Hiring top talent is more than finding the right people to fill the right roles. It is about understanding the needs of the position, and also the traits that the right person will possess to be successful in the role. Sadly, many employers look only at resumes, searching for titles and tasks to decide which candidates to pull in for interviews, while ignoring soft skills. Resumes rarely show the soft skills needed to do the job well, unless you know where to look or the right questions to ask.
In today’s employment, culture is playing a larger part in everything from employee attraction, to engagement, to retention. Soft skill sets need to be considered in addition to hard skills in order to match a company’s culture. Employee replacement costs are high, with some sources stating it to be anywhere from 30 percent to 70 percent of the person’s salary. This means that hiring the right person is critical to the bottom line. Millennials and generation X workers care more about workplace environment than generations past, so looking beyond the resume is important. What are some of the places to look at and the right questions to ask to get to the heart of the potential employee? Here are some considerations.
Hiring Top Talent
Colorado Network Staffing, a leader among Denver employment agencies, says looking for employee soft skills starts in the resume. Look for activities and tasks where the candidate has worked as part of a group. When interviewing, ask the person about those specific items. Is the person comfortable working with a group? How did he or she handle conflicts or problems that arose? What was a benefit to working with the group?
By using open-ended questions that create conversation, the hiring manager can learn volumes about the candidate, not just in the person’s response, but also in the emotional delivery of the information. This can be done over the phone to screen candidates before they come in for a live interview. Employment agencies also use these techniques to get clear about the culture that will be best for employers when matching them with potential clients. This can save the employer time and money in screening.
These questions get to the potential employee’s soft skills around the areas of communication, being a “team player,” adaptation, and critical and creative thinking skills. Dependability and punctuality are also traits to screen for in potential candidates that won’t come up on a resume. Look at job longevity and in-company promotions. A reliable candidate will likely have spent longer periods of time at their jobs and will be promoted during that time. Ask the candidates what traits they had that lead to the promotion and you will learn what they value as important, and also show their levels of self-confidence, a soft trait that is tied to everything from happiness to assertiveness in sharing their ideas, to independence.
Hiring top talent is a blend of finding candidates with both the right soft and hard skills. Review the resume for more than just titles and tasks and ask open-ended questions to farm out the traits for which you are looking. Using the time and talent of a professional Denver employment agency may be a way to leverage your time better and produce better candidates and more successful hires that fit your culture and requirements.
If you are in search of brilliant employees, let Colorado Network Staffing (CNS) help you find your Einstein. CNS is a leader in staffing, staff augmentation, and contract management by acting as a sole human resource provider for our clients. Don’t waste your time, energy, and money on a bad hire. CNS has the experience, resources, and top-level management expertise to accomplish the tasks required on any size project. Contact us at 303-430-1441, and we’ll find you the best and brightest team members.
