Why recruiting without competency models is INSANE (but true)
Many recruiters and hiring managers bemoan the state of job descriptions. The writing of job descriptions often falls to HR Managers and Business Partners who are not provided with the required level of depth for hiring good people.
According to a recent article in TD Magazine[i]:
31% of people have quit a job within the first six months
22% of turnover occurs in the first 45 days of employment
The cost of losing an employee in the first year is estimated to be at least three times their salary
Competency models enable better recruiting to take place. They inform job descriptions, which will still contain pre-requisites and experience guidelines, and can be used for initial resume culling. But once you get into the interviewing stage of recruiting, competency models create better conversations.
As an example, without a competency model, a hiring manager may ask, “Give me an example of why you think you have the skills for this job?”
With a competency model, a hiring manager can ask, “Give me an example of how you facilitate career development in your team.” And they can have a description of what that skill looks like at various levels of proficiency, along with what the required level of proficiency is for that skill.
The hiring manager, therefore, can identify what skill gaps exist among the candidates being interviewed, compare them, and determine the risk, training and duration required to close them. They can be on the lookout for specific phrasing and advanced behaviors that demonstrates they are, or can become high performers. Without having a competency model, much of this takes place based on instinct and without structure, and tough questions about real skills and experience may go unanswered. This is why the statistics above are occurring.
Insanity is recruiting without structure and without a plan and expecting great results.
If you want to hire the right people who have the potential to be successful contributors to your organization, and who seek to remain with you, don’t be insane! Incorporate competency models into your recruiting process.
[i] “Trends and Tides In Talent Development”. TD Magazine. Galagan, Pat. October 2015. https://www.td.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2015/10/Trends-and-Tides-in-Talent-Development