|Client blog|
“What value would you bring to your potential new employer and the role?
This a great question to ask a candidate.
The reason I like it so much is that it is one of those curve ball questions that allows you to really get inside the head of the person that you are interviewing. They are never expecting it and while every candidate has prepped ‘why they are perfect for the role’, few will have thought of the value they will bring. Their answers will be spontaneous and revealing. When I’ve asked this I’ve had responses as varied as “perspicacity”, “a desire to spread beyond the role and benefit the wider company” and “infectious passion”.
“What value will you bring” is a great question to ask a candidate and it is a great question to ask your recruitment partner too. After all, if your recruiter is distributing your job ad and then throwing a bunch of CVs your way hoping that something will stick, then they really are doing the bare minimum. Surely, you should expect more and these days it is becoming increasingly important.
A client once told a colleague that the value we had added was to help create a culture so strong that not only did it attract the right candidates, but it actually put off the wrong ones from applying. To be honest, our filtering process is actually geared up to only pass the best-fit candidates on for consideration but when we looked at the applicants, all but a handful were a good fit with organisational values. Less time wasted rejecting unsuitable applicants, that IS value!
Success follows value.
Was it Albert Einstein who advised against striving to be a success, “but rather to be of value”. I am a firm believer that value added will drive success, both for the candidate and their personal objectives and the hirer and their business goals; but it is not always true the other way around. The ideal candidate who delivers on the job description and nothing more may not add value to the company’s bottom line. Meanwhile, a candidate who comes in proactively wanting to add extra value, advance their career, to make money for the firm will usually successfully deliver on their job description by default.
One firm I know has a strict “Jerk-Free” culture, it is actually part of the company mission statement. They are quite a small team and the cost of adding a toxic personality into their organisation could be catastrophic. Despite asking their own version of the value question they did actually hire a fairly negative character one time. His CV and past experiences almost made hiring him a no-brainer, to be fair but that experience brought with it a lot of baggage and his down-beat attitude and rather cynical outlook was quickly contagious. Interestingly, when they looked back at his answer to the “value” question his reply had all been about his drive to succeed, his ambition within the firm and his goals.
Ways Value Can Be Added To Your Business … (By Both Recruiters and Candidates)
1 – They enhance YOUR vision and culture.
Every action should be geared towards a fit that is in line with the Company’s values and mission statement. From the candidate’s point of view that could be not being a jerk in jerk free culture, or if you are a jerk applying elsewhere. From the recruitment firm’s perspective, it is a case of understanding the hirer’s values and culture and only passing on 100% best-fit candidates.
2 – They Add Actual Financial Value.
The greatest hire is the candidate who not only does the job in the contract but actually grows your business. This can be done in a number of ways. Once hired, the guy who answered my value question with “perspicacity” delivered the ability to understand the current market and his firm’s current capability and best in class IT allowing him to deliver solutions that drove sales. There are countless perfect hires I could point to who have spotted efficiencies that could be made.
It’s the same with your recruitment partner, get them to put their money where their mouth is! We share the risk of a hire during those crucial first months and find that it really focusses the mind on delivering value.
3 – They Get To Know You Inside Out
Too often, actual employees don’t understand the basics of how the company they work for operates. A friend tells the story of how, on his first day at a business, he asked a gentleman, to whom he’d just been introduced by name, “So what do you do?” It turned out the guy was the CEO, it’s such a basic bit of research!
Candidates and recruitment partners should get to know the business that they are seeking to represent. Understand the customer base and their needs (and by default the needs of the hiring organisation), their financial position and business goals, the who’s who of key personnel, etc, etc. Also, as mentioned before, recruitment partners should be totally aware of your culture and values and how you do business – otherwise how can they expect to be able to suggest suitable candidates?!
4 – They Go The Extra Mile
Recruiters and candidates alike should be looking to deliver beyond the job spec!! Candidates can seek to offer more than the job spec they sign up to, treat it as a guide to the basic that the needs to be delivered. They can look to find ways to be leaner and more efficient, more proactive, better and faster than the competition.
Your recruitment partner should be doing more than the basics too. Posting on traditional job boards is not enough, we have a database of already interviewed candidates with whom we maintain contact – this increases reach and speed because we will usually already know the perfect candidate and their availability.
5 – They Deliver Passion.
In IT Project Management, if you need a PRINCE2 expert or a Scrum Master you can find one and, thanks to the structured nature of these disciplines you’ll get someone totally capable of doing what you need. In other words, the ability to do the job is measurable. The added value comes with the passion that is brought to your business by your hire and by your recruitment partner.
A recruitment partner who has actually lived through the needs that you have is better placed to fill your position more empathetically than one who is just working for the commission on offer. Our recruitment business was built on the pain felt by our sister company; IT Project resource provider, Stoneseed. We couldn’t find the right recruitment partner, so we created one.
So, added value IS the difference between a good hire and a GREAT hire. Here’s the thing though…
Sometimes when demand is high and talent is scarce, the perfect candidate doesn’t have to offer much extra value to stand head and shoulders above the competition. That’s not to say that there aren’t candidates who are READY to add REAL value to your business. They are out there but you have to work harder to find them.
You may find the extra value that makes a hire GREAT comes from finding a recruitment partner with a desire to deliver applicant who will add real value to you.