What went wrong when that person you hired with such promise doesn't work out? Why do new staff members fail? According to author Mark Murphy, the top five reasons new employees fail are:
1. Coachability - 26% lack the ability to accept and respond positively to feedback.
2. Emotional Intelligence - 23% don't understand and manage their emotions and don't accurately read the emotions of others.
3. Motivation - 17% lack the internal drive to achieve their potential and succeed on the job.
4. Temperament -15% possess attitudes or personalities that are not a good fit with the job and the work environment.
5. Technical Competence - 11% don't have the skills needed to do the job.
What stands out about this list is that the actual inability to do the job comes in last. The primary reasons for job failure are related to attitude rather than job skills. In his book, Hiring for Attitude, Murphy makes the case that attitudes are the key to job success and therefore need to be the focal point of the hiring process.
As I think about Murphy's work, three key questions come to mind...
- What attitudes are critical to success at our camp?
- How do I interview and select people with these attitudes?
- How do I develop and conduct training that builds and reinforces these attitudes?
