When hiring for impact, the fit can make all the difference. Getting the fit right means not only matching the candidate’s skills and competencies with the role, but also achieving maximum alignment with the candidate’s career goals. The match is what most interviewing teams are trained to do. It entails matching the candidate’s competencies with the success factors (responsibilities/objectives/deliverables) for the role. But is that enough?
Getting to the fit means looking deeper. It means answering the question: How do the success factors for our role align with the candidate’s core goals – their own decision factors? Teams that employ this dual approach to interviewing can get both the match and the fit. And when the fit is right, you can maximize the new employee’s chances of making substantive impact. Why?
To answer this, let’s first look at the typical candidate’s decision factors. While each candidate is different, here’s a typical breakdown across five categories of what many candidates say they are looking for in their next career move:
| Decision Factors | Criteria |
| Role | Engaging mission, clear objectives, concrete and attractive goals, compelling content, appropriate purview, fulfilling responsibilities. Purpose. Impact. |
| Boss | Quality of leadership, mentor, coach, track record of success, teacher, empowerer, inspirational. Do we resonate? Are they focused on supporting my success? Autonomy. |
| People | Attractive corporate culture, inclusiveness, quality of people, collaborative, team execution-oriented, mission-driven. Do I connect with the people? |
| Company | Trajectory, growth, market position, financial prospects, brand, exit likelihood. Organizational quality, smart leadership and direction. |
| Career | Career value, leverageable experience, new skills, broaden my network, a step to advance. Can I build from here? Further my mastery and competence? |
The Secret of Hiring for Impact: Capture Intrinsic Motivation
So how does the fit between the success factors of the role and the candidate’s decision factors lead to maximum impact? The simple answer: capture employee motivation. In particular, intrinsic motivation. A rich body of behavioral science research from Edwin Deci (Self-determination theory), Richard Ryan, Harry Harlow (Pioneer Intrinsic Motivation) and Daniel Pink (Drive) links intrinsic motivation to better employee performance, higher productivity and improved corporate value.
At the heart of intrinsic motivation you’ll find the underlying elements of purpose, autonomy, connection and competence (mastery of craft). These stand among the key candidate decision factors. Unlock intrinsic motivation and you’ll unleash employee impact. And it all starts with the fit.
Now you may ask, “how can I keep all the possible candidate decision factors top of mind throughout the hiring process?” It may be simpler than you might think. Here are a few open questions many teams use to assess both the match and the fit:
- What are you looking for in your next role?
- What leadership characteristics do you look for in your next manager?
- What factors are most important to you for the company you join?
- What career goals have you set for yourself three to five years from now?
Now ask yourself, “how well does our role align with this candidate’s goals and expectations?”
Here’s a simple equation for the fit:
Fit = MAX (Candidate Decision Factors) + MAX (Role Success Factors)
Result: The better the fit, the more motivated your employee, who in turn creates greater impact in their role and stays longer at your company. Yes, you get both impact and longevity when the fit is right.
(*) Note on Motivation: What’s special about creating impact for your next hire is your commitment to seeing the role through your candidate’s eyes. By factoring the candidate’s core decision factors into your hiring decision you unlock one of the most important ingredients to impact and success: employee motivation. Over time, you capture your employee’s sustained motivation for execution and deliverables for the role. Motivation is often the X factor in making an impact. It is also a key driver in achieving longevity, or retention of this high impact employee.
Richard Lear is the Managing Director at Vantage (www.vantagesf.com), an AI-focused boutique executive search firm. He is also co-founder of TalentValue (www.talentvalue.io), an AI-driven platform for compensation analytics and talent management.