A look at current trends and data
Article Type: Research and results From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 13, Issue 1
Story 1
Cultural fit an important recruitment metric
A survey carried out by assessment and development consultancy, Cubiks, shows that cultural fit is believed to be an important assessment criterion within the recruitment process. Yet, only a third of respondents organizations measure the cultural fit of new recruits. The international survey on job and cultural fit was completed by around 500 people from 54 countries.
According to Cubiks, the results from the survey indicate that employers find cultural fit harder to define and measure than job fit, perhaps because it is less tangible. This is evidenced by the fact that 84 per cent of respondents said their organization uses clearly defined job descriptions, but only 54 per cent have clear definitions of their culture. Without defining an organizations culture, it is almost impossible to assess accurately and consistently the cultural fit of potential employees.
Following is a summary of the key findings:
In total, 59 percent of recruiters have rejected an applicant based on cultural fit. A large proportion of respondents organizations have no definition of their culture or robust cultural fit assessments. The majority of respondents said that face-to-face interviews were the main method used by their organization to measure cultural fit. This suggests that in a significant number of organizations, interviewers may be assessing cultural fit without using a standard definition, instead applying their own interpretation of the organizations culture. It is surprising therefore that over half of respondents said they have rejected candidates based on cultural fit.
Over 75 percent of people say it is easier to develop job fit than cultural fit. Over three quarters of respondents said that it is easier to develop people with a lack of job fit than to develop people with a lack of cultural fit; and 57 percent of respondents said that job fit could often be developed, compared with 26 percent who said the same for cultural fit. This implies that recruiters may be inclined to favor candidates who demonstrate a good fit with the organizations culture, as shortcomings in terms of job fit can be developed.
Recruiters feel they could benefit from more effective assessment tools. In terms of the methods used to measure job and cultural fit, the survey results showed a discrepancy between the tools most used and those perceived as most useful. For evaluating job fit there was consensus between the use and usefulness of face-to-face interviews. However, trial days and simulation exercises were deemed very useful yet did not appear in the top most used methods. For cultural fit, respondents again agreed that face-to-face interviews are the most used and most useful assessment tool, but they indicated that although they are not often applied, cultural fit questionnaires are perceived as a valuable tool. According to Cubiks, this suggests that there is a level of dissatisfaction among recruiters with their current assessment approaches, as they feel there are methods that may be more beneficial than those they are using.
For more information a full, in-depth report of the results is available at: http://www.cubiks.com/survey
Story 2
Performance related pay growing in popularity
Findings on the subject of Workplace Performance, from the Kelly Global Workforce Index, suggest that employees are now more willing to accept some element of risk in their salary in return for the opportunity to meet benchmarks that will trigger performance bonuses. Approximately 122,000 people across the Americas, EMEA and APAC regions responded to this annual global survey. The company says this trend reflects growing recognition that businesses and employees perform best when their interests are aligned, including through incentive-based pay.
Differences across geographies and generations
Almost half of all workers worldwide agree that they would perform better if their pay was linked to performance and productivity, yet less than half are rewarded in this way. The highest incidence of performance linked pay is in the fast growing economies of the APAC region, while developed countries such as Denmark and Sweden have low take up.
The highest rates of performance-based pay are recorded by respondents in China (75 per cent), Russia (70 per cent), Poland (55 per cent), Netherlands (48 per cent), Belgium (45 per cent), Germany (43 per cent), and Switzerland (40 per cent). Rates in other countries are Hungary (38 per cent), France, Luxembourg and Portugal (all 36 per cent), Italy (35 per cent), Norway (32 per cent), Ireland (26 per cent), Sweden (24 per cent) and Denmark (21 per cent).
Other findings from the survey include the following:
Significantly more employees among Generation X (48 percent) and Generation Y (45 percent) employees receive variable pay, compared to Baby Boomers (36 percent).
Looking at skillsets, performance pay dominates in a few key markets, such as Sales (76 percent), Marketing (56 percent), IT (52 percent) and Engineering (51 percent).
When asked to choose between pay for overtime worked, and pay for performance, globally more than half (57 percent) would choose pay for performance.
For more information visit http://www.kellyocg.com/Knowledge/Kelly_Global_Workforce_Index/Workplace_Performance
Story 3
International relocation activity on the rise
Almost half of multinational companies (48 per cent) expect their international relocation activity for 2013 to have been higher than 2012 levels; 40 per cent say they expect international assignment levels to remain the same and only 12 per cent expect international relocation activity to have decreased in 2013.
This is according to the 2013 Trends in Global Relocation: Talent Management and the Changing Assignee Profile survey from Cartus Corporation. According to Cartus, this finding is a sign of cautious optimism over global business prospects. The survey included responses from 142 international mobility managers whose companies represent a combined base of more than 6.6 million global employees.
The survey also found that 82 per cent of companies believe an international assignment will have a positive impact on an executives career (up 30 percentage points in just four years). However, Cartus executives point out that a gender gap still exists: just 21 per cent of such transferees are women.
Other key trends include the following:
Younger employees show strong interest in taking global international assignments. When asked which employees were most interested in taking international relocation assignments, 62 percent of respondents felt younger employees showed the highest interest, compared to only 12 percent who felt that older (Gen X and Baby Boomers) showed that same interest level.
The three top reasons employees accept international assignments are: personal career development (85 percent), the perception that the assignment being considered is necessary for advancement (70 percent), and attractive compensation (34 percent).
The most popular destinations where employees want to be transferred are the USA and the UK, with India and China the least popular.
Over half of respondents (58 percent) reported having sequential assignments – employees who move from one country to another on assignment – with most (45 percent) having “a few and 13 percent having “many. Respondents pointed to tax treatment and pension portability as the most common issues associated with these assignment types.
Companies are focusing on assignment planning and preparation in order to link talent and global mobility and to increase the value of international assignments.
For more information visit http://guidance.cartusrelocation.com/research-and-trends.html
Story 4
Confidentiality key to coaching relationship
The 2013 Organizational Coaching Study reveals that coaching decision makers within organizations place a high value on ethical practice, with confidentiality a top priority. The study was undertaken by the International Coach Federation in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and included in-depth interviews with individuals responsible for making decisions about coaching within their organization.
Confidentiality is seen as a key issue in all coaching relationships and was discussed by all of the respondents interviewed. It is something that coaches take very seriously and the importance of this was stressed throughout many of the interviews. Most respondents said that a confidentiality agreement is put in place at the outset of a coaching relationship.
Other findings include the following:
Coaching tended to evolve in organizations over time rather than as a response to a specific event. It has been utilized as an effective response to issues including leadership development, succession planning and executive “burn-out.
When asked about internal versus external coaching, internal coaches were felt to have an inherent knowledge and understanding of the company culture, and were recognized as generally being a “free resource to the organization.
External coaches were thought to be 100 percent focused as this is their main and only job and therefore to be specialized in coaching. They were also felt to be totally independent, which was considered one of the main benefits of using an external coach. Many external coaches were felt to have experience with “leadership, which internal coaches did not.
More often than not, it tends to be very senior level executives who are coached, and in most organizations they will have an external coach.
For more information visit http://coachfederation.org/orgstudy
Sara Nolan
