I’ve used the term ‘job fit’ in earlier posts as I comment on how important it is to focus your process of selecting people for roles (not just hiring – but also promotion, transfer, etc.) I noticed today a post by Warren Rutherford identifying different kinds of [tag]job fit[/tag] and thought it valuable to tie this in and clarify. Mr. Rutherford cites information from Cornell University showing these three types of job fit:
- The person/job fit (selecting a person based on the person’s knowledge and abilities to perform a particular job well without a lot of formal training),
- The person/organization fit (selecting based on a person fitting with the cultures and values of the business and working well with others), and
- The person/future fit (selecting for the long-term contributions of a person to the business’ long-term strategy).
Now, I realize that only one of these is called ‘job fit’ so why do I lump them all together?
The reason I put them all together is they all ultimately determine how well the individual can, and will, perform the responsibilities of the work functions assigned to them - or the functions of the work they may be able to move into.
This research from Cornell’s Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies identified that your best result comes from selecting employees via person-[tag]future fit[/tag]. Additional definition of person-future fit is a focus on the potential long-term contribution of applicants (again, I would point out this is internal as well as external). The key point is that person-future fit must tie in with ‘[tag]workforce alignment[/tag]‘ – I agree and will write on that in another post.
To stay on this topic of job fit, let’s assume CAHRS’ research and conclusions are sound (no reason not to), and person-future fit is the best selection focus. Should you then leave out the other two? What if you could use all three: person-job/organization/future fit?
- Person-job fit (as CAHRS defines it) focuses on knowledge and skills
- Person-[tag]organization fit[/tag] focuses on culture and values
- Person-future fit focuses on the behaviors required to deliver results
My reaction is you should stack the deck in your favor as much as you can – focus on knowledge, skills, behaviors, environment, motivation, interest. I absolutely believe you should play by the rules, but by all means use every rule to your advantage.
I spent many years working with organizations trying to focus on all of these without the benefit of good, validated tools. Now that we have them, the investment in those tools is so minimal compared to the return on that investment; I wish I had known more about them years ago, and used them more.
You have the choice today to continue to use good methods of selection (similar to sending a letter by mail) or use some of these tools (more like using e-mail, text messaging, and social networking) to build a winning organization. Faster. Which will it be?
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