By Axel Dono*

2017 will clearly be a year characterized by change, in which we will all need to buckle up and prepare to face new challenges.

The tax reform, the instability of the price of the American dollar, and the economic crisis of national and international markets are just some of the situations we will be living during 2017. Therefore, now more than ever, we must have successful recruitment processes that fit the company’s needs and the candidate skills.

Amidst this situation, the key for a successful recruitment process will be to understand what the skills that a company needs are, identify why those skills are needed, learn which skills are non-negotiable, and which skills could be developed by a candidate on a daily basis.

Even though it is true that companies and employers have established parameters of selection, which include the skills that the jobs demands, as they need to get it right they must analyze the characteristics of the organizational culture, their current situation in the labor market, the future expectations, and the industry the operate in, in order to find the ideal candidate.

But, how is the ideal candidate defined? It is important to say that there are no perfect candidates who completely fulfill every need and expectations companies have. Therefore, it is key to go through a self-reflection process to find out companies and candidates must do in order to identify whether they will effectively achieve that harmonious match.

When developing this self-discovering process, companies can define what are the skills they consider essential, those skills that the candidate must have to fulfil the tasks of the job, those that are basic and non-negotiable, and known as “hard skills”.  A clear example would be knowledge on the use a specific management software, on a particular process or speaking a second language.

Nonetheless, there are skills that companies need and value and, even though the candidate may not have them, they can be developed with experience. Most of these qualities are linked to the evolution and development of natural aptitudes that the candidates have and the eventually become essential values for the company. It is the employer’s role to define and determine what skills are essential and what skills can be developed with time.

Both, employers and potential employees, must understand that every recruitment process poses a risk for each party, and, unfortunately, nowadays we cannot afford the luxury of developing erroneous recruitment processes that damage business and the welfare of companies and employees. This sort of risks can be reduced if, from the start, companies look for candidates whose skills fit their real needs and whose potential may turn into new skills that generate value for both.

*CEO Hays Colombia

Source: Finanzas Personales