Beyond Qualifications: The Significance of Attitude of Candidates in Selection Process

 

Common Criteria for Selection in SHRM

The aim of selection is to assess the suitability of candidates by predicting the extent to which they will be able to carry out a role successfully. It involves deciding on the degree to which the characteristics of applicants in terms of their KSAs (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities), competencies, experience, qualifications, education and training match the person specification and then using this assessment to make a choice between candidates (Armstrong and Taylor 2014).

The criteria for selecting employees are the factors that employers use to determine the suitability of a candidate for a job. These criteria are based on the requirements of the job and are used to evaluate the skills, knowledge, qualifications, and characteristics of the candidate. Organizations often formalize their selection criteria using competency frameworks, which are a set of key competencies that underpin performance in-role (Schwencke, 2023)

In 2012, Mark Murphy, CEO of Leadership IQ released a book under the title of “Hiring for Attitude” and here he discussed a different approach for the selection criteria. 

Let’s here from the author 👇

According to Murphy, there are five main reasons why new hires fail. They typically lack one or more of the following things (Murphy 2012 cited in Professional Leadership Institute, Undated) 

Coachability (26%)– This refers to an employee’s ability to accept, internalize, and implement feedback from different organizational stakeholders. When employees are unreceptive to feedback, they are uncoachable. If they are uncoachable, they are unwilling to adapt to change.

Emotional intelligence (23%) – An individual’s ability to read and understand people’s emotions is key to managing their interactions with others. Individuals who cannot understand others will miss important cues and create fraught relationships with their colleagues. This can lead to team members feeling that the employee is difficult to work with.

Motivation (17%) – An unmotivated and unengaged employee will simply not stack up against an employee that is. Employees need some form of motivation in order to be successful.

Temperament (15%) – The employee’s attitude and personality play a factor in their success. Sometimes, there’s a mismatch between the employee’s personality and the type of personality needed for the role.

Technical competence (11%) – The last factor is simply whether the employee possesses the skills to do the job. If they do not and lack the motivation to learn, they will continue to be unsuccessful.

Accordingly, it indicates that 89% of the time an employee is a bad hire is due to attitude. As illustrated in the reasons they fail, technical competence contributes to only 11% of the failures. Everything else points to attitude (Murphy 2012 cited in Professional Leadership Institute, Undated)

Let’s learn about attitude

Hiring for Attitude

Find the Candidates with the Right Attitude

Assessing attitude in the selection process requires a strategic approach. This would involve psychometric principles and best practices. Organizations can work on variety of tools and techniques, including structured interviews, behavioral assessments, and situational judgment tests, to evaluate candidate attitudes effectively. The hiring managers should recognize and prioritize attitude alongside qualifications during the selection process.

Below are some tips for hiring a candidates with right attitudes (Murphy, 2012 cited in Freedman, 2024)

Define the Required Attitude

Maybe you have a general idea of the attitude you’re looking for — positive, friendly and upbeat. That’s a start, but these qualities might not be directly tied to your team’s tasks or workflows. Instead, come up with more detailed descriptions, such as “is willing to pause what they’re doing to help a co-worker.” You can often determine whether new hires meet these criteria within their first few days on the job or, ideally, during the interview process.

Prioritize Talent Sourcing, Not Just Talent Recruitment

Whereas talent recruitment covers incoming job applications, interviews and background checks, talent sourcing involves finding candidates before they find you. This isn’t limited to contacting people currently looking for work. You can also reach out to people working elsewhere who seem like attitude fits and ask whether they’d like to have a casual conversation. If that person is an attitude fit and they express interest in your company, you can then schedule a formal interview.

Ask Attitude-related Interview Questions.

During job interviews, ask candidates about hypothetical situations where their attitude could come into play. For example, asking, “How do you approach challenging tasks?” could reveal the candidate’s attitude toward teamwork, difficult assignments and professional development. Questions like these will help you get a sense of the candidate’s attitude before you hire them.

