How do I hire the right talent? Focus on the 5% who deliver 95% of the value

Picking the right talent isn’t easy — you (the hiring manager, HR leader, C-suite member) need to understand what creates value in different roles. Which could turn out to be one of your secret weapons in the war for talent.

While finding candidates with the right qualifications, skills, and track record is important, you should also be screening to find the candidate who best fits with the values of your team and the company you’re hiring for.

Employers and hiring managers who understand how important it is to align the values of the prospective candidate to their company will achieve greater productivity, team harmony, and improve retention. For the employee, they are more likely to feel a greater measure of engagement and job satisfaction – because a value match is, in the long-term, more important than a skills one.

What is value alignment?

Value alignment means understanding the driving forces behind the candidate and the company, and making sure there is a match between the two. The hiring manager needs to promote the values of the company – like customer service, creativity and innovation, social improvement, or thought leadership – to prospective employees.

In your company, is teamwork rewarded – or competitiveness? Individuality or conformity? Follow these five tips to discover more about the values behind your company:

Assess and outline your employee value proposition (EVP), what your organisation can offer, and how you are perceived as a prospective employer by external candidates
Observe employees at work and assess their work patterns within the business, trying to view them from an external perspective
Investigate what impact the working environment (space, light, decor, etc.) has on employees and on work practices – is your office open plan, are the surroundings traditional or modern, etc.
Talk to your employees - in an objective, non-judgmental way about the working arrangements, and what they like/dislike about them
Compare the working environment and outlook of the business to similar companies, to judge where in the sector you currently fit.

How can I find the best fit?

You need to learn how to question candidates during the interview to glean information on their workplace behaviours and motivators. You can develop these questions after you have investigated your company values as detailed above. The questions should give your interviewee the chance to offer examples from the past – and how they match your company values.

Remain open minded – but focus on who you need

List the skills they will need, matching them to your company values, and discuss with your team how these come into play in their daily work lives. Talk about how culture affects performance, and see how the candidate has dealt with this in the past.

Use all the resources around you

If your team works closely with other teams, enquire about their perspective of your new team member – how was the previous relationship? Were certain skills lacking? If business partnering and building internal networks is important, drill deep into their experiences.

The recruitment process can be complex and difficult to understand, with many considerations to make before the talent you need signs on the dotted line.