By Lars Pedersen, CEO, Questionmark
Employment in Australia has now returned to pre-Covid levels. Full-time jobs accounted for all of the increase in employment. But, in the rush to hire, employers must ensure that the successful candidate has what it takes to hit the ground running and boost productivity.
Employers can easily use tests to measure the skills of candidates before deciding to hire them. By measuring a candidate’s skills with such assessments, employers can make a more informed decision about who to employ and who not to.
Australian employment is on the up
Australia’s jobless rate has tumbled recently as increasing confidence from the vaccine rollout combined with government stimulus has accelerated the recovery.
As Australia’s recovery boosts confidence and spending, firms will continue to hire to meet increased demand.
But when hiring, employers need to be aware that classic recruitment techniques may not be up to the task of identifying candidates with the skills they need.
Some 85% of candidates admit to lying on their CV. Interviews can be vulnerable to unconscious bias, where interviewers may be influenced by unconscious views they may hold about certain groups or types of people.
This makes it hard to identify and recruit the best people to maximize performance. Failed hires can cost organizations up to 30% of an employee’s first year’s earning.
Three critical questions
So, before making a final decision on who to hire, employers should ask three critical questions.
First, do candidates have the skills they claim?
Nearly 78% of applicants admit to lying during the recruitment process. When scaling up for a busy period, recruits must be able to do what they say they can.
Second, do applicants have skills fit for the future?
Across all industries, the skills workers need are changing. For instance, workers across many sectors need to be able to use, manage and apply new digital technologies.
Employers should ensure that new starters have crucial skills that may be missing from the existing workforce.
Third, do potential recruits have the right attitude?
Recruits must be able to quickly become part of the team. Certain characteristics will indicate whether they are likely to contribute positively to the culture. If employers are regulated, will recruits have the right mindset to meet compliance requirements and protect the firm?
How assessments help
By measuring the skills of candidates before making the final hiring decision, employers can make the right choice.
Assessments indicate whether potential recruits can do what they say they can and if they are likely to have the right attitude for the job.
After implementing assessments, 76% of corporates have seen an increase in the quality of hire.
Online assessment provider Questionmark enables employers and their people to unlock potential to deliver better performance and safely meet compliance requirements.
It does this by enabling employers to make more informed people decisions, based on accurate and reliable information from robust assessments of those people.
It’s why one in six US Fortune 100 companies use its enterprise-grade assessment platform.
Making informed decisions now
As the economy begins to recover, Australian employers will need to scale up quickly.
The quality of the people employers bring into the team will help determine whether they can ride the wave of recovery and take advantage of the new opportunities it presents.
Now more than ever, employers must be confident in the recruitment decisions they are making.
Assessing staff before they are hired can help identify applicants with the potential to make an immediate and lasting impact.
