Why we need Empathic Recruitment℠
Empathic Recruitment focuses on personality and culture matching. Empathy can be the missing ingredient to a good employee or finding one in the first place. Without it, a “what’s in it for me” quick buck mentality can quickly develop. When missing empathy, it helps maintain an ideology where our perception of perfection measures one area; Academic ability, when there is a full spectrum of considerations needed to truly identify perfection.
Perfection is also dependent on what context it’s in
Someone might be perfect for a precise job or business but may not be for others. This could be the same role at a competitor but the internal staff structure and culture may not fit. We conclude suitability from a CV when shortlisting which is open to misinterpretation or manipulation. The way companies engage when using agencies, can create ulterior motives that break down trust and communication.
The truth is, being academic doesn’t mean someone knows how to apply it, or whether they’re motivated to do so. It’s the emotional part of the brain that dictates which option is preferable/suitable or profitable. It’s what tells us when to stop comparing features, costs, risks or benefits of different options available to us and deciding what’s best. You simply cannot express these abilities from a CV.
As if this wasn’t important enough, emotions also alert us to factors that our conscious, rational awareness can miss. That’s despite their critical importance to us in the future. ‘Gut feelings’ or ‘intuition’ can inform us when something is not quite right about a person, a situation or a business deal even when they look good on paper.
There’s an example of this in an office scenario most employers could probably relate too.
You hire a new junior with limited experience within an office of experts. The rapport between this person and the team is there immediately. They consequently absorb information and the knowledge they need from colleagues quickly. You then employ someone who’s already an expert in the industry. They do it differently and doesn’t agree with the rest of them. The internal communication shrinks and productivity of that office shrink with it.
They say knowledge is power, and the more people you know, the more knowledge you have access to which I agree with. When someone works within a company, they retain significant information that could be useful to the rest of the team. That knowledge can be lost if staff don’t get along or have conflicting goals or morals to each other. That’s why it’s key to consider this when recruiting. The collaboration of like-minded professionals within businesses would make a huge difference to the company’s output.
I guess the big question is, How do you resolve these problems in the recruitment process?
Firstly, we use artificially intelligent semantic searching software with job boards and social media allowing us to identify the best candidates based on online information such as CV’s. This gathers a pool of candidates who seem to have the skills. We let them know about the role in case it’s of interest. We include an Interactive Video Platform (IVP) tool in our shortlisting process allowing candidates to submit video responses to automated questions within the applications. It gives employees a snapshot of someone’s personality delivering an emotional and social competency matching mechanism. It also saves a significant amount of time for both whiles increasing the value of the shortlisting data tremendously. Employers will know who they are interviewing before they’ve met them and conduct live interviews to where convenient. We call this approach Empathic Recruitment ℠.
Put Limitation on Discrimination When Applying for Jobs
Discrimination is an ongoing issue in the world, including in recruitment. People can often be unsuccessful while applying for job opportunities and I’ve noticed a frustrating reason behind this. Assumptions! They can easily interfere with someone’s judgement of the paper version of yourself. It’s generally a factor when the idea of equal opportunities fail and here’s why…
People can pick up trends naturally or other people that promote discrimination based on someone’s background
The Equality Act highlights a good portion of these characteristics. Age, disability, gender, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation are common. But even previous job roles can influence the Managers interpretation.
I heard an example when a candidate was rejected for an interview by the Hiring Manager. They said they felt they would be too ‘aggressive’ based on their previous role. The candidate had worked as a credit controller, a position some assume you need to be aggressive. The candidate was seemingly a lovely person with a good sense of humour, so this was somewhat saddening.
People are denied equal opportunities for various reasons, but it’s commonly because of these well-established trends and a lack of initial information. Sometimes falsely assumed trends within society make an impact. Another example I often hear is when a candidate doesn’t get shortlisted because their employment initiated a long time ago. They were concerned they wouldn’t adapt to new technology, modern-day systems or processes.
The truth is when a Manager has five suitable CV’s and needs to shortlist down to three, trends may sadly reflect their final decision.
So, how do we overcome this?
We provide an interactive video interviewing platform with automated questioning so candidates can represent specific qualities a CV can’t during their application. By answering screening questions via webcam, you can prevent losing out to purely paper-based shortlisting and the assumptions that come with it! Users can also conduct interviews online, compare applications with colleagues via the IVP to hire the right person for the team, as well as the job description. It matches personalities from existing teams meaning a stronger office chemistry, a scenario everyone benefits from.
Although this won’t stop intentional discrimination, it will prevent assumptive or subconscious discrimination by giving people more information to make the right choice.
The Best Way to Keep Knowledge in Your Business
We all know knowledge is power, right?
And I guess the more people you know, the more knowledge you have access to. That makes it’s important to network in any job, or even in your personal life.
The reason this concept can be challenging to follow through with is we can’t always see the benefits of networking until they happen. That’s why you go so it can seem pointless initially. However, when you’re in an environment of like-minded people, this networking happens effortlessly instead with great results.
There is an important circumstance needed to make this scenario work.
Information sharing only works where rapport between individuals is there. Considering this when creating a recruitment strategy, isn’t it crucial new employees integrate well as a team to promote this? If that’s the case, shouldn’t this influence the way we choose who’s really best for the business? The recruitment process we all know focuses purely on academics. Without seeing someone’s personality through the application process it’s hard to tell someone’s suitability.
This has a significant impact on the overall well-being and productivity of any workforce. You will either get ideas during team brainstorms collaborating the best of each other’s thoughts. Or you get the same idea you would have had from the most forward individual on their own. Poor communication is often the cause and could be prevented if the way we apply focused on this.
By recruiting with this knowledge in mind, you’ll find internal communications would increase.
People would enjoy their working environment more having a positive impact. The reason it’s necessary is that it retains industry knowledge gathered within the businesses network and is shared with new employees! More efficient, more enjoyable and more profitable!