Employee retention is a hot topic in many companies, and the challenge to improve it is hard to overcome. Whether you found your candidates through an applicant tracking system, niche job boards or recommendations, job fit assessments can help you figure out which people will be the best match for your company.
Let’s dive into how you can use job fit assessment to improve employee retention and overall employee engagement and satisfaction.
By aligning employees' skills, interests, and values with the job description and company culture, organizations can boost job satisfaction, enhance performance, and reduce turnover. Job fit is an effective recruitment strategy that ensures your employees are well-suited to their roles.
Read on to explore how to assess a candidate's job fit.
What is a job fit assessment?
A job fit assessment is a systematic process to determine how well potential candidates match the demands of a job opening. This happens in the application and interview process for a new hire.
It's a normal part of the recruiting process to evaluate a job seeker's capabilities compared to the job responsibilities. But job fit assessments go deeper into matching candidates to each role—not simply hiring the person with the highest qualifications.
Higher satisfaction and productivity for new hires bring greater efficiency and stability to the organization. Job fit ensures the recruitment process will identify qualified candidates for both managerial and entry-level positions.
4 Benefits of using job fit assessments when hiring
High turnover rates can be costly and disruptive, leading to loss of institutional knowledge, decreased morale and additional recruitment efforts. Traditional hiring methods can easily lead to a poor job fit when candidates who look ideal on paper turn out to be low performers or a negative team presence.
But approaching retention through job fit assessment will go beyond decreasing turnover.
1. Enhanced employee engagement
When employees are in roles that align with their skills and interests, they rank higher in engagement and job satisfaction. Employees engaged in their particular position are less likely to seek employment opportunities elsewhere.
2. Increased productivity
Employees who are well-suited to their roles perform at a higher rate both in terms of quality and output. With skills and interests that match the job requirements, job fit allows employees to work more efficiently and effectively.
3. Reduced turnover costs
By hiring candidates who have a good job fit between employees and their job descriptions and expectations, organizations can significantly reduce turnover rates. Simply put--engaged employees who are confident in their roles are less likely to leave.
Lower turnover means reduced costs associated with recruitment efforts, training, and the onboarding process of new hires. It also means fewer disruptions and less downtime, additionally, it can lessen overtime being paid as other workers take on additional unfilled shifts.
4. Positive workplace culture
Engaged and motivated employees form relationships that build a positive work environment, improving the company's culture. Reducing workforce disruptions through stronger retention supports morale which supports a stronger employee referral program.
What qualities should you examine to assess job fit?
A good job fit assessment is a systematic process. The work behind a successful job fit assessment begins before the first job applicants arrive.
Using a fixed, methodical plan is the key to success in your recruitment strategy. Identify what is it that you need to know to assess job fit. You won’t need to measure every aspect of a person, but you want to develop the key areas.
For example, hiring a payroll specialist might require assessing an applicant’s ethical standards, attention to detail, computer systems background, or interpersonal skills. Likely, you will use several of these factors to determine the job fit criteria.
Here are some general categories to consider to use in evaluating a potential candidate's performance.
Technical skills
This category is likely obvious. Can the welding applicant weld? Can the prospective salesperson operate Microsoft®? Not all technical skills need to be tested, but you may find there are specific ones that are key to evaluating the job fit match.
Cognitive abilities
Decision making. Critical thinking. Memory. Cognitive ability relates to the brain-based skills that gather, process, and use information or learning.
For example, someone in a managerial position uses observation and recall to perform their tasks. If certain thought processes are a dynamic link to your job opening, you want to assess the candidate's skills in that area.
Soft skills
Soft skills are what makes a person much more than what they know and can do. It’s the manner in which they perform the technical skills.
Some examples are communication skills, emotional intelligence and professionalism. Within the hiring process, determining suitable candidates who have the needed soft skills can make a difference in creating the right job fit.
Future performance
If you are looking for top talent to grow with the company, you need to look at their potential. This factor combines technical, cognitive, and soft skills but in a way that assesses how their abilities can evolve.
Their motivations will play a role here, too. Will they develop further skills fast enough to be promoted? Or perhaps will they outgrow your business too quickly and need to move on elsewhere? Finding the right balance is important.
Cultural fit
Gaining insight into your applicant's preferred working style and environment, as well as their motivations, helps you to understand how the potential candidates would integrate with the company's culture.
Be sure to avoid looking for individuals who are the ‘same as.’ Rather, seek out features that complement your existing culture.
Values
This final category may be the most important consideration of all.
