[ Volume Twenty Six ]

Article Overview: It's a straightforward concept: hire the right people and build a better - and more profitable - organisation. And while many companies still hire on skills and experience, a growing number of organisations are hiring for attitude. They know you can teach job skills, but the right attitude can make the difference between a star performer and an average hire.

Few people would disagree that if you hire the right people you build a better - and more profitable - organisation. Research by Aberdeen Group, for example, shows that top performing employees deliver 12 times the value of mid-level performers, an average of $255,000 per employee. As a consequence, the key challenge that many organisations face is 'how do you identify the 'right' person'? While many companies base their hiring decisions on the applicant's skills and experience, an alternative option, gaining favour amongst many companies, is to hire based primarily on the candidate's attitude. The underlying philosophy is that you can always teach job skills, but the 'right' attitude marks the difference between a star performer and a lacklustre employee.

"You can hire people with the best qualifications and experience in the World but if they lack the right attitude then they can do untold damage to your business", says Ron Switzer FCPA and Director, NSW Division and Corporate Sector for CPA Australia. "In order to build an organisation of well-rounded business leaders, it's vital to have the right approach to your work and have the education and expertise to back that up". Ron is adamant that it's important to hire candidates who are keen to learn and who will fit in well with both your team and company goals and culture. "We remind graduates that while employers care about securing staff with a CPA designation, they are also looking for other qualitative factors and some, like a 'can do' attitude, can simply not be taught", he adds.

The Right Attitude

We all know the wrong attitude when we come across it, but what constitutes the right attitude? The 'right' attitude comes down to finding a candidate whose behavioural norms fit your company culture, mirrors your work ethic and whose personality will project a positive company image to your customers.

Peter Knight, CPA, founding partner of BRW top 20 accounting firm Hayes Knight and NSW Vice President of CPA Australia says that you must look beyond a candidate's initial behaviour to learn the truth about their attitude. He warns that when interviewing, you need to be sure that the candidate is not just exhibiting an optimistic demeanour to get the job. "You need to ensure that there is depth to their attitude, not simply effective interview technique. Always ask them for practical examples to back up their answers", says Peter. "There's more to a positive attitude than just a warm and friendly manner, so this is where behavioural interviewing becomes very important", he says. Peter agrees that negative employees can topple morale and 'infect' a workplace with bad vibes faster than a plague of cockroaches. Unfortunately, many pessimists or 'bad attituders' cunningly mask their true colours in an interview, so it's important to look beyond a friendly demeanour and seek to learn the candidate's genuine attitude towards both work and life.

Peter also believes that skills and attitude cannot be viewed as mutually exclusive: "A positive attitude wins every time, but there has to also be a base level of skills competency", says Peter. "However, training skills is much easier than changing a negative employee to a positive one".

Jo Mithen, Executive Director, AHRI (The Australian Human Resources Institute) also points out that ascertaining a candidate's real attitude can be a big ask. "Discovering someone's true attitude is difficult because often the lure of the position encourages a candidate to be less than candid", she says. Jo also advises caution about hiring on instinct. "I think you need to be careful about hiring on intuition because you need to substantiate your decision", she says. "There's a big difference between liking someone as opposed to knowing they are spot on for the job".

Melissa Blanch, Manager of Recruitment Services at KPMG Audit and Risk Advisory Services division agrees. "The types of questions I ask aim to determine a candidate's attitude towards a position or work-ethic. I look to test their ability to communicate, their willingness to take initiative and to accept responsibility, their leadership potential and their ambition and motivation", she says. Melissa believes that the right attitude has an enormous impact on how successful a person's career will be which has a flow-on impact on the company for whom they work. "One question I often ask is for them to describe the work environment that best suits their work style", she says.

A Two Way Street

It is important, however, to remember that a good attitude works both ways. The days are long gone where employees remained loyal to a company no matter what.

Jane Mullins who works as a Operations Manager believes that many firms are hypocritical in that they expect employees to be positive about situations such as working longer hours for no extra remuneration or working for difficult managers who may have had a stream of employees leave them. "I have plenty of confidence in my ability to deliver the goods, however, while I have a positive attitude to my work, I'm also very selective about the kinds of people I will work for and many employers and companies just don't make the grade", she says. "Some firms want everything from their employees, yet seem surprised and complain about employees lacking the 'right attitude' when they give us nothing other than negative feedback or unpaid overtime".

A Word of Warning

Behaviour-based recruitment methodologies aren't an instant fix, and may not work for every company. "It's not as simple as finding a person who appears outgoing or thrives under pressure," observes Raymond A. Noe, a professor of business management and human resources at Ohio State University. "There are many dimensions to an individual's personality, and it's essential to thoroughly gauge their attitudes." Personality-based hiring processes can be complicated and time-consuming, sometimes requiring multiple interviews, structured evaluations and simulations. The approach has to be weighed up against the relative importance of the position. And when a company does decide to go down this route they must ensure they have the specific tools and measures for analysing an applicant's behaviour. Many organisations end up telling a candidate that the chemistry isn't right or that he isn't a good fit, but the decision is not based on valid criteria or any hard data.

Putting it into practice

John O'Malley, an American-based executive coach and consultant says, "When hiring attitude, keep your interviewing questions focused on past behaviour that highlighted the candidate's previous attitude. It also helps to define or profile the key attitude traits you desire in employees. Walking the walk and talking the walk are different, so stay away from hypothetical questions."
O'Malley offers the following attitude trait screening questions as a guide when interviewing potential new employees:

In Summary

The benefits of hiring positive 'can do' employees are clear, however great care must be taken to ensure that a person with A-grade interview skills isn't automatically assumed to be an employee with an A-grade behavioural fit with your company. Furthermore, companies that want to attract and retain positive employees also need to ensure that their company culture reinforces positive management practices. As well-known motivator and broadcaster Earl Nightingale once said: "Our attitude toward life determines life's attitude towards us." This also holds true with our employees.

References:

1. http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2002/10/14/editorial2.html?page=2
2. http://www.workforce.com/section/06/feature/23/47/86/

About Regent Recruitment Regent Recruitment is a consultancy that assists leading Australian employers to attract and retain talented staff on a contract, temporary or permanent basis. Whether we are filling one permanent role or recruiting contract staff for a 400-seat call centre, we deliver the same high level of service. Operating nationally, the company is unique in that it combines the capabilities of a large-scale multinational recruitment firm with exceptional service levels typically only associated with small boutique agencies. How can we assist you? We would welcome the opportunity to have a confidential meeting to discuss your staffing needs in more detail. If you are interested, in the first instance please call Howard Mereine, Group General Manager, on (03) 8646 9150 or e-mail Howard at hmereine@regentrecruitment.com.au. We look forward to speaking with you.

This article was licenced by Regent Recruitment for the Regent Recruitment client newsletter.
Written by Alison Aprhys and Paul Quinn for Quinntessential Marketing Consulting Pty Ltd.


Subscriptions

Please feel free to forward this listing on to other people in your company or in the wider industry who you believe may benefit.

You may subscribe or unsubscribe at any time - click here to manage your subscription.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of Regent Personnel Pty Ltd.