Adapt Your Recruitment Methods. Hire For Attitude.

 

And for candidates, maybe it’s time to realize that your soft skills might be what will make or break your chances in an interview.

A Manager Director from a major CAC40 company recently shared an eye-opening fact. Despite having a dedicated team of recruitment experts and agencies to help him spot top talent—and his own strong instincts for assessing people—he admitted: “I get it wrong one out of every two hires.” One out of two. Not exactly what you’d expect from someone at that level, right?

Yet, this statistic has become the norm. Yes, one recruitment mistake out of two is now almost expected—whether it’s for an assistant, an engineer, or a salesperson. And no, it’s not because candidates lack impressive résumés, degrees, or experience. The real issue lies elsewhere.

The hard truth? We keep hiring people for what they can do, but what really matters is who they are.

 

Here’s why

 

→ 40-50% of employees quit within the first 18 months—often before they’ve even figured out how to use the coffee machine

→ Only 10-15% fail due to technical skills. So, even if they’re masters of the latest software, that won’t necessarily save them—or you—from realizing there’s a poor fit

→ 85-90% of hiring failures come down to attitude issues. Poor communication, resistance to learning, lack of emotional intelligence… It’s not about their skills; it’s about their mindset

 

And yet, we keep hiring for technical skills

 

→ We’re still prioritizing degrees, experience, and technical jargon. The result? We hire poorly, manage poorly, and then repeat the cycle

→ But it is possible to hire based on personality—difficult, yes, but doable, even for some technical roles

→ The solution is a shift in perspective: focus on attitude and potential, not just technical expertise

 

Why attitude should be your compass

 

→ Someone hired for their human qualities is far more likely to stick around. Turnover? Reduced. Absenteeism? Lowered

→ As one CEO famously said: “Most companies spend 2% of their time recruiting, and 75% managing the consequences of poor hires.” See the disconnect?

→ You can teach technical skills, but attitude? Not so easy. If a person doesn’t already have the right mindset, you’ll be facing an uphill battle trying to “fix” them or fit them into your culture

In short, hire for attitude or prepare for more headaches down the road. The best approach is to identify essential skills, but put a much greater emphasis on behavior. Call it “hiring for mindset,” “hiring for human qualities,” or “hiring for behavioral fit”—the message is the same.

 

Time to act!

 

If you haven’t already, now is the time to rethink your recruitment strategies. The future of your business depends on it.

And for candidates: it’s time to highlight your soft skills. Seriously.

Evaluate your transferable skills, technical expertise, but most importantly, put your soft skills front and center. In today’s job market, it’s your attitude that will set you apart, not just your technical know-how.

We’ve built a tool to help with exactly this. Maybe it’s time to give it a try?