The process of recruiting and retaining is not just about finding a person with desired job requisites; it is about finding someone who is the right fit. There can be various candidates having almost equal knowledge, talent and experience, but the right candidate amongst them would be one whose personality can gel with the organization and others working there, one who can adjust with and accept the organizational culture.

 This theory of finding the right “fit” has been accepted by almost all recruiters, and it has become important because companies, organizations and HR managers have realized that the hire failures are not due to poor performance but due to poor culture fit due to which a series of clashes and gaps happens in relationships.

Even if problems do not arise immediately, but slowly they affect the motivation and morale of all the employees involved and ultimately creates an issue for all. These misfits are expensive as well. If we calculate on an average, almost half of first year attritions are a result of cultural misfit. The turnover costs, especially at senior levels, turn out to be costlier than not hiring at all.

According to studies, it has been found that the most successful companies are those whose leaders are internally recruited than those companies who hire leaders externally based on their marquee value. This is so because an internally recruited leader is aware of the organizational culture and understands it, but an external leader is unaware about the culture of the company and may spend a lot of time and effort in either understanding and adjusting with it or changing it. This leads to huge waste of time and money which cannot be blamed on the person but on the recruitment process.

Recruiting

The latest trends in the extensive process of searching the right candidate, recruiters are now moving towards personality tests. This is being done as resumes and interviews are not enough to find out the personality traits of a candidate which are essential to know if that person is the right fit. Traits such as work ethic, integrity, creativity, interpersonal skills, customer service capability, pressure handling, team spirit, etc., can only be predicted or analysed through personality testing. The organizations have options of online personality test which help them to save time and get quick analysis and ready to use reports.

Beyond Recruiting

Not just recruitment, but personality tests have various other uses in an organization. They help managers in developing and mentoring their staffs. Managers use this as a tool to understand their staffs better, to know their strengths and weakness, which helps in training and coaching them, placing them at right positions, and to improve their performance. When managers are aware about what makes their staffs and subordinates happy, it helps them to be a better leader. When the personality traits are known, it becomes easier to keep the employees motivated and happy, to communicate change and to delegate authority.

There are various reasons and motives why recruiters use these personality tests:

• To evaluate both hard and soft skills of the candidate.
• To know whether the candidate is the right fit
• The online personality test saves time and effort as it is easily delivered and the results are analysed immediately
• The tests are reliable and valid.

The concluding fact is that personality assessments are helpful for companies and recruiters to hire the right employee – and also to retain them which saves companies money and time and improves its productivity.