30 YEARS AGO, Peter Drucker suggested that two-thirds of the time we discover within a year that we get it wrong in the hiring process.  The other day in Indianapolis, a Human Resources Professional spoke out loud on that statement and said, “I wish I was that good.”  Why does this statistic keep haunting us?  We believe it is because during the traditional hiring process, we gather either the wrong information or don’t collect enough information before we make a decision. Do technical skills really matter if the employee isn’t open to improving, alienates their co-workers, lacks drive and has a disconnect of values with those of the organization?”

A study released by Leadership IQ in the US has confirmed what we have been saying all along: that technical skills are a lousy predictor of whether a new hire will succeed or fail.”  They gathered data from 5,247 managers who collectively hired 20,000 employees.  They found that 46% of new hires failed within 18 months. These employees were eventually fired, or they left under pressure, were subject to disciplinary actions or had extremely negative performance reviews.  Only 19% of the new hires achieved “unequivocal success” the study reported.

The hiring managers conceded, in retrospect, that they had focused primarily on technical skills during the job interviews because they were easier to measure.

The top performance failures shed light on what we should be looking for in the hiring process before we make a decision.  The top four reasons for failure were the lack of:

Coachability
Not how smart they are, but rather that how they learn matches the way the organization coaches/teaches.

Cognitive Decisiveness
The ability to sort from the abundance of information around them and focus on the details that matter most.

Occupational Interests and Motivation
The sufficient drive and appropriate motivators to achieve full potential and excel on the job.

Temperament
Core values and beliefs are suited to the particular job and the work environment.