Are You Hiring The Right Skills?

Your organization recently posted an ad for a Marketing Manager position. The posting listed a variety of mandatory requirements (education, certifications, etc.) and preferred qualifications (skills, experience, etc.) that your team has identified as success indicators for the position. After an intense selection and interviewing process, the talent pool has been narrowed down to two final candidates:

• Candidate A made Dean’s List during their Bachelor of Business Administration with a specialization in Marketing Management, but only has experience working as an unpaid intern at a marketing firm for two summers.
• Candidate B has 8 years of experience in the field, 3 of which spent in a manager position, but their highest level of education is high school.

Candidate A looks fantastic on paper but delivered a lacklustre interview. Candidate B captivated the interview panel with their charisma, natural leadership skills and confidence. So, who do you choose?

Throughout the talent acquisition process, it is vital to consider soft skills and emotional intelligence, especially in a leadership role. Good grades on a transcript do not always translate to high performance in the workplace, whereas soft skills like emotional intelligence is essential for organizational development, retaining talent, and navigating change in the workplace.

Why Education and Technical Skills?

In job postings, employers will list the required skill sets, qualifications, and experience, with some flexibility (i.e. a certification in… or minimum 3 years experience in…). These skills are the key competencies an individual requires to be successful in the role. Although university or college will not provide training in specific, niche job titles, higher education programs teach individuals transferable skills that can be applied throughout their employment, including advanced research and analysis skills, better time-management, and openness to learning.

Why Soft Skills?

According to an article published by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 2014, approximately 20% of companies are now measuring and assessing a candidate’s emotional intelligence throughout the job selection process. Integrating emotional intelligence and talent development assessments can help close skills gaps within your existing team and when selecting new hires. These gaps not only refer to technical knowledge, but the different soft skills that would lead to successful overall workplace performance. Soft skills are vital for interacting with your team, supervisors, vendors, clients, etc. and directly impact the success of the organization.

Organizations are increasingly turning to assessments that measure EI to determine how existing and potential employees will fit into their teams, but this does not negate the value of one’s education in the selection process. EI can be cultivated and improved upon through professional coaching and talent development programs. Companies must set a higher premium on upskilling high potential leaders in their pipeline and avoid hiring the wrong candidate based solely on intellect and education

Book a consultation today with one of our Talent Solutions Consultants to learn more about developing and managing talent in the workplace. Our range of Talent assessment tools are ideal for use in coaching, organization and leadership development, selection, and succession planning. Please contact us at [email protected] for any inquiries.