Graduation season is among us—unleashing a brand new crop of unspoiled talent eager to succeed and willing to work hard. New college grads are often confident in their degrees and ability to bring immediate value to their new employers. But most business owners I support in the insurance, healthcare and property management industries know their success hinges first on being hired for the right role, within the right corporate culture and then paired with self-directed training opportunities.
Many smaller and medium-sized U.S. employers hesitate to take a chance on new college grads. Large companies have long been hiring them, because they typically have the resources to institute a formal training program to ready newbies for the role.
But Accenture Strategy released an interesting statistic in its 2016 U.S. Graduate Employment Study—only 14 percent of college grads want to work for a large corporation. It turns out new college grads are craving a personalized employment experience where their needs and talents will be both nurtured and noticed.
This is a great opportunity for nimble and growing companies. New college grads are willing to work hard and commit to a lengthy stay. The study reported that 52 percent are willing to work on weekends and in the evenings and 55 percent want a full-time role. They also plan to stay at least three to five years.
The key is marrying a stable culture with multiple career paths or opportunities. The brightest talent is less interested in climbing the corporate ladder (again a good development for smaller companies). Rather, they want project work, exposure to multiple roles at their employment level, frequent opportunities for additional training and clear, actionable feedback about their performance. To keep them engaged, employers need to make sure new talent feels challenged and appreciated.
Recognizing and nurturing potential doesn’t need to be elusive.
There are many reasons an employer may find itself making a hiring decision based more on potential than on proven success. New college grads are just one case where much of what you have to go on falls under value and behavior traits. We also see this in job applicants who are making a mid-life career change or who lack specific experience in your industry, but have a demonstrated mastery of the key competencies of the role. So how do smaller and medium-sized companies identify candidate potential and empower fresh talent to grow quickly?
Use an evidence-based assessment tool to minimize the risk of making a bad hire.
Incorporating a more scientific approach to your selection and interview process takes some of the guesswork out of measuring ideal job and culture fit. Your current top performers are your best source of identifying what to look for in potential candidates. Assess them using a tool called the PXT SELECT™ to create an ideal benchmark to which job applicants can be measured against. According to Harvard Business Review, the job matching approach more accurately predicts job success than education, experience or job training.
How does it work?
The PXT SELECT™ is a multi-purpose assessment used for coaching, training and management, as well as hiring. It measures job-related qualities that make a person productive, including thinking and reasoning, behavior traits and occupational interests. It gives you customized job match fit patterns, provides you interview questions, details a specific percentage “match” when you compare a candidate to your top performers, as well as providing a detailed positive analysis of those you assess.
No amount of course-corrective training can erase a mismatch between a candidate and the job. It’s important to choose an assessment that measures behavioral and skill-based competencies, and to understand the demands of each position within your organization. For example, the PXT SELECT™ measures “energy” and someone who scores low in this scale isn’t lazy. Rather, this person is very focused and patient. You can imagine this trait being very desirable in certain roles such as those in your accounts payable department.
With college career fairs in full swing and more people making career transitions, now is the perfect time to think about your talent needs over the next 12-36 months. Hiring the right people right now is the first right step towards achieving your organization’s goals.
Need help hiring higher talent?
Contact Valerie Oldre at 952.470.0162 or email valerie.oldre@humcapadvantage.com to learn how our pre-hire assessment tools can help you identify the right talent for your organization’s culture and strategic goals.