Why Alignment Wins Over Talent Alone

When you are considering potential candidates, it is not their resume alone that indicates how successful they will be if offered the position. Experience is important, as is skillset, but how well a person fits with the organization is something that is often overlooked but has major implications for their performance. They may be the most talented person who you have ever met, but if their values are not aligned with those of the organization, or if they cannot get along with their coworkers and superiors, then they will not last long at the company. It is the combination of talent and alignment that makes for a successful experience as an employee.

Someone can be good at performing their job without being a good fit for the company or department. That is not a negative reflection of the individual or their work; it is simply a reality that is often not considered when hiring someone. Part of the problem is that sometimes the people who are interviewing the candidate will not be directly working with the individual should they get the job, so how well the candidate interacts and works with others does not affect them and is therefore not a factor that is considered.

Another issue is that sometimes the hiring committee simply does not think about how the individual would fit with the organization or their specific team. They are only concerned with the length of their resume, their accolades, and their ability to perform the job. How well they are aligned with their team directly impacts their overall performance. It is difficult to produce at the highest level when you are concerned about your relationship with your coworkers or boss. However, if there is a positive working relationship amongst the team, people can focus all of their time and attention on their job responsibilities.

There are ways to avoid hiring someone who will not be a good fit for the role. When interviewing candidates, you need to be looking for both alignment and talent. Try to get a better understanding of who they are as a person, not just what they can do. If you are concerned that you may not be able to gauge how well they would align with the team during the interview, there is another option. Using pre-hire assessments is a great way to get a more detailed look at who you might employ.

The PXT Select is a great resource for this. Not only does the assessment measure their thinking style, behaviors, and motivational interests, but there are also several reports you can run after the assessment is taken. A great report to run is the manager to employee report. This compares the traits of the manager to the traits of the candidate to determine how well they would work together, what the manager needs to know in order to coach the candidate to success, and what they should each be aware of in their interactions with one another.

While talent is an important marker of success, it is not the only thing that determines how well an employee will perform. When hiring a new employee, you should also be looking for alignment. What you see on paper does not necessarily translate into what you see in person. Experience alone does not replace human connection. The right hire is the one who will contribute to both the competence and the cohesion of the team.

-Meghan Slaughter