Hiring for Organizational Fit Vs. Hiring for Task

During the recruitment and selection efforts of organizations, the human resources (HR) department hires for task, hires for organizational fit, or a combination of both. There are differences between the two. However, hiring for organizational fit seems to be the more difficult option. Utilizing a combination of both options is the best choice for companies and utilizing the STAR method is a great way to select new hires.

Hiring for task involves the HR department selecting individuals based on experience. The selected individuals may have years of experience in whatever the tasks the job entails. The problem with hiring solely for task is that people are "weighed down by the baggage they bring in" (Hiring, 2008). This baggage comes in the form of the collection of customs and experiences that mold the employees' reaction to their jobs as much as, if not more than, the industry and job-related skills and knowledge they bring to the job. An insurance company hired a gifted and highly experienced claims adjustor from a competitor. Although the new employer offered excellent insurance with a strong focus on customer service, the claims adjustor came from an organization that was more concerned with keeping costs at a minimum. Therefore, the claims adjustor could not keep himself from "nickel and diming" customers on their claims, regardless of the fact that the behavior was in drastic conflict with the company's planned course and culture (Hiring, 2008).

Hiring for organizational fit, on the other hand, involves selecting applicants based on their adaptability and fit to the company's culture. This is difficult for a lot of companies because this may result in hiring less experienced and qualified people for the vacant positions. However, if the company has a formidable culture and a understandable approach in carrying out tasks that are different from their competitor, then they might want to cautiously consider whether they wish to hire for task or whether they wish to hire people with a smaller amount of experience and invest additionally in training the new hires in their model. If the organization's competitive advantage is the culture of the organization, then they want to be cautious about hiring those with a lengthy term in their profession or industry and consider how that previous experience will bring positives plus negatives to the organization (Hiring, 2008).

It is possible for an organization to utilize a method where hiring for task and hiring for organizational fit can both be satisfied, which is behavioral interviewing. The fundamental idea of behavioral interviewing is that it has the highest accuracy in predicting the future performance by examining past performance in a comparable scenario. It concentrates on experiences, behaviors, knowledge, skills, and abilities that are related to the vacant position. The STAR Method is an example of behavioral interviewing where the candidate is asked to provide an instance of a situation he/she was engaged in that a positive outcome was the end result, explain the tasks included in that situation, discuss the assortment of actions included in the situation's task, and express the direct results that were due to the actions taken (STAR Method, 2008).

Chevron Corporation is an example of an organization that has successfully utilized behavioral interviewing to fill vacant positions. This has allowed them to not only match up skills and experience based on using the STAR method, but they have been able to assess the behaviors and cultures of individuals with regards to safety, integrity, team work, etc based on their responses to the situational analyses presented by the STAR method. The success of this method can be seen in that the majority of the people are highly skilled and intelligent and possess the behaviors and cultures which align with what is known as the Chevron Way. The Chevron Way values integrity, trust, diversity, ingenuity, partnership, protecting people and the environment, and high performance (The Chevron way, 2009). In fact, it is even recommended that when someone is in the interviewing process that they incorporate these values into their STAR method responses.

In conclusion, it would be a great step in the right direction for a company to consider looking to hire for task and for organizational fit through behavioral interviewing. The STAR method would be the recommended method for accomplishing this. Chevron Corporation is successful because of the people who keep the wheels of the company turning, and those very people were hired utilizing behavior interviewing via the STAR method.

References

Hiring from outside the company: How new people can bring unexpected problems. (2008, September 3). Retrieved October 21, 2009, from http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2041#

STAR method. (2008, September 16). Retrieved October 21, 2009, from http://web.mit.edu/career/www/guide/star.html

The Chevron way. (2009). Retrieved October 21, 2009, from http://www.chevron.com/about/chevronway/