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Hiring managers are supposed to select the perfect candidate based on any number of criteria, from skills matching to leadership potential. But new data shows just how much an applicant’s personal rapport with their interviewer matters.
Candidates who receive job offers are 12 times more likely to be described as having a “great personality,” according to a new report from HR software company Textio, which analyzed 10,377 documented interview assessments for more than 3,900 candidates. People who were eventually hired were five times more likely to be described as “friendly,” and four times more likely to be described as “having great energy,” in the written feedback.
“When these recruiters were choosing to hire somebody, a big part of the consideration was whether or not they liked the person,” Kieran Snyder, cofounder and chief scientist at Textio, tells Fortune.
Bringing “great energy” to an interview could be a bonus for those in more people-oriented positions like sales, but it’s certainly not a trait needed for all jobs. And it shouldn’t be a determining factor around whether or not to hire someone, says Snyder. Leaning into that kind of vague, personality-based feedback for a new hire can also be unhelpful to both the person and the workplace overall in the long run.
“For high performers, when they get that kind of generic feedback, even if it’s positive, they are significantly more likely to quit 12 months later, because it’s hard to see a path to growth if you’re not given any notes on what you can continue to develop,” she says.
There’s also gender bias at play when it comes to how men and women job seekers are judged, according to the report. Successful male candidates were more likely to be described as “level-headed” and “confident” during their interview, while successful women were much more likely to be called “bubbly” and “pleasant.” Seeing these kinds of comments should pose a red flag for CHROs, Snyder notes—hiring managers relying on their gut instincts may have some serious blind spots when it comes to sexism.
In order for employers to avoid biases when it comes to hiring people based on likeability, Snyder suggests CHROs make sure the job descriptions themselves each have three to four essential skills listed. That way, there’s a rubric to follow and HR professionals are more likely to focus on whether that individual has the experience they need.
“These are all the sort of functional skills that we want to look for and that needs to take paramount,” says Snyder. “And if you do want to comment on personality, it’s the HR manager’s job to translate those requirements, the activities somebody needs to do on the job, into those skills and behaviors that then you can assess.”
Brit Morse
brit.morse@fortune.com
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