Recruiting the Perfect Candidate

By Jonny Breeze, Managing Director, Yellow Cat Recruitment

Recruitment is a costly business. It can also be confusing if, having recruited someone who seemed perfect for the role; they change the dynamics of the existing team for the worse. Unless the personís role is limited to the broom cupboard (and you donít intend letting them out!), it will probably affect many others associated with the company, such as clients and affiliates. The person may be trying hard but whatever they do they cannot fit in. Once all the usual steps have been taken to rectify the situation the only conclusion is to part company and then start a new search for the ëright personí. Yet what if the next ëright personí also turns out to be right in terms of skills and experience, but not right, once they too are installed in the company? Even a three month probationary period can seem too long. All in all it can seem like a confusing carousel.

A big part of the problem, too often overlooked, is that we all unconsciously use around two dozen behaviour and thinking programmes that affect the way we work. Different companies will build a culture, without even knowing it, that favour some programmes more than others ñ think about the difference between the approach needed by someone in the insurance industry compared to someone in the music industry. If you recruit someone who uses programmes that do not fit with the company culture the chances are you wonít suit each other. Yet most people donít consider trying to match this they only think in terms of skills and experience. Of course there are widely-used tools such as psychometric tests and other personality testing tools, but many of these have now become derided and are too easy to manipulate.

Most agencies try and achieve volume of candidates in order to try and overcome the problem. However, putting just one wrong person into a company that has different dynamics to those of the recruit, is one too many. Many companies, especially small companies, cannot afford to get it wrong, even once, not just in terms of recruitment agency fees, but also in terms of time spent on the recruitment process, evaluating CVs and interviewing shortlists as well as the resources invested in new starter procedures.

Yellow Cat Recruitment is one of the few agencies to use MetaProgramming as a way of addressing the problem. Weíve found that it gives a much greater knowledge of the candidate and is a very effective way of checking to see whether they will fit in with the culture of the company.

We introduced Neale Hunt, Director of Media Therapy, an advertising agency, to Metaprogramming and he is already a fan. He told me ëA small company, particularly an advertising agency, is all about having the right dynamics amongst the staff. I hadnít heard of MetaProgramming before but was open-minded enough to give it a try and was pleasantly surprised and would now describe myself as a definite convertí.

Jonny Breeze is M.D. of Yellow Cat Recruitment
www.yellowcatrecruitment.co.uk