Job to Person Match – The Gold Standard 

Finding the “right person” for a position is the gold standard in hiring, the ideal solution to an open position.  When the desire and need to get a position filled are great, however, important factors might be overlooked, factors that would otherwise call attention to a fundamental mismatch between the individual and the job.  The fact is that, as individuals, we don’t always pursue jobs we are suited for either by temperament or by experience.  Similarly, as hiring managers, we sometimes overlook danger signals in the pressure to get critical positions filled.  Fulfilling the “gold standard,” therefore, is more than a matter of matching job experience, knowledge and skills; it involves also considering the blend of personal chemistry and shared values.

Good Personal “Chemistry”: The Oil that Lubricates Relationships

The “chemistry” of personalities is a very personal thing.   It stems from values and experiences we hold in high esteem.  When we meet another person who shares a value we think is important, or who has had an experience that we have had and value, then it is easier to establish rapport with that person.  We often express this by saying that we have a lot in common with that person, or we feel an instant degree of comfort or ease in our relationship with that person.  This is strong personal chemistry.  When we feel that higher degree of rapport, or comfort, or understanding, with another person, everything about the relationship is easier.  We “understand” one another more readily.

This is just as true for business relationships as it is for private ones.  The opposite is also true, and the lack of rapport, or the inability to find common ground, can cause business relationships to deteriorate just as readily as it can sabotage private ones.  After all, it is very natural that we find it easier to understand and interact with people that we understand, and interaction is the oil that lubricates all relationships.

At The Same Time, It Isn’t Healthy To “Clone” Personalities

Every company has its own culture, or company personality, that is greater than the sum of all the individuals who contribute to it.  Diversity and variety bring with them challenges and opportunities to expand an individual’s, and a company’s, habitual way of thinking or doing things, and that is a good thing overall.  The answer to personality mismatches, therefore, is not to try to hire only “people like me.”  Instead, the answer lies in learning to understand what drives the observable differences between people, to make informed decisions about personality matches, and (above all) to continually educate ourselves, and one another, about our shared values and goals.

Finding The Degree Of Match

To make informed decisions about personality matches between employees, there are three questions that need to be answered:

1.  Does the person have the relevant job experience, knowledge and skills?

To find out:

· Check work and educational references

· Have the applicant perform a sample of the work he will be doing if hired

· Have a knowledgeable employee question the applicant on technical matters

2.  Is the person compatible with your company’s corporate culture?

            To find out:

· Look at his Performance Profile Report; does it indicate strengths on the characteristics that successful employees show strength on?

· Spend part of the interview talking to the applicant about your company’s corporate culture, and listen for his responses

3.  What is the compatibility between the applicant and the principal supervisor or manager to whom he will report?

            To find out:

· Compare the applicant’s Performance Profile Report with the Performance Profile Report of the person he will be reporting to if hired

Avoid Surprises By Learning To Understand New Employees

It ought not be your goal only to hire people who are just like you, or just like the company president.  Solid, contributing employees come in all kinds of personality packages.  Instead, use your knowledge of what your company’s corporate culture is to match people who will find it easier to work together.  Personality matching is another tool that you can use to help individuals be more productive, collectively, than they would be working alone.

“Harry” has worked for you for a little over two years now and you are beginning to see a pattern.   In spite of his record of solid performance, every so often he makes an incredibly bad decision.  I don’t mean the sort of bad decision that we all are liable to make; I mean the sort that strains credulity, the sort that is so far out it sounds like a bad joke.  Take this last incident, for example:  Harry went to Denver to meet with your largest, and most important, client.  While he was there, he apparently fell for the president’s administrative assistant.  He spent so much time hanging around her that the president himself had to tell Harry, in no uncertain terms, that she was a happily married woman.  In fact, he unceremoniously escorted Harry from the building!

The Phone Call You Dread

Right after that, you got the phone call from the president.  It took two hours on the phone, and a drop-everything-and-go-now trip to Denver, for you to salvage the client.  (This story is based on an actual case.  The names have been changed to protect the guilty.)  And then there was the time about eight months ago….

Well, you get the picture.  Harry cruises along, doing just fine for a while, and then, with no warning, he exercises such bad judgment that you begin to entertain the possibility that aliens have taken possession of his mind.  What is going on with Harry?

Living The Nike Motto, Or “I’m A ‘Just Do It!’ Kind Of Guy!”

Some people are cursed with what we euphemistically call a “strong action-orientation.”  This is the tendency to act impulsively, to take action or to open one’s mouth to say what is on the tip of the tongue, without thinking beforehand of the consequences of such action.  Young children often have this tendency, but most grow out of it by their mid twenties.  In some people, however, the tendency is strong and pops out every so often, in spite of their best efforts to curtail it.  When it does pop out, these people are usually at a loss to explain their actions.  In response to the question, “What were you thinking?” the best answer they can come up with is a puzzled, “I don’t know.” or, “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Can I Spot a “Harry”-type of Person Ahead Of Time?

One indication of this kind of impulsiveness is when the Performance Profile characteristic, Impulse Control, is low (a “4” or lower) and Energy Level is high (an “8” or higher).  Another indication is relatively short tenure at good companies on the person’s resume.  However, this person can present a very attractive package in the interview.  They often appear to be spontaneous and decisive, and they often are able to quickly establish rapport with the interviewer.

Is There A Solution?

There’s a large amount of research that suggests that impulsive behavior is pretty much hard-wired, which means that the tendency is not under a person’s immediate control.  But behavior is always under our control, and individuals who tend to “fire” before they get ready and take aim can learn to train themselves to stop, look, and listen before they proceed.  Will it be perfect?  Probably not, but it is always important to look at the whole package.  If you have a “Harry,” you need to make sure that he accepts that his “action orientation” (impulsiveness) can sometimes work against his own best interests.  That’s the first, and biggest, step for him.  Then, help him take personal responsibility for the consequences of his actions, and help him learn how to take an extra moment to think through the consequences of his actions.

Next month:  Applicants Say The Darndest Things!  Admissions on the Work Attitude Questionnaire, and what to do about them.