Role Of Psychology In Recruitment | Aparna Sharma | Consulting Editor | The People Management

What is motivating potential candidates and how should recruiters think while hiring a team?

These questions are and should be the basis of your recruitment process. These deep-rooted psychological principles will help you land that perfect candidate.

While there are various reasons that drive a candidate to stay at their current organization or leave and accept an offer from some other company, the key factor is job satisfaction. If you can understand the exact reason why an employee is happy or unhappy with their job, you can build your entire recruiting strategy around those reasons and fixing the gaps.

There is no denying that strategic hiring adds tremendous value to the hiring process. Among all those strategies, understanding the psychology of candidates should also be the key focus that can help you attract and retain talented and high-performing candidates while reducing your cost by diminishing the chances of bad hires.

What is the Role of Psychology in Recruitment?

The need for job satisfaction 

As you are analyzing the factors behind job satisfaction, you will likely notice some trends and patterns.

Salary compensation is often the most integral component while deciding to take up a new job. Yet, it’s not the most fruitful way to attract candidates. You need to go a little deeper than the conventional market standard or competitive wage. When the candidate is only attracted to the number of zeros on their paycheck, they will abandon your ship as soon as someone else offers them higher pay.

So, what other reasons can trigger a job change?

Some of the most common and obvious reasons are company culture mismatch, not enough growth, poor work/life balance and more. Keep an eye out for patterns in the different reasons for switching jobs.

You can influence the talented candidates much more during the interviews if you have a better understanding of what makes them stay at one or leave a workplace.

Know where you stand

What would you score your current recruiting strategy in terms of appealing to a candidate’s needs?

Know that no two organizations are the same. However, there are some common needs that must be satisfied in order to attract and hold the interest of candidates. They include:

1. Security
If the candidate is taken back by your approach, the likelihood of them joining your team is very less. For example, if you’re not offering a competitive wage or your contract is vague and filled with shady clauses, the candidate is not going to come onboard.

2. Sense of Value
You need to show the prospective candidate what they are to gain by accepting the job at your company ( Employee Value Proposition) – in addition to the compensation. You need to talk about the employee appreciation , reward and recognition programs at your organization letting the candidate know that you value the inputs of the employees and you reward them for it.

3. Future Possibilities
Now that you’ve made the candidate feel secured and valued, it’s time to show how their career aspirations are in line with the job description and the company’s vision. Instead of asking “Where do you see yourself in five years?” You tell them what they can expect from you in the upcoming future if they accept your offer. You talk about the experiences and benefits that you can offer enabling them to develop and grow as individuals.

There you go.

If you can unveil what job satisfaction means to a specific candidate and offer them security, sense of value and a bright future, your recruiting process is likely to be much more triumphant.