive analytics to determine which sources are the most effective at delivering the candidates you need.

Certain platforms, such as Eyeployment.com go a step further by pre-screening applicants, ranking them based on likely fit with your position and office culture, and even predicting which interview questions will offer hiring managers the most insight.

JAN G. VAN DER HOOP

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How to Avoid Hiring a Toxic Employee

Human Resources, Talent Acquisition

No practice ever sets out to hire the wrong employee, but it still happens for a variety of reasons.

Unclear expectations, personality clashes, poor cultural fit, and a lack of suitable skills or training can lead to low staff satisfaction and high turnover. But what happens when a bad hire turns out to be truly toxic?

Toxic behaviour poisons the atmosphere, affecting everyone on the team.

Research reveals:

Having just one toxic staff member on a team of 20 makes the 19 “good” employees 54% more likely to seek employment elsewhere.

Prevent Problems Before They Start
By the time you identify toxic behaviour in an employee it’s too late; the damage to your team and your practice may already be done.

Prevent problems before they start by screening for red flag issues during the interview process.

Watch for these critical behaviours from candidates; each is a strong indicator of toxic personality traits:

Over-confidence and cockiness
Exaggerating skills and accomplishments
Rude or disrespectful behaviour towards those not involved in the interview: the parking lot attendant, receptionist, your office assistant, etc.
Arriving late for the interview
Badmouthing past employers and co-workers
Blaming others for poor results and difficult work situations rather than taking responsibility

Ask the Right Interview Questions
Asking the right interview questions is key to identifying potential problems. Don’t just settle for the first answer, which may have been prepared in advance.

Encourage candidates to give two or three different examples when answering each of the questions below:

Describe three times when you had to deal with stress or conflict at work. What did you do?
When have you failed at a task? Describe how you handled two or three different circumstances and what you learned from the experience.
What kind of people do you find it most difficult to work with? Tell me about three different experiences in which you had to handle difficult people at your job.
What three words would your former manager use to describe you?
What three words would your former subordinates use to describe you?
Describe three situations in which you showed exceptional leadership skills

Do Your Due Diligence
The best way to avoid hiring a toxic employee is to do your due diligence.

Check credentials and qualifications carefully and follow up with multiple references – both personal and professional.

As well, turn to your own network of sources who should know the candidate: former coworkers, past clients, or those in the same social circle as your potential hire.

As with the interview process, asking the right reference questions provides key insight into possible personality conflicts or areas where the applicant’s values don’t align with those of your practice:

How well did he/she collaborate with others?
How did subordinates feel about reporting to him/her?
Did the candidate’s behavior ever reflect negatively on your organization?
Would you re-hire him/her if the opportunity arose?

Screen for Fit First
There’s no way around it; hiring a toxic employee is a costly mistake.

The best way to avoid it is to attract the right candidates and screen for “fit” at every stage of the hiring process.

That’s why we created Eyeployment.com, a unique platform which uses cutting-edge behavioural science to help practices like yours take the guesswork out of hiring.

We identify the traits most critical for success in your position – and most likely to indicate potential problems – and pre-screen applicants for you. You’ll receive a detailed analysis for each candidate, ranking them in order of likely fit with your mission, values and specific position description.

We even provide a customized interview guide that tells you exactly what to ask each applicant to ensure they are the right fit for your role.

JAN G. VAN DER HOOP

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When Does Fit Trump Experience in the Hiring Process?

Human Resources, Managing Others, Talent Acquisition

It’s no secret that “fit” is one of the most important characteristics to assess when evaluating potential new hires.

At Eyeployment.com, we believe so strongly in the value of measuring fit first, we built an entire platform designed to help practice owners and managers do just that. But should fit ever trump experience?

Let’s be clear; the ideal candidate should be both qualified AND a good fit for the role and your office culture.

Recommending that employers hire for cultural fit is not the same as recommending that practices hire unqualified or incompetent applicants.

Nobody benefits from that scenario. But if you have a choice between a highly-experienced candidate who is a poor fit, and a candidate who is an excellent fit, but less experienced, who would you hire?

Qualifications Still Matter – To a Point

Most job postings include a list of required academic credentials, professional experience and skills – and with good reason.

Your practice needs employees with the fundamental knowledge and skill to perform the tasks expected in their role.

Training is time-, cost- and labour-intensive so it makes sense to prioritize the more experienced candidates who should require less time and less training to get up to speed.

However it’s important to note that while any employee can learn new skills, processes and procedures, cultural fit isn’t something which can be taught.

When Experience is a Disadvantage

A landmark 2009 study set out to examine the links between experience and job performance, expecting that prior related experience in a previous role would lead to better performance in the new role.

In fact, the results showed that any benefits of that prior job experience were completely negated by poor cultural fit.

While employees bring the skills and experience workers gained at previous positions to their new jobs, they may also bring with them certain expectations, routines, patterns of behaviour and fixed ways of thinking that prevent them from adapting successfully to the new work environment.

Why Fit Matters More

Numerous studies of employee engagement have identified a strong correlation between culture and performance.

83% of executives and 84% of employees ranked motivated and engaged employees as the #1 factor contributing to a company’s success. (Deloitte)
Candidates who are a good fit are 20% more likely to become top performers (Achievers)
New hires who are a good fit are 27.2% less likely to leave during their first 18 months of employment. (Achievers)
Over a period of seven years, companies with more engaged workers grew revenue 2.5x as much as companies with less engaged workers. ( Bain & Company)
Happy employees are 12% more productive. (Fast Company)

Fit with office culture is a defining feature of employee success, which leads to financial success.

Focusing on fit over experience when hiring doesn’t mean compromising on essential skills.

It means committing to finding employees who will support your company’s vision and providing them with the tools and training which they need to succeed.

JAN G. VAN DER HOOP

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