Job Fit Assessments for Better Hiring
Research shows that when people are in jobs that allow them to use their most natural way of thinking, feeling, and acting (i.e., their personality), they perform better. Organizational Psychologists refer to this as Job Fit or Person-Job-Fit. In this blog, you’ll learn why Job Fit Assessments predict successful job performance and what to do when employees are misplaced.
The Best Job Fit Assessments
The best way to predict Job Fit is to use a psychometric test that measures personality. There are many different personality assessments but few are appropriate for use in hiring. And among those, few were designed to measure the Five Factor Model (FFM) of Personality (a.k.a., The Big 5). Because the FFM is, by far, the most researched and accepted model of personality, it’s best practice to use a tool that was designed to measure it. Learn more about personality assessments in the workplace.
Why Job Fit Matters
Each of the 5 personality factors have motivational underpinnings (i.e., higher-level goal strivings). When we are doing things that come naturally, we experience a sense of meaning in our work. Ultimately, this fuels high performance. The chart below shows the link between people with a high level of each personality factor and their intrinsic motivations.
The Perils of Poor Job Fit
When an employee has to do things that don’t naturally fit with their personality, they see their work as less meaningful. In turn, their performance tends to suffer. Additionally, when we need to act in ways that don’t match our personality, it can cause us to experience stress, which can lead to decreased productivity and burnout.
Imagine someone who is very low on extraversion and conscientiousness in a sales role. They do not naturally strive to influence people or to achieve goals. The cards are stacked against this employee from the start, making it difficult for them to perform well in the job.
How Transformational Leaders Can Help When Job Fit Is Weak
Research suggests that transformational leaders have the greatest impact on employees who have lower Job Fit and minor impact on the performance of employees with stronger Job Fit. That’s likely because people who are naturally suited to their jobs don’t need external motivation to perform well.
Transformational leaders exhibit 4 clusters of behaviors. Let’s take a look at the mechanism through which they activate meaning in employees with lower Job Fit.
Individualized Consideration
Behaviors: Listens to their employees’ needs and concerns, provides coaching and support, and celebrates each follower’s contributions.
Impact: Followers learn to value self-development, making their work more meaningful and their job more enjoyable.
Inspirational Motivation
Behaviors: Articulates a compelling vision, challenging goals, and an optimistic view of the future, tying each employee’s role into that vision.
Impact: Followers feel a sense of purpose, giving their work meaning and inspiring them to action.
Idealized Influence
Behaviors: Serves as a role model for ethical behavior.
Impact: Followers trust and respect their leader, providing motivation to give discretionary effort.
Intellectual Stimulation
Behaviors: Challenges assumptions, encourages creativity, solicits ideas, encourages risk-taking, and interprets failures as learning moments.
Impact: Asking questions, thinking deeply about things, and considering a variety of solutions allows followers to identify better ways to execute their tasks.
While transformational leadership can help, don’t expect miracles. If an employee’s personality is a very poor match for most of their job responsibilities, having a transformational leader might help them move the needle, but probably not far enough. So, you’re left with trying to design a role for the person, move them into a new role, or separate them from the organization. All of these options involve actual costs, opportunity costs, and team disruption.
Practical Takeaways
- By using a Job Fit Assessment that measures The Big 5 in the hiring process, you will uncover motivational and behavioral patterns that predict job performance.
- When onboarding a new hire, try to get them involved in tasks they are naturally motivated to do. This will increase their sense of fulfillment and allow them to experience quick wins.
- When an employee is doing well in some areas and struggling in others, this could be due to misaligned Job Fit. If you’ve ruled on a skill deficit as the cause, consider allowing job crafting, redesigning the role, or moving the employee onto a team that’s led by a transformational leader.
- Evaluate your leaders. Use a comprehensive objective assessment to identify your transformational leaders. Then, try to place those leaders on teams that need external motivation to improve their engagement and performance.
- Individualize leadership development. Not all teams need a transformational leader and not all leaders can become transformational. Supplementing an objective assessment with a 360 tool is a great way to pinpoint what the leader needs to develop to improve their team’s performance.