The Google approach to employee selection
Nov 15th, 2012 by yinyinaung.bettyhuang
Imagine having such a strong brand that you receive over a million job applications annually. What would you do?- By Nathan Chanesman,
Google adopts highly scientific methodology into the recruitment and selection process. Instead of focusing only on academic achievement and past experience, Google also looks for specific personality favorable to an open job position.
Google considers two main question when assessing potential employees during recruitment.
1. Are the candidates attracted to people or tasks?
From: http://summermgmt.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/mcclellands-theory-of-needs/
According to McClelland’s theory of needs, people who seek to have good social relationship with the management team are those who need affiliation. They are best suitable for jobs with social interactions such as marketing and customer relations. And those who focus on tasks have the need for achievement. The article mentions that people attracted to tasks enjoy working with facts and data that does not require social skills.
2. At what speed do they work?
Google determined that people who are outgoing often work at a rapid pace while those conservative work slowly and cautiously.
From the article, it is obvious that workforce planning is time and money consuming. But the right recruitment will save time and money in the long run. Having the right employee will reduce labor turn over rate, improve morale and productivity.
For Google, the key is to select a candidate that does not only have the skills but also the natural talent needed to successfully tackle their jobs.