Hiring right is a very difficult challenge for most employers. Business statistics reveal that the success rate for new hires or people being promoted from within is only 25%! Even seasoned human resource managers can expect a successful hiring rate of only 54%. That is 46% of new hires will fail within 18 months, and technical skills are not the primary reason for failure. Human resources experts estimate that over 82% of bad hires are as a result of cultural misalignment. Many recruiting processes are effective at screening for aptitude and skill set, however most do not effectively screen for cultural fit.

When assessing candidates for a position, consider a two dimensional scoring system, demonstrated by this graph.

Along the X-Axis you have a person’s Aptitude & Skill Set (the productivity axis). This is where you score a candidate as to whether they can DO the job or not. Do they have the right experience, education, designations, skills, smarts, etc. This is where most interviewing processes focus most, if not all their attention. However by doing so, as a hiring manager, you miss out on the most important criteria for successful hiring, Cultural Fit.

In order to hire successfully, ALL candidates must also be scored against the Y-Axis. How do they fit into the organization’s culture? Are they a good Cultural Fit, meaning do they live the core values of the company? This is not something that you can assess from a resume.

Another point to consider is that people can most often be coached to improve their productivity (move up the X-Axis). But they most often cannot be coached along cultural fit (moving up the Y-Axis). When it comes to cultural fit, my approach is that the candidate either has it, or they don’t. Period.

So when scoring a candidate, if they score high in cultural fit, then the challenge becomes is what position will play to their strengths? What are they qualified to do? That is how you bring on A-Performers. On the flip side, if they score low on cultural fit, I really don’t care how well they score on productivity, I don’t want them in my organization. In these cases, at best, you’ll have a B-Performer, and maybe not even.

So how do you address this? With a systemized approach to recruiting that flushes out the cultural fit of new applicants. The Hiring Right Recruiting System, for example, uses cultural fit screening techniques to do this. The system enables organizations to first attract the right kind of applicants and detract the wrong kind, then it puts them through a short series of screening processes that enable managers to score candidates against a predetermined cultural fit scoring criteria.

By having a systemized approach to recruiting, organizations can bring their 25-50% batting average up to 90% or better within a short period of time. The best part about it is that the process is organized in a manner that is very efficient, effective and will ensure success in recruiting top performers, with very little added time invested on the part of the hiring manager.

The Hiring Right Recruiting System is the best process for hiring people with great attitudes, strong skill set and cultural fit. With a hiring success rate reaching 90%+, a program like this saves an enormous amount of time, frustration and the obvious costs associated with employee turnover. When an organization considers the direct and indirect costs associated with a bad hire, the average overall cost to the organization can reach five times the annual salary or wages for the position. This is too costly of an expense for organizations not to control!

The best teams are made up of the best people. A systemized recruiting process like the Hiring Right Recruiting System will help you achieve much greater hiring success, lower costs and a more successful and productive organization.