Companies are struggling to find Talent and Jobseekers are struggling to find suitable jobs
Talent shortage is an increasing challenge for many companies. And ensuring there is a good fit between potential employee and the job role becomes critical. However, there appears to be a growing gap in expectations between hirers and jobseekers. In fact, many companies are experiencing “few or no qualified applicants” for the positions needing to be filled. This situation is largely created by VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity).
On one hand, job roles are no longer clear cut. Employees often find themselves involved in cross-functional projects or even needing to take on certain responsibilities traditionally outside of their job scopes. Jobs requiring primarily technical skillsets, i.e., with low need for soft skill, are also
quickly being phased out by robotics. What this means for recruiters is that it is no longer sufficient to hire based on the list of skillsets in the resumes. The hiring process needs to filter out applicants who have working traits that are aligned with that required of the role.
Also, there is often no certainty on whether a recruit is well suited for the day-to-day management of VUCA in the role. The norm for a role in one company may easily overwhelm someone holding a similar role in another company. By the time the suitability is established, a significant amount of time and resources would have been wasted.
On the other hand, jobseekers find themselves in a bargaining position. Salary and other benefit packages are no longer the only deciding factor. An employer’s brand and the overall candidate experience also play a significant part in jobseekers’ application and subsequent acceptance of a job.
Beyond recruitment and work competency, work relationships have also changed. It’s no longer just about getting the job done, but also how people come together to get the work done. In an ideal scenario, everyone has the flexibility and maturity to adjust and adapt with each other. In reality, sometimes the lack of flexibility to adapt, sometimes the lack of awareness can affect the overall work efficiency of the team.
What’s the LAB Profile®?
The LAB Profile® was developed by Rodger Bailey, based off the work of Noam Chomsky—a renowned linguist and cognitive scientist. It is a set of 14 questions which form the basis of a profile interview conducted by a practitioner. The LAB Profile® allows one to recognize a person’s preferred communication and behavioural patterns in a given context. With the profile, it then allows one to predict behavioural patterns and better create buy-in. The 14 traits can also be seen as inherent capacities in people; and when people are aware of what they are — can start to consciously develop them to gain more flexibility and finesse to respond to VUCA situations. It has been widely used in hiring with a high success rate of retention; in creating high performance teams by working in accordance with their preferred working styles; increasing self-knowledge especially for career and professional coaching.
When Hiring: Streamlining the hiring process for a higher retention rate
From writing the job advertisement, to offering the role to an applicant, the LAB Profile can be built seamlessly into the recruitment process. It allows organizations to suss out the invisible patterns of applicants even from the moment they send in their applications. By matching the LAB Profiles of applicants to that of the job role, it allows a high accuracy in hiring the right candidate. The profiling can be done in as short as 20minutes, and the interviewer is able to stay objective by staying focused on the LAB Profile patterns. Personal preferences of the interviewer become a lesser concern. Most importantly, there are no costs for profiling. All these adds up to lower costs and lesser lead time to filling a role. All these while ensuring hiring a good fit.
When working towards a Role: identifying and expanding personal range to meet expectations
For jobseekers, or even individuals aiming for that promotion, the LAB Profile can be put to use for preparing them for the role. Through job descriptions or speaking with people currently doing well in the role, one can pick out the skillsets required. More importantly, with the LAB Profile, it allows one to pick out the “hidden” traits that will make them good for the role. Through conscious development or working with a coach, one can then work on expanding their own personal range so they will meet or even exceed the expectations of the role when the opportunity arises.
When working within a team: understanding and speaking to team members’ preferences
Sometimes in a team, simply being aligned in wanting to achieve the team or organization’s goal may not ensure people will work well together. In fact, you can have motivated individuals who often get frustrated with each other; all while working towards the same outcome. A LAB Profile Practitioner is able to tune into the patterns driving the way others think and communicate, simply by paying attention to their language and behavioural patterns. Then by adjusting their own language to “speak others’ Language”, the Practitioner quickly builds a connection. Also, a Practitioner who has an expanded range of working traits can also consciously choose to make slight adjustments when working with different profiles. Imagine the potential increase in team efficiency and dynamics!