Typically, you look for candidates to fill positions who have the needed skill sets and then assume they can do the job quite well. But, why have they applied for that particular job? Based on my experience, it is often to ‘escape’ their current job. People seem to spend far more time running away from what they don’t like instead of thinking about what they want and then try to find a job that matches their needs.
So, they begin a new job with some excitement and enthusiasm for their responsibilities. But, very soon it becomes commonplace. Since it isn’t really what they want, and they find their work less enjoyable each day. When work is not enjoyable, people look for excuses to do something else.
Do Employees Use Real Excuses or Reasons?
The 2021 CCH Unscheduled Absence Report surveyed 323 HR executives of US companies in 46 states. What may be concern for employers is finding out that two out of three employees who fail to show up for work aren’t physically ill.
Fast forward to your own experience in 2022 because recent studies found only 35% of unscheduled absences are due to personal illness, while 65 percent are for other reasons. Reasons including family issues (21%), personal needs (18%), stress (12%) and entitlement mentality (14%).
If an individual is unwilling to think about what is best for them and simply seeks a job, perhaps employers need to spend more time thinking about what they need from a candidate in a given role. So, the better the employer understands what is needed for someone to successfully perform a particular role, the more likely they are to find the right person. But, if they do not know what is needed and the job candidates do not know what they want, the result is “the blind leading the blind”.
Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. – Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)
Of course, a person needs skills to perform a certain job. But, by spending a little time identifying the characteristics that are needed to successfully function in a role, the employer removes much of the guesswork out of matching the right person to the right job, resulting in a win/win situation.
What Skill Sets Are Important Per Role in Your Company?
Let’s consider the role of a receptionist. Sure, I could have picked numerous different roles to make this point, but usually this job does not require a lot of ‘concrete skills’ but is probably one of the most important roles in any organization. Because an organization can’t do business if they can’t get ‘customers through the front door’ and the first person the customer talks to is most responsible for making that happen—the receptionist.
This person must have a pleasant demeanor in order to successfully meet and greet people whether by phone or in person. They must have an uplifted demeanor and be capable of making the potential customer feel that they have made the right decision by calling you. Secondly, the receptionist must have the ability to control conversations so that they can quickly get the caller or visitor to the appropriate person. Of course, we can add time management, computer and other functional skills to the list.
Ever Experienced This Before?
Think for a moment of your own experience in calling or visiting another organization and how the receptionist treated you.
- Were you greeted with a pleasant demeanor and left with a positive feeling, or did you want to ‘strangle’ the person at the other end of the line or sitting behind the desk?
- Is that person simply earning a paycheck, or do they truly enjoy their job and find pleasure in what they are doing?
- Did you say, if that was my employee, I’d fire them?
- Do you think they hired the right person?
- Do you think this employees manager has properly set the behavioral expectations for the role?
Of course, you want all your employees to come to work to work. But, that’s not the reality. Getting peak performance from people isn’t something that comes naturally. While you might be eager to grow the business, make sure to hire employees based on behaviors. Then properly train them to do the job you need done but always inspect what you expect them to do. You will have to fire far fewer people.
