Hiring the right employee can immediately improve team chemistry and productivity. Conversely, hiring the wrong person can cost you tens of thousands of dollars. How do you know that you are choosing the right person for the job? You won’t — unless you take the time to verify that the candidate has the right key competencies and values.
Key competencies encompass the skills, knowledge, and abilities required for a position. A candidate’s values reflect their work ethic and the principles that guide their behavior. With a customized assessment process designed to evaluate these attributes, you can improve your hiring accuracy and long-term retention.
Why Defining Key Competencies and Values Is Crucial
Identifying the key competencies required for a role helps you set clear job expectations. When your hiring team defines the skills and attributes a new hire must possess, they are creating a road map for potential employees to follow.
Job seekers don’t want ambiguity when applying for a new role. They want to know what is expected of them so they can decide whether they have what it takes to be successful. By defining key competencies, you will ensure that candidates have realistic expectations.
Values are the other side of the hiring coin. Bringing in employees whose values align with the company culture fosters engagement and long-term retention. Analyzing values during employee selection also allows you to choose candidates who resonate with the company’s culture and vision.
Your hiring team can apply these key competencies and values to make smarter hiring decisions. Instead of relying on intuition or subjective impressions, they can assess candidates objectively. This reduces hiring bias and improves the accuracy of selection decisions.
Key Competencies to Consider When Hiring
Every role requires a unique set of key competencies. These abilities can be grouped into four main categories.
Technical Skills
Candidates must possess the specific knowledge or abilities required for the job. For instance, a programmer must know the appropriate coding languages, while a digital marketing team member should be proficient in social media and SEO best practices.
Soft Skills
Soft skills are transferable abilities that are crucial for just about any role. Some examples include communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. The best applicants have a good mix of technical and soft skills.
Leadership Potential
Identifying candidates with the potential to grow into leadership roles can help with succession planning and business continuity. Your hiring team should evaluate a candidate’s long-term leadership potential, even when filling an entry-level role.
Emotional Intelligence
A great candidate will be skilled at managing their own emotions, understanding how others feel, and handling stress. Customized assessments can objectively measure emotional intelligence and provide a glimpse into a candidate’s emotional maturity.
How a Customized Assessment Process Ensures Hiring Success
A customized assessment process reveals whether someone possesses the key competencies to be successful. The process should include the following:
- Tailored Job Descriptions: Craft job descriptions that highlight the key competencies and values needed for success in the role
- Competency-Based Interviews: Implement structured interviews that assess the required competencies
- Psychometric and Skill Assessments: Use role-specific assessments to reveal a candidate’s true capabilities
- References and Past Performance: Examine past work and achievements to gauge values and competencies
Each of these strategies provides a glimpse into a candidate’s competencies and values. Together, they can inform decision-making and lead to better hires.
The Role of Continuous Feedback in Competency Development
Finding someone with the potential to be successful is a great first step. However, you should also nurture their key competencies by:
- Providing comprehensive onboarding and training
- Conducting performance reviews to track and refine their competencies
- Investing in skill development to build a more talented workforce
Continually nurturing and reinvesting in your team will lead to better long-term job satisfaction and higher retention rates.
Modernize Your Hiring Processes With Dynamic Management Consulting
By identifying and screening for the right key competencies and values, you can build a strong, successful workforce.
Are you ready to refresh your hiring strategy with a customized, competency-based approach? Learn how Dynamic Management Consulting can help streamline your hiring process. Contact us today.
