It’s your worst nightmare come true. You spent months recruiting qualified candidates; weeks screening and interviewing them; and hours on the phone conducting background and reference checks. And while your new hire starts off enthusiastic and engaged, you realize after just a short time that you’ve made a terrible hiring mistake.

How could this have happened – and what can you do to avoid a repeat going forward?

First, as one of the top staffing agencies in Houston, Murray Resources can tell you that you’re not alone. In fact, according to a study by Leadership IQ, around 46% of new hires fail on the job. That’s nearly half!

Second, in order to fix the problem, you need to know why new hires fail in the first place. According to that same study – based on 5,247 interviews, here are a few reasons:

• Lack of coachability. Twenty-six percent of new hires failed because they couldn’t accept and positively implement feedback on their performance.
• Lack of emotional intelligence. Twenty-three percent were unable to understand and manage their own emotions, as well as accurately assess the emotions of others.
• Lack of drive. Seventeen percent failed because they didn’t have the necessary motivation to excel and achieve their potential on the job.
• Wrong temperament. Fifteem percent of new hires failed because their attitude or personality weren’t well suited for their work environment or position.
• Technical incompetence. Only 11% failed due to a lack of the necessary technical skills.

Based on this study, clearly attitude, personality and cultural fit all play a pretty big role in determining whether or not a new hire will succeed on the job. That means, next time you’re hiring, don’t simply focus on technical competence and skill set. It’s not the best predictor of job success.

Instead, look at the issues above – coachability, emotional intelligence, drive/motivation and temperament/personality. When you assess these areas during the hiring process – in addition to skill set – you’re far more likely to find and hire those people who are a good fit and truly have what it takes to succeed on the job.

Another area to focus on if you want to retain your new hires is onboarding. It’s vital you have an effective and well-designed onboarding process in place to welcome new employees and educate them about their place within the larger culture.

Don’t have the time or resources to devote to recruiting or onboarding new employees? Let the experts at Murray Resources help you. As one of the top staffing agencies in Houston, we’ve worked with the city’s leading organizations to identify their human resource needs, locate top talent, and maximize employee productivity. Let us help you too! Contact us today to learn more.