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Anyone can create an outstanding CV that makes them look good on paper. Yes, they may have the right experience but are they the right cultural fit for your organisation?

Obviously, if you are considering a candidate for a role it is important to have sight of their education, skills and professional qualifications, but it is also crucial to understand their behaviour and personality before you make them an offer.

Heading up the HR Practice at Global Executive Search Firm- EO Executives, I speak with the industry’s leading HR professionals daily. It is clear from my conversations that the above is key for a successful recruitment process. So, why are so many organisations cutting corners and hiring based purely on CV and interview?

To find an alternative, psychometric testing is a process that many recruiters have started to adopt to measure a candidate’s technical ability and competency for the role. But what this doesn’t provide is a clear indication of whether the candidate is a good cultural fit.

So, what’s the solution?

At EO, we suggest behavioural assessments as they allow recruiters to cut through to the candidate’s true profile and gain a deeper understanding of their qualities; making it easier to identify if you will align on culture and values.

There is an array of additional benefits that this can bring. For example:

You’ll be outcome focused

When hiring, you need to have a clear focus on what you are looking for and why you are hiring in the first place. Start by thinking about the key qualities and skills the successful candidate will need to have. Staying focused will also help when you discover a candidate who ‘wows’ you but doesn’t fit in with the requirements of why you are actually looking to hire.

You’ll avoid a ‘bad hire’ and shorten the hiring process

Hiring top talent doesn’t come cheap (especially if you want to find the most suitable candidate) but making a mistake can be even more expensive. Read more here: ‘the true cost of a bad hire’. 

Behavioural profiling allows you to save time on interviewing candidates who are great at winning interview but aren’t the best for the role or the organisation. This will also shorten the hiring process, which we all know can be lengthy at times. Online profiling gives you the opportunity to pre-screen candidates and speed up the hiring process.

You’ll attract better employees

With more leading organisations using assessments as an integral part of their hiring process, quality candidates will foresee this as part of the process. A great candidate will also respect this process and it will build credibility that they will be valued within the organisation.

You’ll build a more effective team

If you’re looking to build a dynamic team, behavioural testing will provide you with an in-depth insight into a candidate’s strengths and key qualities. This is important because you’ll need to match them with your existing team to see if they will align and if they can bring add value.

Both contribute to improved working relationships and delivering on time and on budget.

You’ll increase employee engagement

Hiring top talent is a challenge in today’s competitive market; when you’ve found the right person for the job you’ll want them to stay. Having a good Employee Value Proposition will lead to better employee retention and productivity.

Employees that are helped to grow within their company are likely to be more engaged and therefore stick around rather than moving on to what they consider to be bigger and better things.