DQ 3-2

A question about the ideal working environment is a great way to find out how the employee really feels about working in groups, deadlines, management styles, and collaboration without spoon feeding the organization's mission statement or corporate culture.  How they work with people is often more important than what they know.  Last year I was on an interview panel that selected a new inspector who had very little construction knowledge over an expert inspector because the "expert" bragged about shutting down a high profile project and calling in the police over a minor issue that should have been resolved peacefully.  The candidate with less experience was honest, truthful, and willing to put in extra hours to learn the new material.  He was very easy to talk to and looked for win-win situations.  According to Candice McCutcheon of Staff Management, "A candidate with great skills will require less on-the-job training, however, a candidate with great cultural fit possesses something that is often times untrainable – the embodiment of your organization’s values and the ability to mesh with the team."

My concern is, how do you justify these decisions quantifiably?

Reference:

McCutcheon, C. (2018, June 22). The Great Hiring Debate: Skill Set vs. Cultural Fit | Staff Management. Retrieved August 5, 2018, from https://www.staffmanagement.com/hiring-skill-set-vs-cultural-fit/

3.Diversity is essential to a productive, innovative, and culturally sound workforce and environment. I saw this evidenced everyday in the military. The military, of course, is quite different than any other workplace within the civilian world, but the concept remains the same, diversity is the pivotal driver to a great business. In order to find the right candidate, one that not only holds the same values as the company, but one that fits in culturally with the work environment, is one that will stay longer and reduce the costs of hiring new employees. Shamis explains that, “the use of tests and other selection procedures can be a very effective means of determining which applicants or employees are most qualified for a particular job” (n.d.). Shamis continues, stating that not every situation needs testing, but it can provide essential information that wouldn’t otherwise be founded without testing. Additionally, Shamis explains there are a variety of types of testing that an employer can have a candidate complete. He listed five types, but I selected three, based on their ability to gauge moral aptitude and show the candidate’s more personal beliefs within the answers. The three types are:

· Sample job tasks – performance tests, simulations, work samples, and realistic job previews assess performance and aptitude on particular tasks.

· Personality tests – assess the degree to which a person has certain traits or dispositions (e.g., dependability, cooperativeness, safety)

· Integrity tests -aim to predict the likelihood that a person will engage in certain conduct (e.g., theft, absenteeism) (Shamis, n.d.).

Using these three types of tests, which can be mixed together to create one test covering all areas, would indicate the potential a candidate has, both congruent with the company or against it. This will ensure a good fit within the culture of a company.

Shamis, B. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved August 5, 2018, from http://selectingwinners.com/employment-testing/