A guide to crafting next-level talent identification, interviewing and selection processes

Having the right people in the right job roles means everything when it comes to organizational success. But if your organization doesn’t have a sound talent acquisition strategy, identifying and hiring those people can be a murky process, dependent on guesswork and laden with potential for mistakes. That’s why you need a playbook — a game plan with proven methods for your team to find its most ideal new players. Here’s what you need to know to get started.

What is talent acquisition?

Talent acquisition is the process of identifying, attracting, interviewing, hiring and even onboarding skilled employees to meet organizational needs. Typically, talent acquisition involves a long-term strategy to find top talent for an organization. A part of the human resources function, talent acquisition includes sourcing talent from within the organization as well as externally.

What are the benefits of having a talent acquisition strategy?

It is important to have a talent acquisition strategy to ensure you are planning for your organization’s future. The volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment we operate in today requires that organizations stay nimble and continuously evaluate their talent needs in order to build a future-ready workforce. One preparative measure that many organizations take is creating a talent community, or a pool of qualified candidates, to select from as needs arise. This also enables organizations to identify candidates who have transferrable skills and who are qualified for job roles for which they might not have originally applied.

What is the difference between recruitment and talent acquisition?

Recruitment is focused on identifying talent to fill open positions. Talent acquisition is a more strategic approach to finding specialized talent or future leaders for an organization.

How can you evaluate your recruiting efforts?

There are a variety of metrics you can use to evaluate your recruiting efforts including time to fill, quality of the hire, cost per hire, and applicant satisfaction. Hogan can help improve these metrics by providing simple, effective selection tools that ensure you quickly identify capable talent without spending unnecessary time conducting countless interviews to make sure you get the right candidates.

What should the role of personality tests be during the hiring process?

Personality tests play a critical role in the hiring process because they provide insight regarding the candidate’s fit and likelihood of success in the job. They can be implemented at any point during the hiring process — from initial applicant screening to final candidate evaluation. With all other things being equal, however, personality tests should be used as early as possible in the process because doing so provides a fair and objective evaluation before any potential unconscious biases impact an applicant’s chances at getting the job. Personality tests should be just one of multiple data points used in the hiring process.

How can personality tests improve and expedite the hiring process?

Hiring practices that maximize these three considerations will be most effective to the organization: (1) fairness, (2) quality, and (3) efficiency. In terms of fairness, personality tests provide an unbiased way to evaluate a candidate’s fit to any particular job because they do not discriminate based on ethnicity, race, sex, or age. In terms of quality, scientifically validated personality tests improve hiring quality by ensuring that organizations hire candidates whose unique personality characteristics match those desired for the role. As employees, these candidates are happier, more productive, and less likely to turn over. In terms of efficiency, personality tests are one of the most efficient methods of evaluating candidates, while also maintaining fairness and quality. For example, flipping a coin is a fair and efficient way to make decisions about candidates, but it is not high quality. Interviews have mixed results in terms of fairness, often due to the experience of the interviewer. However, they are also inefficient. Personality tests are unique in that they offer fairness, quality, and efficiency all in one.

How do you balance experience and “hard skills” with personality and “soft skills” when making hiring decisions?

Hard skills and experience are often necessary but not sufficient to do a job well. For example, suppose you are hiring a software developer. The person must have a background and skills in software development (i.e., a professional chef would not have the necessary skills). But to maximize the software developer’s job performance, he or she will also need to fit in with the team, be able to learn new skills quickly, and have a strong work ethic. These personality characteristics don’t show up on a resume, but they are the difference between hiring a person who is merely adequate to do the job versus someone who is an excellent employee. In other words, once you are sure the person has the requisite skills, the remainder of performance is determined by personality.

How can you fairly differentiate between internal and external candidates when a position is vacant and needs to be filled?

Whether you are identifying internal talent or acquiring external talent, the beauty of personality tests is that they put everyone on a level playing field. While a host of factors differentiate internal from external candidates (e.g., how much training is needed, fitting in with company culture, prior interactions with the internal candidate, etc.), personality tests are intentionally unable to discern those background factors, offering a fair and unbiased evaluation of all candidates.

How can you conduct a proper candidate comparison?

A candidate comparison leverages expert interpretation that integrates the critical success factors of the job and fit indices of the organization. Typically, a candidate comparison is conducted when the final pool of candidates has been identified. A candidate comparison includes a side-by-side comparison of the candidates, an in-depth thematic write-up on each candidate, and an open discussion between a Hogan consultant (or Hogan-certified user) and the hiring team.

What is culture alignment, and why is it important to consider?

The culture of an organization reflects that organization’s values, and workers are attracted to organizations that match their values. When a worker’s values match those of the organization, the worker is more satisfied, more productive, and less likely to turn over. However, when the organization’s values differ from those of the worker, the worker is more likely to turn over or be dissatisfied, careless, or destructive. As a result, culture alignment is an important predictor of productivity and job satisfaction when it is taken seriously.

Unfortunately, many organizations use the term “bad culture fit” as a go-to reason for denying employment to an otherwise qualified — often minority — candidate. Thus, it is essential for organizations to be objective, scientific, and systematically fair about what culture fit means and how it is assessed. Personality tests offer an objective and scientifically valid way of assessing culture alignment.

How can you get started?

If you’re ready to begin refining your organization’s talent acquisition strategy, a good first step is to identify a valid and reliable personality test. But because the industry is largely unregulated, finding an evidence-based and effective measure of personality can be a challenge. To help, we’ve put together a guide with a standard set of considerations to help you navigate the process.

Want your copy of our guide to choosing a personality test? Please contact us at Ildiz.chisanovici@hart.ro or +40 730.556.541.