‘Good Hires’ Are Hard to Find in Canadian IT Departments

A company is only as good as its employees, and if they don’t have the proper skills to do their job, business becomes much more complicated. According to new research, a vast majority of Canadian corporate hiring managers in the technology sector said they are having trouble making “the right hire,” specifically finding employees who have the skillset required for the position.

During an online survey by job search service Robert Half Technology, 270 senior managers in Canada shared their thoughts on hiring for their respective IT departments, 93% admitting to making a bad hire. The top three reasons for bad hires, ranked most to least common, included unsuitable corporate culture fit, inadequate skills and interpersonal issues. Hiring managers said the hardest part of the job interview was evaluating candidates’ technical skills.

“Not only do they cost organizations time and money, inadequate hires also impact overall productivity and morale, especially if the rest of the team is picking up the slack,” Robert Half Technology District Director Deborah Bottineau said in the study. “Strong candidates are easier to identify when you have a clear understanding of your organization’s values and needs.”

Hiring managers recommended recruiters be crystal clear about the open position by providing potential hires with as much information about the job as possible. In addition to conducting a technical assessment to better understand the individual’s capabilities, they also suggested getting other departments involved in the hiring process and even taking the employee on a trial run before making the hire official.

NACM Economist Chris Kuehl, Ph.D., said many industries are in a tough spot in regards to hiring because a lot of available workers aren’t equipped with the necessary job skills.

“The bulk of hiring now has been some form of poaching, where companies are recruiting from other companies,” Kuehl said. “There are also more people electing to just quit their current job in search for something new. The overall sense of the situation is stability.”

Andrew Michaels, editorial associate

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