Pleasant Prairie, Wis. - September 27, 2006 - Meeting an employee´s personal
needs is more critical to job satisfaction than ever, according to a
nationwide survey of recruiting professionals conducted by eBullpen,
creators of the TalentPen candidate collection and matching system. The
survey, released today, shows that worker loyalty is more precarious than
ever -- 46 percent of new hires leave their jobs within the first year, and
only 49 percent remain after two years. A whitepaper summarizing the survey
findings is available for download at
http://www.talentpen.com/read_the_whitepapers.html.
"It´s never seemed more daunting to recruit and maintain a committed,
content workforce," the paper says. "Baby Boomers are now facing
tiered-retirement schemes, as employers face a dearth of skilled workers. In
this ´buyer´s market,´ younger skilled workers can pick and choose their job
options and loyalty isn´t high."
While 75 percent of respondents named quality of hire and retention as the
two most important HR metrics, 59 percent of those surveyed believe that
less than half of all candidates interviewed are qualified. Additionally,
more than half of the respondents marked personality as critical for a good
hire. Yet more than 80 percent are spending their money on standard criminal
and/or reference background checks, while significantly less measure
personality fit.
"It´s no longer enough to find a candidate who is qualified for a position,"
explains Michael Sproul, president of TalentPen. "Many other factors play
into the overall success of a hire; companies need to connect with a
candidate as an individual before expecting them to give back. In a sense,
retention begins before the hire."
The whitepaper offers suggestions to employers, including the development of
"talent pools" and active communication with prospects. Personality
assessments are also cited as key measurements for how an employee fits a
company´s culture, which directly impacts their loyalty. Employers who don´t
follow this advice will pay a high price, reports the paper. Conservative
industry estimates put the cost of turnover at 1.5 times that of salary,
with some companies reporting a six-fold expenditure above salary when
hidden costs such as "chain reaction" turnover and lost productivity are
factored in.
Most recruiting professionals who responded to the survey were from
companies with between 100-1,000 employees. More than a quarter of these
respondents were from service companies; other industries represented
include healthcare, manufacturing, education, and financial services.
TalentPen, a web-based candidate collection and matching system, measures
candidates´ personalities, job preferences and qualifications, then collects
them into private talent pools and matches them to employers with
appropriate cultures. Candidates don´t apply for a specific job, but instead
complete personality profiles and are placed into expandable talent
networks.
The same personality methods used by TalentPen were recently featured in
Inc. magazine´s August issue. "The New Science of Hiring," a cover article,
compared modern scientific hiring options to older hit-and-miss tactics.
Writer Stephanie Clifford wrote that personality fit cannot be determined by
traditional job interviews.
About eBullpen, LLC
Based in Pleasant Prairie, WI, eBullpen, LLC helps employers and job seekers
alike find better employment matches by putting personality matching up
front in the candidate sourcing process. eBullpen created the TalentPen
candidate collection and matching system to give employers an edge in talent
acquisition and the tools for improving the hire - not just the hiring
process. TalentPen allows employers to incorporate eBullpen´s proven
assessment techniques and technologies into their existing career site or
ATS. With either system, the end result is a streamlined hiring process and
a faster placement of qualified candidates who fit a company´s culture.
For more information, visit www.talentpen.com.