If you were with us yesterday then you’ll remember that when tasked with picking the best, most elite, representation of a team the consensus at eQ was the Navy SEALs. What better image evokes feelings of resolve, determination, teamwork, problem solving, and overcoming all obstacles than the SEALs?
To select your elite talent, you have to start with a better plan. You need to start benchmarking.
Don’t you think the SEALs know what the ‘job’ looks like; what the key accountabilities are? Don’t you think they know what ‘good’ is for their organization? Don’t you think they know how to measure high performance after thousands of missions? The SEALs let the job talk! Over decades of battle tested engagements, the SEALs identify an ideal candidate. They benchmarked it after every mission. What worked and why? Who worked and why? And we should shape our training and selection process to then measure the talent against it.
Recent data reveals that benchmarking and assessments can lead to 92% retention of new hires. Nonetheless, we know that organizations are scared to make a bad hire because of the economic impact of a bad hire. We also know that the job description is dead as an effective means of framing the position and what it requires. Bill Bonnstetter, founder of Target Training International and leading thinker on the talent landscape, states that job benchmarking will secure the talent necessary for success while eliminating common biases often associated with the hiring process.
An accurate job benchmarking process is a unique and effective solution because it benchmarks a specific job, not the person in the job. To do this, Bonnstetter suggests that we let the job talk through an interactive process and job assessment. Bonnstetter believes that when job benchmarking is implemented properly, it will have a direct effect on your business’ bottom line. You will not only attract the best candidates but you will save time and money by hiring the right people the first time and reducing the learning curve with new employees who are strategically matched to fit your company.
As you can see, benchmarking is key! Return tomorrow for Part III of our eQ blog series on elite talent to discover what is 'good' when it comes to benchmarking.
