Innovative organizations cannot sustain their achievements without fresh ideas and new approaches that are often brought in by new hires. Companies that foster innovation need not just highly skilled workforce; they need highly engaged employees – people who love to work there, who are motivated to be creative, and whose personal values fit well the organizational culture. Finding the “right” people for the organization is a challenge that goes through all stages of a recruitment process. However, if the initial step of generating applicants fails to bring these “right” people into the mix, the whole hiring process may prove fruitless.
Something feels broken in our current recruiting system. Research tells us that firm success depends upon having the “right” workforce, emphasizing the alignment of corporate cultural values between organizations and their employees. However, companies invite candidates to interviews based on a system of keyword matching, looking for technical skills and previous experience, leaving out cultural fit considerations to the face-to-face meetings. But what are the chances that, under the current system, those “right” people will even get invited?