Revealing Adaptability Quotient (AQ) in recruitment and creating a culture of change
Many new graduates are in the job market today. This column is useful for new employees and also for companies looking for candidates who are worth hiring. If you can’t adapt, you’re not a good fit, so don’t waste your time applying.
The growing importance of adaptability in today’s workplaces
Teachers today have the enormous task of preparing students for the current and future workplace. Many of today’s school students will have jobs in the coming years that do not yet exist according to history. If teachers don’t yet know what those jobs will be, how can students prepare for them? I think the answer is that we really don’t know, so teachers must teach them to learn the skill of adaptation.
Workplaces want employees with the ability to learn and a level of comfort with change. Today’s skills have a short shelf life, especially in technology roles. Therefore, people will have to be lifelong learners and adapt to change.
Assessment of adaptability: improving the recruitment process
Along these lines comes adaptation quotient, or AQ, the adaptability of individuals. Combined with intelligence quotient (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ), AQ has a place in hiring.
If you can integrate AQ into the selection process of potential employees, it will improve the effectiveness of your team.
How do you assess adaptability to influence your workforce?
Discussing adaptability by asking candidates about their past work history helps illustrate how they were able to adapt in previous roles.
Ask questions using practical scenarios and random interview exercises. Involve your hiring managers in the process with questions and see how they answer the questions. This style of questioning allows you to hear how well someone is adjusting. Randomness is the key to this process. Adaptability is the opposite of predictability, so random exercises can prevent people from preparing for a test in advance.
Valid behavioral assessments and interviews: effective tools
A combination of valid assessments and behavioral interviews are effective tools.
Hiring managers need to understand the position for which they are recruiting and what it requires; Not all jobs will need the people performing them to be adaptable. Use assessment tools that have proven research and validity in measuring certain traits.
The influence of adaptive leadership on organizational change
For leadership skills, behavioral interview questions help assess adaptability. Ask for specific situations where the candidate faced a challenge, how they responded to it, and the outcome. If they shift and show resourcefulness, then there’s a good chance they’ll do the same in the future. Most find that one of the best predictors of future behavior is their past behavior.
The ability of business leaders to adapt sets the tone for the transformation of society as a book”What got you here won’t get you there‘, by Marshall Goldsmith a researcher for the reader. Companies with agile leaders have a greater ability for their organization to adapt to market forces and ultimately perform better as they create a culture of change when change is better.
The need for companies to adapt: joining and employment practices
While people need to adapt and learn new skills to remain marketable in the workforce, companies must also change.
With a tight labor market, companies often have to reach out to recruit new employees from outside their industry and thus change their onboarding and hiring practices. Hiring managers need training on how to find these non-traditional candidates, and internal leaders must change their expectations of staff. People from diverse backgrounds may bring with them new ways of thinking that managers can find intimidating or abrasive, especially in a company that resists change.
The danger of a low amount of adaptation in company cultures
When companies have a non-adaptive culture, there is a danger of hiring those who have low adaptability and yes, they will fit the culture of that organization, but the organization may die a slow death.
If you are looking for a good assessment tool, I would be happy to share with you some that we think are the most effective for understanding a person’s adaptability.
The benefit sets the expectations for new hires. If you would like more information on successful onboarding, simply request a free article and I will be happy to share it with you.
Embrace adaptability for success in a dynamic future workforce
For more information check out AQ out: 4 steps to develop your adaptability.
