The Right Fit

 

Right Fit describes the attributes of a person that would make them most suitable to succeed in a role within an organization. There are many factors to be considered in determining the Right Fit, the foundation for which is in our Merit Criteria to be covered in the next section; at the summary level, it includes factors such as: education, experience, knowledge, abilities, personal suitability and should include reliability such as those assessed through criminal, credit, and social media history.

 Right Fit also includes having values and goals that are congruent with the organization. For example, a person who does not believe in the reintegration agenda of today’s correctional services, is most likely not going to fit in with that organization.

 Right Fit must work both ways; not only must the candidate be the Right Fit for the organization, but the organization must be the Right Fit for the individual. If for example the candidate is searching for an environment with room for creativity and growth, an organization who is ridged and has low advancement opportunities will most likely not be a good match.

 The culture of the organization is also a factor which must be considered carefully by both parties. Even a cohesive work unit within an organization with a positive social agenda, can be cursed with poisonous leadership and an abusive environment. You can be assured the most talented will move on at their earliest opportunity; if this is your organization, I strongly encourage you to consider our Forward Looking Guide: Lead by Example.

 The Right Fit is sometimes thought of as the person with the highest overall rating or score in the combination of Merit Criteria areas, but determining the right candidate can be more complicated. In essence, the Right Fit is the person who comes to the table with all of the attributes you need to not only perform the duties, but work well within the team. With this, chemistry is a real factor, and this can be difficult to asses.

 Right Fit must be considered thoroughly by hiring organizations as there is a substantial investment in a selection process, and not acquiring the Right Fit can be catastrophic. You need to consider not only the time and money invested in advertising and administering assessments, but also think about the cost of training a new employee; as existing employees are training a new member, they are not carrying a full load themselves, and neither is the trainee. Furthermore, if you deem the new relationship as not working, regardless of how justified you feel in releasing the individual, you may still incur exit costs.

 To begin the process of determining the Right Fit, we will address the concept of ‘Merit Criteria.’