Recruiting Survey: As Worker Loyalty Fades, Personality Fit is Critical for Hiring and Retention

Meeting an employeeís personal needs is more critical to job satisfaction than ever, according to a nationwide survey of recruiting professionals conducted by eBullpen, creators of the TalentPen candidate collection and matching system. The survey, released today, shows that worker loyalty is more precarious than ever -- 46 percent of new hires leave their jobs within the first year, and only 49 percent remain after two years. A whitepaper summarizing the survey findings is available for download at http://www.talentpen.com/read_the_whitepapers.html.

ìItís never seemed more daunting to recruit and maintain a committed, content workforce,î the paper says. ìBaby Boomers are now facing tiered-retirement schemes, as employers face a dearth of skilled workers. In this ëbuyerís market,í younger skilled workers can pick and choose their job options and loyalty isnít high.î

While 75 percent of respondents named quality of hire and retention as the two most important HR metrics, 59 percent of those surveyed believe that less than half of all candidates interviewed are qualified. Additionally, more than half of the respondents marked personality as critical for a good hire. Yet more than 80 percent are spending their money on standard criminal and/or reference background checks, while significantly less measure personality fit.

ìItís no longer enough to find a candidate who is qualified for a position,î explains Michael Sproul, president of TalentPen. ìMany other factors play into the overall success of a hire; companies need to connect with a candidate as an individual before expecting them to give back. In a sense, retention begins before the hire.î

The whitepaper offers suggestions to employers, including the development of ìtalent poolsî and active communication with prospects. Personality assessments are also cited as key measurements for how an employee fits a companyís culture, which directly impacts their loyalty. Employers who donít follow this advice will pay a high price, reports the paper. Conservative industry estimates put the cost of turnover at 1.5 times that of salary, with some companies reporting a six-fold expenditure above salary when hidden costs such as ìchain reactionî turnover and lost productivity are factored in.

Most recruiting professionals who responded to the survey were from companies with between 100-1,000 employees. More than a quarter of these respondents were from service companies; other industries represented include healthcare, manufacturing, education, and financial services.

TalentPen, a web-based candidate collection and matching system, measures candidatesí personalities, job preferences and qualifications, then collects them into private talent pools and matches them to employers with appropriate cultures. Candidates donít apply for a specific job, but instead complete personality profiles and are placed into expandable talent networks.

The same personality methods used by TalentPen were recently featured in Inc. magazineís August issue. ìThe New Science of Hiring,î a cover article, compared modern scientific hiring options to older hit-and-miss tactics. Writer Stephanie Clifford wrote that personality fit cannot be determined by traditional job interviews.