Why You Need to Assess Your Team's Skill Sets Before Posting a Job

Many employers post a job listing without thoroughly evaluating their team. This can lead to skill overlap, job redundancy, and stagnation.

To get the most out of the hiring process, analyze your team’s abilities before posting a job. Here are the benefits of taking this approach.

You Can Accurately Identify Skill Gaps

Your main goal is to fill a void and hire someone who can balance out your team. To do that, you must understand what’s missing. Assessing your team’s weaknesses can give you insight into what you should seek. Then you’ll be able to tailor the job description according to specific needs. This approach will increase your chances of attracting a qualified candidate.   

For example, if your team is already full of people with technical expertise, but lack problem-solving skills, you’ll know you need to hire someone who has strong critical-thinking capabilities. You can emphasize this in your listing. 

You Can Save Time and Resources

Recruiting takes time and money. You want to be as efficient as possible. If you assess your team’s needs beforehand, you can focus your search, and the process will go much faster and be more productive. You’ll be able to write a job description that details what you need. In turn, this will attract more qualified candidates.

You Can Improve Employee Development

You may find that you don’t need to hire someone new. If you assess your team’s skill set, you might identify opportunities to train your current employees to fit the positions you need to fill the gap. This approach will help with morale and retention. 

You Can Improve Team Cohesion

You want to hire someone who will fit in well. If you take the time to assess the personalities on your team, you will know which traits to look for to ensure the new candidate fits into the culture. 

For example, If most of the people in your company have a laid-back, calm demeanor, you might lean more toward a candidate with the same personality type. On the other hand, if your team is more energetic and eccentric, you might look for someone with those traits. 

You can list these traits as things you’re looking for in your job listing. 

You Can Align With Long-Term Goals

Each person you hire contributes to the company's future, not just immediate needs. When you assess your team’s skill sets, you get an idea of who you have, and who you need to progress further.

For example, If your company is trying to reach a new market, you’ll need someone with substantial marketing experience. Skill assessments can reveal whether anyone on your team has these abilities, or if you need to hire someone who does. You can confidently craft your job posting, knowing what you need. 

You Can Stay Competitive

New methods are being developed. Technology is progressing every day. More skills will be needed. To stay ahead of the game, you’ll need to perform regular skill assessments to clearly understand which skills you need to stay relevant in the market.

For example, artificial intelligence is booming in the business world. If your company can benefit from AI, you’ll need someone who can use its programs. Skill assessments could help you identify who would be suitable for the job. And if you need to hire out, you’ll know what you’re looking for to keep up with the market and your competitors. 

Understand Your Team to be Successful 

You must understand your team’s strengths and weaknesses to get a well-rounded perspective of how you can support them. Take the time and trust the process, you’ll reap the reward of an efficient hiring process.