Millennials and Gen Z now dominate the workforce, and both groups prioritize feeling connected to a company's mission and its role in society. Paying attention to an individual’s values is vital to making a strong job fit connection.
Increasingly, job seekers look for a company that shares their values, for example, social justice issues, health related topics or work-life balance, to name a few. Use the hiring process to ensure your prospective employee and your company's core values align.
Job fit assessment tools and techniques
Once you know what qualities you will be measuring, it’s important to determine the tools you will use to ensure a successful recruitment strategy. Understanding the options available will help you select which ones best assess the talent pool and identify the most qualified candidates.
To implement job fit measures, organizations can utilize a variety of methods in the selection process that go beyond traditional assessments.
Here are some of the most common methods used to assess job fit.
Psychometric tests
These tests measure cognitive abilities, behavioral style, personality traits and other psychological attributes, including aptitude.
The tests are typically administered online. Examples include the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) and the Big Five Personality Test. Psychometric tests can identify if a candidate’s personality profile and aptitude match the job requirements.
Behavioral interviews
This technique involves asking candidates to describe past behavior related to a situation similar to what can be expected in the job opening. The responses to your interview questions show how they have navigated their circumstances and utilized relevant skills.
Behavioral interviews help assess how well their experiences and actions align with the job requirements and organizational culture.
Situational judgment tests (SJTs)
SJTs present candidates with hypothetical scenarios related to the job and ask them to choose the best response from a set of options.
These tests are often used to assess decision-making and problem-solving skills relevant to the role, as well as give insight into the applicant’s intelligence and personality traits.
Skills assessments
By evaluating the knowledge of a job applicant related to specific competencies required for a job, you can uncover hidden strengths and weaknesses.
For instance, a skills assessment might include a coding test for software developers or a problem-solving test for managers. The findings can help assess job fit to ensure that candidates possess the necessary know-how for the role.
Work sample tests
While skills assessments test knowledge, work samples allow applicants to demonstrate their level of proficiency. Candidates are given tasks or projects that simulate the actual work they would perform on the job.
For example, designers could create an advertisement or early childhood teachers could complete a lesson plan. This method provides a practical way to assess their capabilities and how they approach job-related challenges.
Job simulations
Similar to work sample tests, job simulations go a step further and put applicants into a realistic job environment where they perform the tasks they would encounter in the role. This technique is particularly useful for high-stakes or complex jobs, such as nurses or pilots.
6 Best practices for implementing job fit assessments
Building a strong employer brand makes your company stand out to the talent pool. Your reputation gives you a competitive edge when you advertise jobs in the future.
Like any process, certain elements can help create more effective outcomes.
1. Use a combination of assessment methods
While many tools can provide a wide variety of information, relying on a single assessment tool may not provide a complete picture of a candidate’s fit. Combining multiple methods, such as psychometric tests, skills assessments and behavioral interviews, offers a more comprehensive evaluation.
2. Train your assessors
Ensure that those administering and assessing job fit have a deep understanding of how to use the tools correctly and interpret the results objectively. Check that assessors are consistent with each other on their findings.
3. Integrate into your successful recruiting strategy
Job fit assessments should be seamlessly built into the recruitment and selection process. Each applicant for each of the specific job postings should take the same tests and be evaluated to the standard you have set rather than each other.
This hiring process ensures that the job fit match has been made.
4. Assess existing employees
While job fit assessment is important to the initial recruitment strategy, it can also be used to evaluate current job fit and determine opportunities for promotions or changes within the workplace.
5. Provide feedback to candidates
Offer candidates feedback on their assessment results. This information can be valuable for the past applicants' professional development and enhances the transparency and fairness of the process.
6. Monitor and adjust
Regularly review the effectiveness of your job fit assessment processes. Gather feedback from hiring managers and employees and make adjustments as needed to improve the accuracy and relevance of the assessments.
Great recruitment is worth investing in
The value of job fit assessment is clear. Retention can be a struggle point for any business, but with job fit you can approach the challenge at the onset of the recruitment process.
Job fit assessments can help you achieve a stable, motivated and productive workforce for the long-term success of the business. As the market for quality employees continues to tighten, prioritizing job fit assessment is the tool to attract and retain new talent.
If recruitment strategies are interesting to you, get a deeper look at how fascinating they can get at What I Wish I Knew Before Working as a Recruiter.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® is a registered trademark of MYERS & BRIGGS FOUNDATION
MBTI® is a registered trademark of MYERS & BRIGGS FOUNDATION
Microsoft® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation
