Your team has run a recruitment drive with no hitches.
You began by prioritising competencies, selecting the 4-6 most important competencies. Based on this prioritisation, you developed and validated a job profile that was checked to ensure that:
- competencies did not conflict with each other
- there was no embedded bias
- the job profile was neither over- nor under-inclusive, making finding candidates who fitted the profile well realistic, without the profile being so generalised that most people fitted it.
Would you like to learn more about best practices for your recruitment process? We have previously published an article that provides you with 5 steps to ensure best practice in your recruitment process.
Even if you have done everything right, you may still end up with a field of candidates where all the applicants have a low match score.
This is down to the current labour market, where the pool of qualified candidates actively looking for work is historically low. And it has been for quite some time. Since November 2021 and to date, the unemployment rate has been below 3 per cent. Prior to this, we need to go back to November 2008 to find the last time the unemployment rate was below 3 per cent.
Dream candidates don’t grow on trees, what do you do?
In a labour market where candidates are unlikely to fit the job profile very well, why produce one at all? Isn’t it better to close your eyes and hope for the best so that the candidate is met with a positive mindset rather than a focus on all their shortcomings?
Naturally, this resonates with many of the HR professionals we’re in dialogue with.
But it’s a path we consistently advise against, as turning a blind eye to the challenges that will inevitably arise does neither the candidate nor the workplace any favours. Instead, we recommend that HR professionals tell the hiring manager what the situation is and use the match score to prepare the hiring manager for the desired competences the candidate does and does not have.
This then provides an opportunity to develop strengths and support weaknesses when the candidate is hired.
You can’t do business as usual – and expect the same result
Maybe you used to be able to attract candidates who would quickly become autonomous and take responsibility for tasks. But that’s not the case anymore. This situation needs to be tackled in a very practical way by taking specific action.
Say you’re a consultancy company that needs to hire a new consultant. You’ve always hired people whose characteristics include resilience.
Your consultants work for companies that have high expectations and place demands on your consultants. No consultant can meet all demands and expectations throughout the whole of their career. Consultants should therefore not be worn down by a customer who is challenging or critical.
But you’ve just hired Jonas. His resilience is low. However, Jonas is very professional and has analytical strengths. He can do all the legwork, but he won’t be able to stand on his own two feet when faced with a challenging customer without undermining his own good work.
Consequently, he needs to be accompanied by a robust colleague who can ‘take a bullet for him‘ and make the meeting with the challenging customer constructive.
Use the match score to identify strengths and weaknesses so you can take practical steps to support the candidate. This gives overlooked talent the best opportunities to fulfil their potential. And your business the chance to succeed in a fierce battle for talent.
