Hire for Skill—or Attitude? – February

It’s an age-old dilemma: Do you hire for skill or attitude? Mark Murphy, author of Hiring for Attitude, says that attitude is a top predictor of a new hire’s success or failure. Why is that? Because technical skills, while important, are much easier to assess than attitude. Virtually every job has tests that can assess technical experience, but it’s harder to quantify attitude and whether a candidate is motivated, innovative, flexible, takes feedback well, is a team player, etc.

Murphy’s research revealed that out of 20,000 new hires that he tracked, 46% of them failed within 18 months. Even more interesting, 89% of those failed for attitudinal reasons. Now that you’re sold on hiring for attitude, here are some steps you can follow during the interview/screening process to find the right fit:

• Ask competency-based questions. According to TLNT.com, these are a few questions that will dive deeper than the candidate’s resume can. Give me an example of how you respond to difficult coworkers. Tell me about your last serious error with a customer or colleague and your reaction to it. When did you last try something new without any guarantee of success?
• Attitude doesn’t always equal personality. A candidate’s social savvy doesn’t always mean they have a good work ethic. Remember to pay attention to the interviewee’s attitude in trying work situations rather than how closely their interests align with your own or someone you’d be friends with.
• Start with your own attitude. Whoever is conducting the interview should go into it with the same hard-working attitude that you expect to see in your new hires. Avoid predictable questions, so you can bypass the scripted responses and get the answers you need to make an informed hiring decision. Subjective questions specific to your company’s challenges will get the most revealing responses.

If you are looking for guidance in hiring for attitude, contact the experts at Activate Staffing. We’ll partner with you to uncover the best possible candidates for your company.

Secrets to Attracting Top Talent – February(Opens in a new browser tab)