Skilled but toxic employees aren’t worth it (Testify.com)

It’s not worth hiring a skilled yet toxic employee that’s expected to be in the organization in the long-term. Incorporating skill assessment into the hiring process helps identify not only technical competencies but also interpersonal skills and cultural fit. This evaluation prevents the inadvertent hiring of individuals whose negative attitudes could prove detrimental to the team’s morale and productivity.

A negative attitude is contagious, which highlights the significance of skill assessment. Candidates must be rigorously evaluated for their abilities and attitude, and thereby businesses can safeguard themselves against the risk of toxicity spreading within the workforce. Skill assessment serves as a buffer against potential disruptions, allowing the organization to maintain a harmonious and efficient work environment.

Caution

Beware the curse of “attitude fraud.” We all know that candidates are on their best behavior when it comes to job interviews—after all, first impressions are everything. A candidate will likely be nervous during an interview and may behave in ways that they ordinarily wouldn’t once they land that position and interact with the rest of your team. As a result, being able to identify genuine characteristics and attributes can be particularly challenging in an interview situation with a notoriously artificial atmosphere. There are some ways around this, though, like personality assessments, team shadowing, and asking targeted questions based on values (Boogaard, Undated)

Let’s enjoy some interesting interviews we saw in movies, in which the attitude was exhibited right from the beginning 👇 

  

Conclusion

Hiring candidates with the right attitude will enable the organization to achieve,

1. Team Dynamics: Employees with positive attitudes tend to integrate well into teams, fostering a collaborative and supportive workplace.

2. Adaptability: Individuals with the right attitude are often more adaptable to changes, open to learning, and resilient in the face of challenges.

3. Employee Engagement: A positive attitude correlates with higher levels of employee engagement, job satisfaction, and overall well-being.

4. Reduced Turnover: Hiring individuals with a cultural fit can contribute to lower turnover rates as employees are more likely to stay in an environment that aligns with their values and attitudes.

5. Enhanced Creativity and Innovation: A positive attitude can foster creativity and innovation within a team, leading to a more dynamic and forward-thinking work environment.

However, it's essential to strike a balance and consider other factors like skills, experience, and diversity to build a successful team. Depending solely on attitude without considering competencies might not be sufficient for all roles.

Hiring for attitude may not be the right strategy for every company or even every position in a company but adopting some of these practices for recruiting can yield incredible results (Boogaard, Undated)

The success of hiring for attitude depends on the company's values, the nature of the work, and the specialization of the roles. A thoughtful and balanced approach to hiring that considers both attitude and skills is often the most effective.

References

Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S. (2014) Armstrongg’s handbook of human resource management practice. [ebook], 13^th. London : Kogan page. Available at : https://www.academia.edu/32280546/ARMSTRONGS_HANDBOOK_OF_HUMAN_RESOURCE_MANAGEMENT_PRACTICE_i [Accessed on 03.04.2024].

Boogaard, K. (Undated) Hire for attitude: what this means and why it works so well, fingerprintforsuccess.com. (Online) Available at : https://www.fingerprintforsuccess.com/blog/hire-for-attitude, [ Accessed on 10.04.2024]

Cherry, K. (2023) The Components of Attitude : Definition, Formation, Changes, (Online) Available at : https://www.verywellmind.com/attitudes-how-they-form-change-shape-behavior-2795897 [Accessed on 10.004.2024]

Professional Leadership Institute, (Undated) Hiring for Attitude, professionalleadershipinstitute.com (Online) Available at : https://professionalleadershipinstitute.com/books/hiring-for-attitude/ [Accessed on 11.004.2024]

Schwencke, B. (2023) Candidate Selection: A Definitive Guide, testpartnership.com. (Online) Available at : https://www.testpartnership.com/blog/candidate-selection.html, [Accessed on 10.04.2024]

Testify (2024) Assess the personality and attitude of candidates to find the best fit, testify.com (Online) Available at : https://testlify.com/assess-the-personality-and-attitude-of-candidates/ [Accessed on 12.04.2024]