Organizational Fit?

Organizational Fit?

The Talent Acquisition Strategy Study recently published by the Aberdeen Group contains a number of very interesting conclusions regarding the best methods for acquiring top talent. One stands out particularly. The study found that “quality of hire is currently the holy grail of talent management metrics” and Organizational Fit is the top measure or metric for determining “quality of hire“. Best in Class Organizations rated the following measures as most valuable in determining quality of hire:

  1. Organizational Fit
  2. Hiring manager satisfaction
  3. Time to productivity
  4. Character/Personal values demonstrated
  5. Increase in productivity (i.e. sales, service, etc.)
  6. Employee’s first performance review rating

A quote from Kim W. Nowell, SVP, Human Resources, Direct General Corporation summed it up best – “Organizational Fit is one of the most critical elements in acquiring any new talent. A candidate may possess the technical skills that are being sought, have the perfect educational background and come highly recommended, but if they are ‘mismatched’ organizationally, the chances are much greater that they will struggle… As employers we should focus on the ‘whole person approach’ – balancing all components of the individual and the company. Solid acquisition strategy tools will help in that endeavor”.

So how do companies go about measuring and assessing Organization Fit? There are few organizations today who have the time or resources to develop measures of Organizational Fit; however those companies who use Prevue assessment products are factoring in Organizational Fit when they develop customized Prevue benchmarks for the key positions in their organizations. While the Prevue benchmark process is primarily focused on determining job fit for each position, it inherently reflects the required Organizational Fit for new hires because it is based on input from both management and top performers in each position:

  1. The Job Description Survey method for developing Prevue job fit benchmarks identifies management’s opinion of the qualities required for success, not only within a particular position, but also within the environment of the organization. Where an organization is endeavouring to change its culture the Job Description Survey study process will help to identify the characteristics that need to be emphasized to effect the desired change.
  2. The Concurrent Study method for developing Prevue job fit benchmarks identifies not only the preferred profile for a specific position, but also the characteristics of top performers within the organization’s environment.
  3. Combining the Job Description Survey method and the Concurrent Study method helps to reveal the organizational characteristics that should be sought after by the organization in new hires.

The importance of using quality pre-hire assessments like Prevue was emphasized by the study conclusion that, “a few solutions stand out as ones that separate the Best in Class from all other organizations. Foremost is the use of pre-hire assessments. In fact, Best in Class Organizations are 47% more likely than underperforming operations to use pre-hire assessments for measuring knowledge, skills and abilities and are 67% more likely than underperforming organizations to use pre-hire assessment tools for measuring behavioural attitudes or attributes”.

Your authorized Prevue Distributor can help you identify both the job fit and the Organizational Fit requirements for your organization through the development of Prevue job fit benchmarks. In these times when all organizations are required to become more productive with fewer resources, finding the right people for your team with the right fit to your culture has never been more important.

Written by Kenneth J. Danderfer.