AN employee with a degree and a great personality fit is more likely to excel, compared to an employee with the same degree, but with a bad personality fit. Many hiring managers feel that seeking professionals with the desired personality fit is as difficult, as finding a candidate with the required educational background and the right skillsets for the company. As personality fit is increasingly catching the eyes of employers, is it starting to weigh more than education? For job seekers, including senior executives, which is more important in securing that job offer today?
According to research firm The Sutton Trust, 49 percent of companies in the United Kingdom will favor a candidate with a degree over a candidate without one. Even more so, Northwestern University in the US conducted a research and found that some elite firms only hire from top tier institutions, such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford and Wharton. Senior management roles regularly list a degree as a prerequisite, while Universum’s 2020 Outlook Study found 58 percent of CEOs surveyed placed more importance on work experience. Employers and hiring managers see work experience as the proof of a candidate’s success.
Increasingly, companies are starting prioritize personality in the hiring process. Laszlo Bock of Google stated that those who find interest in “figuring out stuff where there is no obvious answer” are desirable employees. Personality plays a big role in your day-to-day job tasks, and in the long run, these traits will show and interact with your working experience and achievements. Employers and hiring managers increasingly recognize the link between job responsibilities and personality traits needed to excel and flourish. Traits associated with the job, when positively matched will have a positive impact on your engagement, feelings of satisfaction and promote commitment and loyalty toward the company, reducing turnover for employers.
Richard Branson, founder and CEO of Virgin Group, prides himself in prioritizing personality when hiring. He emphasizes on choosing a candidate based on their personality and their fit to the company’s culture before even considering degree and qualifications. Branson further claims that it is better to be short on talent than have an employee with a bad cultural fit, stating the success of the company is based on “perfect mix of people.” After finding the “winning” personality he then looks are the candidate’s qualifications.
Amazon.com combines degree and personality in their hiring process. While some positions, including managers, do not require degrees, but some specialist roles do require formal education and training as a basic requirement. For mid to senior level positions, Amazon is rigorous in its assessment of candidates. Candidates have to go through hiring managers, as well as “bar raisers,” who are existing employees from different functions at Amazon charged with the duty of interviewing and assessing candidates exclusively for personality fit.
Other multinational companies, including McKinsey & Co, CVS Caremark and McDonald’s have added personality tests such as the Myers Briggs Personality tests in their recruiting and training processes. McDonald’s in particular requires potential employees to take the personality test before applying for positions.
According to the American Management Association, 20 percent to 25 percent of an employee’s effectiveness on the job is attributed to personality. With the link between personality and productivity, companies are increasingly placing more importance to the assessment of personality fit during the hiring process. It is important for employers to combine qualifications together with personality in the assessment of candidates so hiring managers and candidates can both find the perfect fit. While your degree, qualifications and related work experience will get you an interview, your personality is what makes you stand out and excel in both the interview and at work. Bó Lè Associates
2 comments
Personality fit is such an important measure in the work world today, especially in frontline roles where employees are interacting with clients and customers in one-on-one situations. More than ever, employers want to interview and hire candidates that reflect their brand’s core values and culture, so the employee stays engaged. Unfortunately, experience and knowledge don’t always guarantee engagement, which is why employers are focusing more and more on personality to find employees that will remain satisfied and productive long-term.
Molly Owens is the CEO of Truity, developer of the TypeFinder® personality type assessment and other scientifically validated, user-friendly personality assessments that connect people with powerful insights about their strengths, talents, and traits. Find Molly and Truity on Twitter and Facebook.
It is not personality but ATTITUDE that will determine the effectiveness, productivity and success of an employee.