Every discussion I have had with an employer regarding a new hire, could be summarised as follows: “we want highly productive staff with good people skills”. Naturally, there was more to it – such as the requisite skills, experience, qualifications etc, but the essence of their message is always the same. In most employer’s minds, productivity equals output, which in turn equals revenue.
And if ever the discussion turned to their own productivity levels, many employers would self-rate between above-average, all the way through to elite. It’s perhaps no surprise that a great deal of us believe we are highly productive in our own work, but just how true is this belief?
There is also a relationship between productivity and effectiveness where we can perhaps use the term outcome, more so than output.
Initially, recruiters also believe they rate highly for both productivity and effectiveness, although they soon come to the realisation that it’s simply not the case. As recruiters, we interview many candidates who we recognise are at least as productive and effective as we are. Indeed, we instinctively know that they could perform our own jobs, if only they were in possession of the same tools and methodology at our disposal. The question then is: can employers’ access the methods and tools of recruitment agencies?
Productivity in Hiring.
Australian businesses received a productivity boost to their hiring efforts in the late 1990’s when job advertising portals arrived on the scene. For the first time, employers could avoid the high cost of print media advertising and go it alone with a low cost option. This also marked the point when the “Attraction” phase of hiring moved from the closed shop of the recruitment agencies, and out into the broader business world. A revelation at the time, the much larger barrier to hiring the most productive staff remains to this day: the all-important “Evaluation” phase and the highly specialised tools it requires.
A.I – Is it the answer?
Recruitment agencies enjoy a love-hate relationship with A.I – they love the software that allows them to filter applications at previously unimaginable speeds, but they hate the A.I tools used by candidates to build cover letters and résumés which target the keywords in their job adverts. Tellingly it’s not A.I software the recruitment agencies ultimately rely on in their candidate evaluation, rather, it’s their internal methodology and processes that enable them to “see through” the A.I enhancement.
Employers are also dealing with this A.I enhancement, making their task of evaluating candidates more difficult than ever before. Because of this, employers now require the methods and skills of a professional recruiter – but how to obtain these skills remains the question.
Personality is Productivity
The degree to which a future employee can be expected to be productive, is the area where recruitment agencies place much of their focus. A key tool in their kit is the use of assessments based on personality models such as The Big Five. Under the personality trait of Extraversion, we find the facets of Energy and Enthusiasm, and within the trait of Conscientiousness, we find Responsibility and Productiveness. High scores for these personality facets point the way to a productive employee.
Naturally, there are other traits that go towards making great employees, and these are also found within the Big Five Personality model. The Big Five model uses the acronym OCEAN to outline those major traits – Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism.
Before a personality assessment is applied (known by their technical name – psychometric assessments), prospective employees need to be correctly screened, interviewed and reference checked. We’re now back to those coveted recruitment agency methods and tools – the ones that are locked away.
At least they were locked away – until now.
My recruitment agency has now unlocked its full toolkit, placing all the abovementioned tools on our new website.
All of the professional methods and tools are provided (our internal proformas and access to the Big Five psychometric assessment known as P.A.P.I – Personality And Preference Inventory). In addition, the book “Hiring’s Secret Sauce”, distils twenty plus years of agency recruiting into the absolutely essential need-to-know information, while discarding everything unnecessary. It’s the full, professional agency methodology in an easy to read format. The book and new website have a simple aim – to give everyone in business the same hiring tools and ability as a professional recruitment agency.
Until the end of October, IML members receive a 40% discount following their purchase of our proforma set, and every fourth Big Five assessment they purchase is free during the same period.
Visit the website here.
