Ability

So you have figured out job specifications. Next step is to figure what is trainable and what do you hire for.

 

So how exactly do you figure out what is trainable and what is not?

 

I had touched upon this aspect in a previous post titled ‘Ideal Job Specification’.

 

Most capabilities are trainable given adequate time, effort, and cost.   Capability of a person is defined in terms of Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

 

Knowledge is easiest to pick up and possibly easiest to forget.

 

Skill is more difficult to pick up and more difficult to forget (e.g. – do you forget how to cycle or swim even if you have not cycled or swam for a long time).

 

Ability is most difficult to pick up and most difficult to lose/forget.

 

If you are have a constrained recruitment budget, then you might want to hire a candidate with high ability – who can make up for gaps in knowledge and skills with a focussed onboarding program.

 

So when ‘cost-constrained’, think ability!

 

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Sourav

 

Ideal Job Specification

Once you have decided that you need to hire for a role, the next steps are to create a:

·        job description (what are outcomes and processes in role), and

·        job specification (what knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) are you seeking in a job incumbent).

But a job specification doesn't end with only listing out what KSAs you are seeking in a job incumbent.

 

As HR Recruiter or Hiring Manager, take into consideration following factors:

·        Most things are teachable and learnable given adequate time, effort and cost. But different organizations have different capacities/appetite for time, effort, and cost. Hence what is trainable and what is non-trainable is an organization specific decision.

o   Ability is most difficult to teach and learn, followed by skill and then knowledge.

·        Ask yourself 'What is trainable/non-trainable for this role?".

o   List out Non-trainable K,S, and As. These should be criterion against which you will make a hire/no-hire decision for a candidate

What is advantage of following a procedure like this?

By following above mentioned procedure, you increase size of candidate pool you are looking at. Hence possibility of hiring a candidate at an 'affordable' compensation increases.

 

You may also want to keep the following in mind when formulating job specification:

·        If you are being particular about an educational qualification and that is causing you difficulties in hiring - ask yourself 'Is this qualification really required? Can someone who has relevant work experience but not this educational qualification perform this job effectively?

·        If you are being particular about a certain type of work experience and that is causing you difficulties in hiring - ask yourself 'Can someone with high learnability but having a different kind of work experience/no work-experience do this job with an accelerated induction program?;

These are some tips to ensure that you are hiring a candidate at an 'affordable' compensation.

 

Your next question might be - so how do we ensure high performance? Well! I will post about this soon.

 

-

Sourav