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So, That Candidate Seems The Right Fit For The Job. But Is The Job Right For Him/Her?

So, That Candidate Seems The Right Fit For The Job. But Is The Job Right For Him/Her?
by Heather R. Huhman

The flip side of employee "fit" -- knowing the job is right for the new hire -- gets overlooked more frequently than most would like to admit.

Finally. The long-awaited perfect candidate’s application just popped up in your inbox.

The resume is pristine; each experience listed ties in neatly with the job description; and this person seems to have the personality to match. You'd be crazy to think that he or she is anything but the best option for this position -- right?

Nope, not according to Nicole Wipp, CEO of Wipp Enterprises, an entrepreneur and small business solution consultancy headquartered in Detroit. After only months into making what she thought was the perfect hire for one particular job, Wipp realized that the new employee was showing ed signs of low morale.

“This woman started out strong; her work was amazing. The rest of the team and clients loved her,” the CEO told me in an email. “But, over time, I started noticing a change. She was no longer as enthusiastic, and while she was still friendly, her demeanor toward team members and clients was cool, instead of warm and welcoming like it had been before.”

Wipp took the employee aside and quickly realized that the highly structured position she was in was making her miserable.

“The reality was, she couldn't do that kind of work day in and day out. It ground her down, eroded her mental and emotional energy and burned her out,” Wipp continued. With this realization, she said, she uncovered the fact that even though the employee was well equipped to do the job, it simply wasn’t a healthy fit for her.

The flip side of employee fit, therefore -- knowing the job is a right fit for employees -- gets overlooked more frequently than most would like to admit.

Maybe it's time for your company to start looking at employee fit from a 360- degree view:

Be confident in what makes a good fit.

Confident entrepreneurs have a natural knack for keeping their eyes on the prize. However, when this determination meets the recruiting function, it’s easy to get wrapped up in quality talent and forget what type of employee excels on the team.

Amy Perrone, founder of Create Your Destiny in Beverly Hills, Calif., experienced the detrimental effects of this type of hiring first-hand. She remembers looking for a job and subsequently taking a stockbroker job because it seemed like an offer one shouldn’t refuse. But, then, the realization struck: Success in a career doesn’t always equate to the right fit.

“Once I learned how to do the job, I was bored," Perrone shared. "Looking back, it's clear that it was a bad fit. I need variety, and it was essentially doing the same thing over and over.”

Read full article on Entrepreneur.