What is Purpose?

By Ray Bixler, Posted May 26, 2010

Webster defines purpose as “something set up as an end to be attained.”

Simon Sinek, entrepreneur and author of the book Start with Why, wrote that the very best companies know why they do what they do.  They have a purpose – a reason for existence that transcends profit.  Driven by purpose, they create a movement and consequently get the most discerning and loyal customers.  Customers “Don’t buy what you do,” says Sinek. “They buy why you do it.”

Knowing that it matters, how does purpose play out in the lives of recruiters and talent acquisition leaders?  Well for one, a company’s hiring process has a purpose, right?  Its purpose is to help an organization source, interview, and select the best candidates possible. 

When selecting and qualifying job candidates, recruiters leverage everything they can get their hands on, from screening tools to video interviews to assessments to behavioral-based questions.  All of these methods can help, yet the most important one, which is asking an applicant’s references for candid job performance feedback, rarely works when done via the phone.  In the end, most recruiters settle for getting an applicant’s employment verified, and then they move on with their hiring decision. 

Is that truly the purpose of the reference?  The answer is “no.”  The purpose of the reference is to get a candid evaluation of a candidate’s previous job performance from those who have worked with the candidate, not just dates of employment verified.  Now that there is a revolutionary web 2.0 Pre-Hire 360® tool available, which has been scientifically validated to improve an organization’s quality-of-hire decisions, isn’t it time to give the most important part of the hiring process, reference feedback, a purpose?