Titled ‘Grow your Talent, Hire Based on Potential’, the latest report by Robert Walters shows that in Southeast Asia, companies who hire for potential, not experience, see a 94 percent success rate in recruiting quality hires. However, a significant number (42 percent) of hiring managers have never hired a high potential candidate because they lack the right experience. 

In Singapore companies found it time-consuming and challenging in identifying quality hires, and those who hire for potential were well rewarded. Over 65 percent of companies took 2 months or more to fill a position. For those who hired high potential candidates, 96 percent proved to be quality hires. 

Here are some key insights from the report that covers the outlook of over 3000 respondents, including hiring managers and professionals from six countries:

Assessing the quality of hire

While the employers are trying to reduce bad hires, 1 in 3 new employees turned out to be a bad hire. About 1 in 2 (47 percent) of the surveyed hiring managers shared that the process of recognizing a low-quality hire and mutually addressing the situation can take as long as three months to more than a year. This shows that while businesses realize that it is important to assess the quality of hires, they find to be a time-consuming and cumbersome process. 

But if the quality of hire is assured right at the beginning stage of sourcing and selection, employers can save themselves from the cumbersome task of identifying bad hires later. Employers can learn from ech other. For instance, successful respondents shared how they are recognizing high potential candidates at the recruitment stage. 

Top traits

• Willingness to learn
• Motivation to take up the job and succeed in the role 
• Engagement (a perceived level of enthusiasm and dedication towards the job)

Most often employers, recruiters and hiring managers have a high level urgency to close positions. Further, faced with a shrinking pool of talent, they end up paying attention to an aspect like relevant experience (64 percent) while hiring. Other elements like candidate’s ability to learn quickly (57 percent), soft skills exhibited (48 percent) and aligned with the company’s culture (44 percent) comes much later. 

While having relevant experience is considered has top priority, it has proved to be less of a deciding factor in measuring the quality of hire. This is well reflected by the top reasons cited for determining a bad hire:

• Failure to deliver satisfactory work (31 percent)
• A less-than-desired work attitude (23 percent)
• Inability to adapt to the company’s culture (20 percent)

It is clear, as per the findings of the report, that it is time for employers to now focus on hiring for potential and work on creating recruitment strategies that save them the cost of both identifying and replacing bad hires later. 

“Vying for top talent will be an everyday occurrence as companies accelerate in their digital transformation journeys.This includes a sustained demand for professionals with skillsets, such as in tech- related areas, that may not have existed in as little as a decade ago,” said Ling Xiang Lee, Manager of Sales and Marketing, Robert Walters. 

With only one in three (30 percent) respondents believing that a candidate with the right qualifications and experience will eventually show up, the need to hire top talent based on learnability and work attitude and then nutruting them for the required skills seems like the go to strategy for businesses. 

Xiang Lee also recommended, “Candidates who show strong potential may lack some of the job requirements, skillsets, industry knowledge or experience within a role, but demonstrate a positive learning attitude and aptitude, and fits well with your team. By hiring by potential and providing them with the support and training to grow, businesses will find that in the long run, they gain employees who are not only skilled, but also loyal, resourceful and motivated.”

Taking insights from the report, employers must now shift their focus and work on creating recruitment strategies that focus on hiring by potential. Gone are the days when experience was a top priority, businesses today need employees who are willing to learn, can quickly adapt to new work models and resonate well with the company’s vision and culture.