Recruiting is no easy task. A good recruiter must use every tool available, and must know just as much about who people are and where they are coming from as they do about the job that applicants are trying to get.

A recruiter's primary goal is to find candidates that will fit a job, and then to determine whether or not the job fits them. This includes finding a person that will enhance the effectiveness, culture, and direction of an existing team. Or, in the case of executive placement, finding a person who will lead an organization in a manner consistent with the company’s objectives and values.

Traditionally, the focus of the hiring process is on “hard skills:” typing 90 words per minute; managing, deploying, and supporting PC software applications; or, experience with full P/L responsibilities. Hard skills can be easily determined through resume reference checks, previous work documentation, interviews, and (in some cases) skills testing. Hard skills can also be taught, if need be.

But what about their cultural fit and work style?

Soft skills can be hard to test
Work style is the personality side, or “soft skills,” of a person that make for an effective executive, manager, or employee. It is the behavioral side of the person that isn’t so easy to teach or change.

When people are able to exercise their natural work style there is higher potential for productivity. They are more productive because they are working in their comfort zone.

In the hiring process, work style is typically glossed over as “good communication skills” or an “ability to increase sales through facilitating relationships.” But there are a million different ways to communicate, and countless work styles that translate into positive performance. Here are a few examples of questions to ask when determining the particular work style of a prospective employee, manager, or executive:

1. Does the person prefer to work alone or in a team? Some people are more effective when able to work solo, while others need the interaction and stimulation of peers to perform at their best.
2. Does the person prefer to work in a structured or unstructured environment? Structured environments are those where what will happen each day is predictable and there are a set of clearly defined routines and rules. Unstructured work environments have a free flow of work and it is hard to predict what will happen, requiring adaptability and flexibility. Those who prefer structure at work can become frustrated when subjected to changing situations, just as those preferring more unstructured environments can become bored when their work environment is too predictable.
3. How important is it for the person to have control? Some people desire freedom to decide what they do and when they do it, while others prefer to be told what to do and how to do it, not wanting too much responsibility.
4. Does the person work on the "big picture," or implement details instead?
5. Does the person take initiative to perform the assigned tasks directly or distribute responsibility by working through people?

The work style that people bring to the workplace affects and influences everyone they interact with – subordinates, peers, bosses, customers, shareholders, vendors, and so on. Work style can create company cultures, drive two people towards agreement or conflict, help align people with job tasks, and more.

Style can become substance
Determining the work style of an employee, manager, or executive can not only determine the future success of a given hire, but, by allowing a leader to be better matched to his or her environment and be more productive on the job, can propel an entire organization to great heights. There are several methods to accomplish this task, ranging in levels of complexity from probing interviews to advanced personality testing, a tool which is more available to business than ever before, and which has cost effective advantages that usurp some of the flawed, conventional methods that companies have traditionally employed.

Recruiters that determine a more complete job fit that includes appropriate work-style matches -- in addition to selecting for hard skills -- can make for a lasting employment relationship between employee and employer. It can create harmony or disharmony in the work environment -- right from the start.

Finding the right place for employees requires an analysis of both hard skills and soft skills, and recruiters that ignore either risk finding employees that won’t be happy. A whole company full of unhappy employees spells doom, and simple attention to the matter can stop problems before they start, and create an empowering culture of excellence that makes a company simply the best it can be.

About the Author:
Taking over for her father, Dr. Roger Birkman, in 2001, Sharon Birkman Fink is President and CEO of Birkman International, Inc. providing a unique assessment tool that accurately measures internal needs, behaviors, occupational preferences and organizational strengths. She can be reached at 713-623-2760 or sfink@birkman.com.

About Birkman:
The Birkman Method ® has been in use for over 50 years and has been used by over 2 million people and 5,000 organizations worldwide, including corporations, not-for-profit organizations, governmental agencies, and individuals in their hiring, retention, motivational and organizational development activities. The assessment accurately measures social behaviors, underlying expectations of interpersonal and task actions, potential stress reactions to unmet expectations, occupational preferences and organizational strengths. For more information: www.birkman.comor 1-800-215-2760.