Many organisations, eager to fill a vacancy quickly, make the mistake of recruiting with an exclusive focus on technical skills (hard skills) and past experience, neglecting a thorough assessment of behavioural skills (soft skills) and, crucially, the candidate's alignment with the company's values.
This mistake is not just a selection problem: it is a strategic disinvestment that can lead to higher staff turnover, demotivated teams and the erosion of the company's organisational culture.
The Paradox of Hiring for Technical Skills
In our experience of restructuring and change management, we see the same scenario again and again:
A candidate is hired because they are the ‘best specialist’ on the market. They know software X inside out, have 10 years' experience in role Y and prestigious qualifications. Yet they cannot work in a team, struggle to handle conflict, or are completely at odds with the company's culture of innovation and agility.
The result?
- Low productivity: Interpersonal conflict and resistance to the culture often cancel out the value of their technical excellence.
- Negative contagion: A technically brilliant professional who is out of step with the team's values can undermine morale and cohesion.
- Hidden turnover costs: The cost of replacing this person, plus the cost of poor performance while they stay, can far outweigh the urgency of hiring quickly.
The Strategic Solution: Recruiting on the Three Pillars of Alignment
An effective recruitment process should be designed to assess three equally important pillars. It is not just about finding the person who can do the job, but the person who can thrive: who wants to do the job and fits well into the company's environment.
- Technical competence (hard skills): the role-specific ‘know-how’, such as programming in Python or financial analysis. Essential for operational performance.
- Growth potential (soft skills): the ‘how’ — communication, leadership, problem-solving, learning agility. It shapes the ability to thrive through change and to progress in a career.
- Alignment with values: the ‘why’ — the fit between the company's values, mission and vision and the candidate's attitudes, assessed against criteria defined up front. It helps prevent departures through mismatch and strengthens the organisation's identity.
Our experience shows that the job description should be the starting point for this alignment, setting out not only the tasks but also the critical behavioural skills and the organisational values needed to succeed in the role.
Steps to Avoid this Mistake
For truly strategic recruitment, Alua Com Paixão recommends the following adjustments, building the employee experience in from the very first contact:
- Define behavioural profiles: Include in the vacancy profile (job description) the 3 to 5 soft skills essential for success in the team and the role.
- Behavioural interviews (STAR): Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to ask for concrete examples of how the candidate acted in past situations, revealing their soft skills under pressure or when working with others. Asking every candidate the same questions makes the comparison fairer: structured interviews are among the best predictors of job performance (Sackett et al., 2022, Journal of Applied Psychology).
- Values assessment: Include specific questions about the company's values, with criteria defined up front. For example, if innovation is a value, ask: ‘Describe a situation in which you challenged the status quo to improve a process.’
- Cross-functional involvement: Let potential future teammates take part in the interview (focusing on alignment with values), rather than leaving the decision solely to the line manager.
Recruiting is an investment in the company's culture and future. By widening the focus from technical competence to include alignment with values and soft skills, you will be investing not just in an employee for today, but in an ambassador and a driver of growth for your organisation's future.
