Why Hiring for Attitude is Important to Progress in Business

It’s a well-documented fact that skills and talent are essential to the ongoing success of any business, regardless of industry or sector. But have you ever considered hiring for attitude?

In recent times, the term ‘hire for attitude, train for skill’ has become prominent in the professional world. But, while some may dismiss this term as a fleeting industry buzz phrase, it’s a concept that holds a great deal of organisational value.

Yes, hiring for attitude makes sense—and it could catalyse the success and progress of your business.

A study by respected thought leader -Marc Murphy on talent acquisition revealed that 89% of new hire failures across industries were the result of attitudinal issues. A discovery that’s hard to ignore.

In modern business, fostering the right company culture is paramount. By hiring people that are likely to embrace your company values while making a perfect cultural fit, you’re likely to build a team that will evolve and adapt with your business.

By nurturing your internal culture and placing an emphasis on personal growth as well as lifelong learning, you should provide your employees with the tools to acquire new skills, continually. A genuine case for the notion – hire for attitude, train for skill.

Reasons to hire for attitude

It’s clear that placing emphasis on a candidate’s attitude could add significant value to your company’s hiring process. Here are three practical reasons you should hire a person for their personal attributes rather than their formal skillset:

• Leading brands hire based on attitude: Some of the world’s leading brands and businesses drill down into a candidate’s outlook, personality, and human attributes when hiring new talent. Take America’s Southwest Airlines for example—an enduring aviation brand that values culture over formal skills.
• Attitude translates to coachability: If you hire a candidate based on their attitude, they are far more likely to take a positive stance to training. If your new hires are open to learning new skills in a collaborative environment while having the motivation to hone their expertise individually, you will build a team that will take your organisation to the next level.
• Fresh perspectives: While highly-skilled candidates with years of experience in a particular proficiency will have the knowledge to hit the ground running, you could find they have a very specific approach to working. If their vision is rigid and doesn’t align with your culture, you could run into problems almost immediately, which of course, is counterproductive. If you pick a candidate with less practical experience but with the right attitude, they will ultimately offer far more value in terms of loyalty, productivity, growth, and commitment.

The key attributes of candidates with positive professional attitudes

If you take the time to examine your existing high-performers across departments, you might find that most of them share these common positive attitude attributes:

• A willingness to take ownership of their mistakes or problems.
• An unwavering passion for collaboration and communication.
• A boldness that removes the fear of making mistakes from any given circumstance.
• A consistency in delivering quality work and an ability to meet deadlines.
• An ability to show real empathy towards their colleagues, as well as the company’s clients or consumers.
• A passion to learn and develop new skills on a continual basis.

When you’re looking to hire new talent for your business, these are the qualities you should focus on—personal attributes and soft skills that will enhance your business. On the contrary, if you hire for skills alone, you could land yourself with knowledgeable candidates that go against the grain of your business, stunting growth and hindering progress in the process.

“We would rather take an eager, hungry, customer-oriented mind and mold it to what works well at Southwest, than try to change the habits of someone who’s come up through an organization that views life differently.” —Sherry Phelps, director of employment, Southwest Airlines

In a hyper-connected digital age where technologies evolve and the landscape is in a continual state of motion, hiring for ‘on paper skills’ alone is somewhat of an antiquated concept.

What is relevant today may not be tomorrow. But, it’s the people in your organisation that will respond to change and find new ways to adapt. In doing so, your business becomes empowered to stay relevant in an ever-changing environment whilst also remaining innovative at all times.

Skills will always need to improve and it will always be necessary to acquire new knowledge. With the right people aboard your ship, you will always thrive. Focus on skills and certification alone and you could find yourself floating around without direction.

To help you on your journey towards organisational excellence, read our advice on promoting a culture of continuous learning to gain a competitive advantage.