Now before recruiters get all defensive, I know that it's not as black and white as this.

However let's see what we can learn from this recent survey.

The survey asked people if they felt they were in the right job. It also asked them if they felt their work environment was compatible. 

Over 1,500 Responded

The survey involved more than 1,500 people, so it's significant by anyone standards.

Recruiters all want to put the right person in the right job. But from this survey, it looks like we get it wrong 6 of of 10 times.

To put the right person in the right job, it has to be right for the employee as well as the employer.

This isn't happening as often as it should.

It's About Personality

When an employee is in the wrong job, it affects all of the following;

• productivity
• performance standards
• staff turnover
• engagement

If these are issues that concern us then we need to get better at aligning personality and work environment.

I doubt I have ever met an employer that understood the work environment they are actually offering. And even if they do, they certainly don't understand which personality types will thrive in that environment and which will struggle to cope.

A work environment that suits one person, may be extremely stressful to another, purely on their personality.

I worked with a client recently that was going out of their way to recruit sales staff. Yet the job was more akin to an engineering environment than a sales environment. Details really mattered. Analysis mattered.

Even though the person's service was ultimately aimed at getting a sale, the actual environment was not a typical sales environment. His huge staff turnover was a simple case of putting good people in the wrong environment.

So as a step forward I believe it would be helpful if employers understood more about their actual work environment. Once they understand who it will suit and who it will stress, they stand a much better chance of making a good hiring decision.

Trials are available. Please just ask.