When hiring a new employee, the same question often comes up: do you choose someone with the right skills, or do you go for someone with the right attitude? It's a question that concerns many employers.
After all, what is really more important: someone who can get started right away or someone who may need some time, but is super motivated and fits well with the team?
In this article we explain it step by step, give examples, and find out how you can find the right balance as an organization. And of course: how Meta Career can help you do that.
Skills are things you can measure. Think of:
Imagine this: you have a busy marketing team that needs someone who can work with Adobe Photoshop right away. Someone who has been doing it for years can probably start right away. That's handy.
Skills advantages:
But.
There are also pitfalls. Someone may be very good on paper, but not fit in with the team in practice. Maybe they prefer to work alone, while your company relies on cooperation. Or maybe the person is not open to new ideas or changes.
Did you know ... skills age? What you learned five years ago is already obsolete in some industries. According to the World Economic Forum, by 2027, as many as 44% of the skills people use at work will have changed significantly or will need to be replaced.
Attitude is about how a person does things. Is someone eager to learn? Does someone work well together? Does the person feel like growing?
Someone with the right attitude might say:
"I have no experience with that program yet, but I'm super motivated to learn it. Give me a week and I'll have it mastered."
Benefits of attitude:
The downside? It can take a while for someone to really get up to speed. So you have to invest in coaching and training. But often that investment pays off handsomely.
An example:
Two candidates apply.
Who do you choose?
More and more companies choose candidate B. Because motivation is hard to learn. But skills? You can teach them to someone.
Various studies show: attitude is becoming increasingly important. Employers indicate that characteristics such as motivation, communication and adaptability often have more influence on someone's success than technical knowledge. In a world that is changing rapidly, organizations are therefore looking for people who can move with them.
It's not always black and white. You don't have to choose between just skills or just attitude. Often the best candidate is someone who has enough basic knowledge as well as the right attitude to learn and adapt.
How do you approach that?
Use assessments during recruitment and selection to look at both sides: skills and personality. This way you get an honest and complete picture.
At Meta Career, we believe that choosing well starts with good insight. That is why we use smart assessments to discover who really fits your team, who has the right skills and growth potential and where opportunities and risks lie.
We combine personality and talent analysis with practical tests that measure both attitude and skills. On this basis, we provide tailored advice, not only for selection, but also for successful onboarding.
This way you make choices not just based on feelings, but on facts. And that gives peace of mind and confidence.
Wondering how that works in practice? Plan an introduction to Meta Career. We gladly think with you about how to find and keep the right people.