In an October 1998 speech to the Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Chamber of Commerce, Steve Lauer, author of Now Hiring! Finding and Keeping Good Help for Your Entry Wage Jobs, made a definitive statement concerning the hiring process. He said, simply: "Hire by personality, not by résumé."

A more timely and valuable piece of wisdom couldn’t have been expressed more succinctly…or more forcefully. "Hire by personality, not by résumé." With these six words, Mr. Lauer revealed the key to successful job performance. But what does he mean? And how does a company go about ensuring that it comes up with the right person…for the right job…the first time? Is such a feat even possible?

In my last column, in which I discussed the 6 key elements of performance excellence, I posited that "the less an employee’s personality fits his or her job description, the less chance there is of performance success… and the higher chance there is of inefficiency and turnover." The first challenge every employer faces is hiring the right person for a particular job the first time. But in today’s job market, where the unemployment rate is a mere 1 - 2%, just "finding bodies" can be a challenge of gargantuan proportions.

Over 95% of all the workers employed in today’s job market are capable of being taught job skills. But not everyone has the personality for the position! Many times people accept and keep positions because they’re financially "safe." They hang on even though they hate it and would rather be doing something they enjoy a whole lot more.

Behavioral (personality) mismatches cost American corporations billion upon billions of dollars every year. Burger King, for example, reports that it costs them $1,200 each and every time they turn over counter help! In fact, the average non-exempt employee costs between $3,000 and $5,000, and the average exempt employee costs about $25,000 – $30,000. For every employee you lose by not making sure their behavioral style matches the job description, it costs you about one-third of their salary to recruit a replacement. Unfortunately, far too many companies do not even consider the hidden costs of turnover and poor productivity.

So what is a company to do to beat the turnover epidemic? The following concrete steps are considered the prescriptive "standard," and will help you improve your company’s performance:

1. Complete a thorough background check.

2. Screen for drug use.

3. Perform skills/personality assessments.

4. Check personal and professional references.

5. Make sure the interview process is kept to a high standard and that the same structured process is used for all candidates. Prepare all questions ahead of time and make sure the interview is thorough. Remember…listen, don’t talk!

6. If your organization is using recruiters, make sure they understand the corporate culture, salary ranges of positions, job descriptions, team perspectives, and why a particular position is vacant.

7. Develop resume-reading skills.

More than any other, the one factor you as a leader or manager must learn to incorporate into your management style is how to recognize and foster the behavioral/personality traits needed for the team in general and for the job in particular. Going through the effort of hiring what appears to be the most "qualified" candidate, is really just wasted energy if the person doesn’t have the right behavioral assets the position or corporate culture calls for.

So if you’re looking for answers, there’s good reason to have hope. You can identify the basic behavioral styles in your current and/or potential employees through the use of instruments such as DISC and Myers-Briggs. Training is available through these companies.