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If someone were to ask you what issues were keeping your organization from reaching its potential, what would you say? Perhaps the economy and market pressures, or the lack of effective equipment and technology. Maybe the competition and their seeming ability to always stay ahead of the game by having more capital, better ideas, or a secure brand in the minds of customers. Certainly there are many factors that can limit an organization's success, but you can be sure that one is far more powerful than all the others.
People. In almost every situation, the source of any organizational problem or obstacle can be traced back to a lack of ability or experience, a poor decision, an unmotivated team, mismanagement, and a host of other qualities exhibited, or not exhibited, by an individual or group. Technological problems occurred because the project manager did not have the necessary technical expertise or did not consult with others before making a decision. Political battles and conflict arose because the people selected to the team had incompatible approaches and preferences. Employees were not performing because the manager did not recognize their development needs or did not know how to motivate and engage them. The fact that each of these qualities could have been uncovered early, before these people had even been in a decisive position, leads us to the obvious conclusion.
Selecting the right employees, who have the ability and willingness to perform their jobs, is the key to determining your organization's ultimate level of success. No other factor has as much impact on a company’s performance. And the research clearly supports this conclusion:
- Companies with aligned workforces are more likely (a) to develop and deliver high quality products, services, or solutions, (b) to develop and deliver new products, services, or solutions, (c) to satisfy customers or clients, (d) to effectively market products or services, (e) to achieve sales growth, (f) to operate profitably, and (g) to capture market share; the most important way a company can ensure that it has this alignment is by hiring the right types of people in the first place. (Collins, Ericksen & Allen, 2005)
- The Gallup Organization’s extensive research for two of best-selling books, “First, Break All the Rules” and “Now, Discover Your Strengths”, determined that two key factors – identifying strengths to establish job fit and having great managers – was responsible for sustainable growth, profit increase, and stock increase; considering these key performance factors, determined first during the selection process, is essential for company growth.
- The Watson Wyatt Human Capital Index study, launched in 1999, found that “Training and development generates the lowest return of all the major human capital practices, while recruiting excellence generates the highest return.”
- A number of studies have found a relationship between “high performance HR systems” and firm financial performance (e.g. Arthur, 1994; Huselid, 1995; MacDuffie, 1995; Ichniowski et. al, 1997). A key component of these systems is rigorous selection techniques (Delery & Doty, 1996; Huselid, 1995; Macduffie, 1995) such that having an effective selection system is critical to your organization’s financial success.
- There are a number of ways an organization’s human resource practices can foster a collective level of commitment in its workforce. First, we suggest that the initial impact of the HR practices on employees’ commitment to the organization begins with selection and staffing. (Wright, Gardner & Moynihan, 2002)
- “Identifying and acquiring talent is one of the most important processes in human resource management. It is a key element in being competitive in a knowledge driven, talent constrained economy. In addition, it is often the first contact that potential employees have with the organization, so it can be the basis for the entire employment relationship. Increasingly, organizations recognize that a professionally excellent staffing process can be a source of competitive advantage.” (Boudreau & Ramstad, 2001)
And this is just a small sample of the research that suggests the importance of your hiring process. Of course, all of these facts present you with a new problem – how does your company improve or develop a High Performance Selection System?
 Solutions
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