How long does it take you to realise you recruited the wrong person? 3 months? 6 months? 12? 18? You probably don’t know because we don’t tend to look too closely at things that didn’t go well, especially when no one else is looking at them!! And we make all kinds of excuses for why things went wrong, both to ourselves, and anyone else that might ask. Excuses like:
- ..they lied on their CV or interview
- ..it’s just the way things work in this industry/business/country
- ..we needed someone quickly so we took a shortcut
- ..it’s a Gen Z thing
And let’s be honest, we haven’t had to look too closely because, in the UK, we currently have that wonderful ‘cushion’ of 2 years to dismiss someone without giving a reason. Why bother measuring it?
Why bother? Because it’s all about to change, that’s why.
The UK Government’s 2024 Employment Bill starts from a position that an employee can claim unfair dismissal from Day One. Not a 2-year cushion anymore – Day One!
While most right-thinking people don’t actually expect Day One to be implemented, it’s pretty clear that 2 years will become a thing of the past. If it’s reduced to 18 months, 12 months, or even 6, how will that impact the way you recruit and the attention you put into new employees and their performance?
If you haven’t thought about it, and haven’t started planning for the change, whatever it is, you are storing up a whole heap of trouble when the change is finally announced.
If you keep recruiting in the same way, hiring the wrong people, monitoring them when they start, then firing the ones that aren’t working out, it’s not even the best approach now, let alone in future. Recruiting the right people first time, and eliminating the need to dismiss them, is the way forward.
And the best time to start that is now. The day the Legislation changes are announced may already be too late. Businesses that can help your organisation to change/improve will be inundated with requests for their services. Companies that react too late, could find themselves with a problem they can’t handle (or can only handle VERY expensively).
The Hidden Benefit
And there’s a second, often hidden, benefit. Every time you recruit the wrong person, and they leave early (whether your choice or theirs), it can cost your business at least 50% (and up to 125%) of their annual costs to replace them. Even at minimum wage, that’s over £10,000. And if you keep doing it…it simply multiplies and grows.
Even if the law wasn’t about to change, this second element is a business problem in need of a solution and there’s no better time than now. Blame the new legislation and kill two birds with one stone. Even your Finance Director might be willing to get behind that one!!
What’s the solution?
It won’t surprise regular Great People Inside readers to know it involves using psychometric assessments to plug the information gaps you currently work with when you’re recruiting.
How do assessments help?
One of the things you should know about your people is who your top performers are. But you also need to be able to answer a couple of other questions:
- Are there any factors that make them successful?
- What are they?
Question 2 is always the key one. Knowing something’s happening – but not knowing why – can be one of the biggest frustrations for organisations (and managers). Even worse, guessing what it might be, and implementing plans based on that guesswork, can be hugely successful – if you’re right.
But if you’re wrong, there are no prizes for travelling at 150 miles per hour – if it’s in the wrong direction!!
What’s missing is objective information to underpin your decisions when you’ve never met the candidates for your vacancies and know very little about them. You’re about to make one of the biggest investments your business will make by offering them a job. The more information you have, the greater the confidence you can have in your decision..
That’s where your assessment provider should come in.
If you want to:
- ..know what makes a top performer in your organisation…
- ..confirm that a candidate has the proven characteristics to be successful in your organisation …
.. your assessment provider should be able to tell you.
Great People Inside assessments work on the basis of Job Fit. If you know who your top performers are, why are so few of your new hires top performers? We can tell you but, more importantly, we can tell you BEFORE you recruit the people who won’t do a good job and probably won’t stick around.
We compare your candidates (who you don’t know) with your top performers (who you do), using a consistent, scientific measurement tool. This is key to your future success as a business. It will significantly reduce costs and neutralise the impact of Government legislation, whenever it’s implemented and whatever it is, for a fraction of the cost of getting it wrong.
Well-informed Leaders make better people decisions. You need to know how to improve your recruitment and hire the right person first time, every time. This way you can avoid both the new legislation and eliminate the costs of getting it wrong. If your assessment provider CAN’T tell you, then maybe it’s time to upgrade to one that can.
For the avoidance of doubt, Great People Inside can tell you (surprise, surprise) and we’d love to help you improve your recruitment.
