Identifying and hiring the right talent to best fit your organisation

Effective recruitment means more than simply hiring the right person for the job.

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 to identify top talent – and thus hone their competitive advantage – by ensuring the right hire, first time round.

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, and
• decrease the rate of re-hiring.

Written by:

Dirk Pretorius
Senior Industrial Psychologist, 21st Century

• Industrial-Organisational Psychologist | MComm.
• HRM Consultant
• Medico/Psycho-legal Practitioner
• Medical Malpractice Mediator (MiM)
• South African Medico-legal Association (SAMLA)
• Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA PS0132322)
• Canadian Psychological Association (CPA 142746)