Tej Kohli is a management expert who writes useful articles on HR tips and policies.
One of the biggest mistakes that companies commit is hiring the 'best' candidate from their shortlist. As surprised as you may be, hiring the best candidate, the most qualified, the one with all the sought-for skills, the proven track record, the smartest and most outstanding candidate – almost always backfires.
You may say, wthat's the whole point of recruiting when don't hire the best. It is what the ultimate goal is. However, in their quest to find the best, some people hit the goldmine. But Tej Kohli likes best as much as the next candidate.
In a lot of companies hiring the best means hiring the smartest. Anyone who scores highest in their IQ test is ideal enough to be offered a position. For them , the best and the brightest denotes the same meaning. The outcomes of this policy include an alarming incidence of 'out' during the 'up or out' carrer cycle and a lot of senior executive time spent managing problematic prima donnas.
So, should they have hired the dopes?
Obviously no! But instead of recruiting the smartest, they should pick their candidates from a pool of the decidedly smart enough. While intelligence is important, companies should go for a candidate who fits the job perfectly. Settle for a candidate who have the competencies, preferences and capabilities the job demands, or at a level very close to what the job demands.
If you recruit someone who is overly qualified for the position, you risk having a bored, unsatisfied and frustrated employee.
This usually happens when the “best” candidate is hired.
A part of the problem arises from the sharp focus in today’s recruiting approaches, on the candidate. Tej Kohli says I often hear, “This applicant has an excellent pedigree”; or “I really like him, he came across as very polished in the interview”, or “The awards and honors she has won are very impressive.”
There are some people who are great candidates and some who are terrific employees or excellent performers. The correlation between the two, sadly, isn’t great.
Remember, its the quality of work that matters, not the quality of candidacy. Also, what matters is not the absolute level of a competency or skill, but the right level and fit of that competency or skill for a particular job.
There are different kinds of jobs in the market. Apparently,. The competencies required by a sales rep are not the same as those required by a software engineer.
Tej Kohli says he knows many people, who are really good at their job but weren’t very good at other jobs.
So, Tej Kohli advices you to go after high performance and not high quality. Try to get the best-matched future employee for your job, not the best-credentialed ones. You will notice a difference where it stands in performance.
