Optimizing Talent: How to Hire Right and Reduce Costly Turnover
October 6, 2025 – Choosing the right candidate is essential to the company’s long-term success. Turnovers and high attrition can cost from 50 percent to 200 percent of employee salaries, depending on whether the hire is entry-level or a seasoned executive. By taking the talent optimization approach to hiring, you dramatically improve hiring odds, according to a recent report from Lake Mary, FL-based executive search firm Newland Associates. “Following a step-by-step recipe will place the right people in open roles and fulfill the goal of aligning your talent strategy with your business strategy,” the study said.
Newland Associates provides the four aspects that are incorporated in the hire aptitude of talent optimization: Define and communicate job requirements; equip your leaders to land top talent; predict new team dynamics; and determine candidate cultural fit.
“Job descriptions need to speak to both the behavioral requirements and the skill set needed for success in the role in order to attract the right candidate,” the Newland Associates report said. “Teaming up and brainstorming with stakeholders is a great way to determine what the role requires, transcribing the information into a job posting. Use this three-step process to communicate and establish clear job requirements.”
1. Solicit stakeholder input. Hiring managers often make the mistake of hiring the wrong talent to particular roles due to lack of understanding the job requirements, according to the Newland Associates report. Connecting with several stakeholders – this includes not only the hiring manager, but, senior leaders in the department, team members who will be interacting with the new candidate and any incumbents.
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2. Describe the job. Stakeholders must focus on the objective job characteristics.
Examples include:
- What are the most important and frequent activities?
- What behavioral style and temperament is most naturally suited to do this type of work?
- How quickly will the successful individual need to learn new information and skills? How flexible and adaptable will the person need to be in this role?
- What specific knowledge, skills, and abilities are required?
“Reviewing answers in a group is essential to get a well-balanced point of view of what the top candidate would resemble,” the Newland Associates report said. “However, it’s also just as important that stakeholders are on the same page regarding how the role is outlined.”
3. Draw talent with your job advertisement. Your job ad should include the following:
- Job tasks and responsibilities.
- Behavioral styles.
- Adaptability.
- Any characteristics required for success in the role.”
“Customized to your company and the available role, consider your choice of words for the job ad,” the Newland Associates report said. “For example, using words such as team-oriented or collaborative for a role that requires someone independent and assertive will not resonate with the right candidate. Ensure your job post illustrates the company’s culture and core values. It’s also important to focus on using non-gendered wording or what could be considered exclusive language. For example, the words usually associated with masculinity, i.e., leader, dominant, competitive – can affect your talent pool and result in fewer women applying for a role.”
Prepare Your Leaders to Deliver Top Talent
Training is crucial to ensure intelligent and objective hiring decisions are taking place. the Newland Associates report offers a look at how hiring managers can use people data to make the right decisions:
1. Gather the interview team. Create and gather an interview team that comprises of the hiring manager, team members who will work with the new hire, an incumbent – if available, and an impartial employee who can interview for culture fit. Interviews should never be conducted one-on-one. Once together, define the responsibilities of each interview team member before the interview, reducing redundancy, according to the Newland Associates report.
2. Collect objective data about candidates. Talent optimization requires going beyond the traditional resume and work history. The following should be gathered from your candidates: This can be collected through behavioral, cognitive, skills, or values assessments you administer after the initial screening.
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3. Prioritize which candidates will be interviewed. “Once the data is collected, rank candidates based on how well they fit the job requirements and your company culture,” the Newland Associates report said. “Regardless of how well a candidate’s experience matches your requisites, if they are not a behavioral or cognitive fit for the roles, they should not be considered in moving forward. Ranking allows the team to focus their time on candidates with the highest probability of being a good fit for the role, team, and organization. Using people data to create your interview reduces unintentional hiring biases, leveling the playing field for all candidates.”
4. Conduct candidate interviews. Use the information you’ve collected about each applicant to guide the questions you ask, the Newland Associates report explained. For example, if a position requires highlighting repetitive tasks and a candidate’s behavioral style suggests they may prefer more variety, ask questions around the discrepancy. A sample question might be: Tell me about a position where you worked on repetitive tasks. What were they? How did you approach them?
To read the full eBook from Newland Associates, please click here!
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
