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There may not be the level of vacationing in the U.S. that there is in Europe in August, but there can be some slow days. Some people take PTO; hiring may slow; and there are fewer conferences and conventions. 

There’s quite a hubbub going on regarding the job cuts at Intuit. If you missed the controversy, the company is laying off 1,800 people, and saying that many of those are being let go for underperformance. 

Retention starts with recruiting: the wrong person hired to do a job is likely to leave fairly quickly, regardless of how hard you try to engage them.

Chances are, you’ve tried multiple levers to cut down on turnover in your call center, warehouse, or other high-volume hiring location. Chances are also decent that those efforts aren’t working. We’ve heard of employers who feel like they have “tried everything” but still have above 100 percent turnover. (For more about reducing turnover in high-volume positions, check out this free guide.)

Hiring takes precious time and resources: Most companies spend an average of 42 days filling a position and another 90 days to onboard. When all is said and done, it can take up to 12 months for new hires to reach their full performance potential, even when given the most thorough training — so it’s no surprise many companies are on a constant quest to hire faster.

Hiring can make or break an organization. A staggering74% of companies say they’ve hired the wrong person for a position — a mistake that can be incredibly costly and time-consuming. According to Harvard Business Review, 80% of turnover is due to bad hiring decisions. 

Every company has its own unique hiring strategy, with some methods working more effectively than others. And while career sites, job boards, and recruiters all have their place in the process, these tools don’t always solve the top challenges of today’s talent acquisition leaders: hiring candidates who lack soft skills, are a poor fit for the role, or change their mind about the job.

Hiring great people is one of the most important and most challenging things we do in our professional lives. The hardest part is often just knowing what to ask applicants to make sure we're getting the right person for the job. We know there are certain attributes the ideal employee will have, but what exactly are they and how do we test for those traits in applicants? And do it in the limited time you have? This pressure often leaves one feeling overwhelmed and even a little frustrated. 

I recently had a conversation with a Talent Acquisition Leader that left me shocked. While talking about how important it is to hire the right person, I sensed an alarming degree of indifference around hiring accuracy altogether. I understand this is not top of mind for everyone, but this was coming from the Director of Talent Acquisition for a Fortune 5,000 company.

Extroversion is one of the most widely talked about personality characteristics of all time. There have been books written about extroversion and introversion, TED Talks have been given, and there are dozens of online tests and opinions about this every present personality characteristic. It might be the most widely talked about personality characteristic because it makes a lot of sense and people can easily self-identify their own level of extroversion.