Peter Drucker used to remind his business clients that the
most important decisions they make involve hiring, and most
of us agree with him. Accordingly, managers are very careful
when they hire. They take their time, carefully consider
different candidates, and they follow rules.
Rules for hiring can originate in experience, common sense,
and beliefs about people, but occasionally, they don't agree.
When this happens, managers must weigh the evidence that
supports competing rules and then decide how to proceed.
Research evidence can be helpful.
One ongoing disagreement involves conscientiousness verses
fit. Is one more important than the other and should it
guide our hiring decisions?
The proponents of conscientiousness insist that good people who work hard and
care about their work will grow into their jobs and continue
growing as their jobs evolve. The proponents of fit insist
that people and jobs have qualities that can either fit or
not fit, and placing a person in a job that fits benefits
both the person and the business.
The logic for both rules seems solid. What's a manager to
do? Should he select qualified people who display
outstanding qualities of conscientiousness, or look beyond
basic qualifications and select people who match a long list
of skills and qualities that seem important? Marcia
Simmering, from Louisiana State University, recently
completed research that may help us.
Professor Simmering followed students in an executive MBA
program and examined the relationships between
conscientiousness, fit, self-directed development, and change
in the firms in which her students worked. Her findings may surprise you.
A good fit stifled self-development in the most conscientious
of her students.
A misfit stimulated self-development. It did not cause them
to seek employment elsewhere as is commonly thought to
happen.
A misfit also stimulated her most conscientious students
who engaged in the most self-development to change their work
settings for the better.
Common sense leads to the conclusion that a good fit would
have only benefits and a misfit would have only penalties.
Ms. Simmering's research suggests different conclusions. A
good fit robs people of a good reason to develop themselves
and their firms, but a misfit provides it. When
conscientious people feel a misfit with their jobs and their
employers, they get to work and reduce these feelings. They
change themselves, and they change their work settings. In
the settings Simmering studied, it was for the better.
The most obvious implication to be drawn from Simmering's
research is to favor conscientiousness over fit in making
hiring decisions. However, there is more to be drawn from
this research that is helpful.
Conscientious employees who feel a misfit between themselves
and their work settings will want to develop themselves.
They will want to take classes and try new assignments.
Managers can be alert to these desires and can provide a
supportive atmosphere that will encourage them.
Misfit also occurs periodically in the careers of those who
receive promotions, for example, first-line supervisors.
Supervisors are good people who know the work and the firm
and are called upon to manage employees. When they make the
transition from employee to supervisor, they experience
misfit. Managers can anticipate these feelings and plan
appropriate training and development experiences. For new
supervisors, this feeling of misfit provides the "teachable
moment" when people are receptive to new learning.
Finally, managers can deliberately create feelings of misfit
in order to stimulate both individuals and their firms. For
example, although the internet provides access to potential
customers that is the envy of sales people from ages past, it
has proven to be a disappointment. Many have wondered why,
but a look at many web sites often reveals the trouble. The
people who design them have no understanding of basic
selling. They fail to qualify buyers. They do nothing to
create a sense of need for the product or a desire for it.
Try this tactic. Assign your web manager a sales
territory - a small one. Get him away from his computer.
Have him talk to people who just might buy your product.
He'll experience misfit, but he may just learn enough about
what he's doing to transform your web site into a real
selling tool.
Reference: Simmering, Marcia J., Jason Colquitt, Raymond
Noe, and Christoper Porter (2003) Conscientiousness, Autonomy,
Fit, and Development: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 88(5), 954-963.
Business Practice Findings, by James Larsen, Ph.D.
The Question of Fit
Recent finding challenges a long-standing tenet of hiring.