When a person is using their giftedness, they are doing what they love to do, and in fact, are born to do.
We also look at the position through the same lens of motivation. We ask: what natural strengths and motivational factors would be essential for a person to have in order to fully satisfy the employer’s expectations for this position? Hiring is all about expectations. When a board needs to hire a CEO, they have expectations as to what “success” means in the CEO’s role. Whatever it takes to satisfy those expectations are the real motivational requirements of a position.
The greater the overlap between the two, the better the fit. What makes fit ideal is the idea that a position is making optimal use of a person’s strengths and motivation. When the person expends energy to do the job, they get a net gain of energy back, because they love doing that part of the job.
Of course, there can never be a perfect overlap between person and position. There will always be a degree of misfit, indicated by the areas that don’t overlap. Often, a misfit can be the aspects or expectations of the job description that doesn’t match the person. It may not be something they “love” to do, but they are required to do it nonetheless. To handle that part of the job, they expend what we call “can do” energy. A candidate can do those parts of the job, but they will not be motivated to do them. That can lead to a host of problems, so the objective is to minimize the amount of “can-do” energy a candidate has to expend, thereby minimizing misfit.
Given this framework, JobFitMatters helps boards and other decision-makers make great hires, first by clearly defining what their expectations are for the position, then by evaluating the giftedness of prospective candidates against those requirements to ensure good job-fit.
“The research they provided gave us the confidence that the candidates (and ultimately, the person we hired) were a true match for the needs of both the position and the organization. We couldn’t have been more pleased with the quality and the depth of the candidates that they brought to us…far beyond our expectations.”
Neal Joseph, Board Chair of American Leprosy Missions