The Right Person In The Right Job

What Motivates Candidates?

Each person is motivated by their own set of beliefs and values. These beliefs and values are determined by that person's past experiences, and govern how that person is psychologically self-motivated to behave, how that person prefers to behave, when working with their manager, peers, direct reports, clients, customers etc.

Beliefs and values are embedded in attitude. Hence a person's attitude motivates and determines that person's behaviour. A fact confirmed by both extensive research, and census returns, which show that attitude is more than twice as important for success in a job, as any other personal attribute.

Selection Principles

Education, degrees, professional qualifications, certifications, competencies, and experience are proof of a candidate's eligibility for the job, or position. Verifying these job-specified criteria is essential in any selection process, but such criteria are no proof of 'the-right-person-in-the-right-job'

Your 'right-person-in-the-right-job' managers and employees have one characteristic in common. The behaviours required for success in their specific job are a match with, and constantly reinforce, their unique set of beliefs and values and self-motivated behaviours. This reinforcement self-motivates your 'right-person-in-the-right-job' with increasing job satisfaction and other 'feel-good' factors in a continuous cycle of five stages.

Each 'right-person-in-the-right-job' has:

1. A set of beliefs and values that determine their attitude.
   
   
2. An attitude that determines their self-motivated, preferred way of behaving.
   
   
3. Self-motivated behaviours that determine how they prefer to work with others, and employ their knowledge, professional qualifications, competencies, experience to achieve the job objectives.
   
   
4. A preferred way of behaving, working with others, and employing their knowledge, professional qualifications, competencies, experience that achieves the job objectives and is rated as high performance in the position
   
   
5. Recognition as a high performer continually reinforces their self-motivation of beliefs, values, attitudes, job satisfaction and self-esteem.

Selection Pitfalls

As attitude determines behaviour you might be tempted to assume that identifying the 'right-person-to-the-right-job' is simply a matter of asking the candidate to respond to a questionnaire about their behaviours, and then inviting them to a structured behavioural interview.

The trouble with this approach is that, in both instances, the candidate will, at best, respond to behaviour questions with perceptions of what the candidate thinks is their behaviour - not with descriptions of their actual behaviour. The difference between how a candidate says they will do the job, and how they actually do the job after appointment, can be very significant, and expensive!

Accurate Selection

High performance in a specific job demands specific attitudes and behaviours. Today a company can readily identify, quantitatively measure, validate, and benchmark the attitudes and behaviours for high performance in any position they choose.

The candidate, or jobholder, responds to a simple questionnaire that accurately identifies their attitudes, beliefs, values and quantitatively measures, relative to the benchmark:

• how they 'talk' the job
  
  
• how they will 'walk' the job
  
  
• the difference between how they say they will do the job, and how they will actually do the job
  
  
• their leadership and ability to manage change
  
  
• their potential for high performance in the position
  their culture 'fit' in the position

Why take the unnecessary risk of selecting a candidate who under performs? Why take the risk of incurring expensive loss of productivity, and the cost of finding a replacement? Eliminate uncertainty in selection.

Attitude determines actual behaviour on the job. Attitude is the key that accurately identifies the ' The-right-person-in-the-right-job'.

Modern attitude questionnaires are easy to use, accurately match candidate motivations to your job, or position specification, and validate your selection decisions.

Selecting the 'right-person-in-the-right-job' has never been easier, or more rewarding!

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