What do you look for in a truly great candidate, an A-level player who could conceivably have a huge impact on your company and it’s bottom line?
An impressive and multi-faceted skill set? Extensive experience? Credentials, certifications, and awards? A proven track record of success? Tangible evidence of the value that the candidate has brought to their current and previous employers?
Sure, all of those things should be considered when contemplating your next hire. However, what about . . . attitude?
Does that factor into your company’s decision-making process? If it is a factor, how much of one is it?
You’ve heard the expression before, probably countless times: “Attitude is everything.” As it turns out, that expression is very much true in the world of hiring and employment. Here’s an example.
Leadership training consultant Mark Murphy recently tracked 20,000 new hires that were made at Fortune 500 companies. His findings: almost 50% of them failed within the first 18 months, a staggering percentage. According to Murphy, 89% of those who failed did so because of what he described as “attitudinal reasons.”
These are some of the most successful, sought-after companies in the world. They pride themselves on hiring the best people available—and nearly 50% of the time, their hires failed because they underestimated the critical role of attitude.
With that in mind, below are two BIG reasons why attitude is important to your company:
- Hiring the best candidates—No matter their skill set, experience, or proven track record of success, the wrong attitude can offset all of it. The best candidates have the best attitudes.
- Retaining the best employees—As Murphy’s study illustrated, candidates will fail (i.e., leave the company) without the proper attitude. If you don’t hire the best candidates, they don’t turn into the best employees, and therefore, not only can’t you retain them, you don’t want to retain them.
Hiring the best candidates and retaining the best employees are two things that every company wants to do, Fortune 500 companies included. That’s why there’s no denying how important attitude really is.