SCOTT HUNTINGTON, CONTRIBUTOR

Business thrives on relationships, and if the relationships inside your business don’t work, then no amount of experience inside the firm will set things right. It’s taken a long time, but companies have slowly begun to understand that it’s personalities that matter in the workplace, and not impressive resumes.

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If you’re constantly addressing conflicts between employees or arguing with someone who thinks he knows it all based on his years in the industry, you’re not getting any work done.

Here are five reasons why businesses are increasingly valuing personality over experience in their hires.

1. Erasing the ‘Know It All’ Mindset
In the past, companies valued a jack of all trades who had experience in many different industries but expertise in none. It certainly helped back in the days when advertising meant tacking up a few posters around town rather than masterminding a complex online campaign.

However, times have changed. These days more companies are willing to think outside the box when it comes to their business models, their approach to everyday problems, even their pay scale. And in this new environment, it’s not important to know it all. It’s important to try new things and get on board with new ideas. Personality is the key to making those leaps.

2. Extremely New Positions
Once upon a time, there were account executives, CEOs, mailroom workers and not much else. That’s no longer the case. Internet marketing company WebpageFX is currently hiring a “happiness manager,” which is exactly what it sounds like; someone in charge of keeping employees happy. Chances are, no one is going to have past experience as a “happiness manager,” or any of the other fanciful job titles I’ve seen advertised across the web, on their resume.

That’s why personality becomes key to hiring. When you have a new position, you can mold it to the job candidate’s strengths. Say you find someone you love who has little experience but is a whiz at putting together presentations. You can tweak the job description to their strengths, rather than lose out on a potentially valuable employee just because he didn’t have the five years’ experience other companies look for.

3. Finding a Good Fit for the Team
So many workplaces these days emphasize working together as a team — being flexible, helping each other out and approaching every project as a shared experience. The person you want to fill this position should have a personality that will fit in well with the team you already have in place.

No matter how great a person’s credentials, if your candidate prefers to work on their own or doesn’t play well with others, a position that requires them to work with a team 90 percent of the time will only lead to problems. That sort of personality trait that will not change, and it’s like trying to force a square peg into a round h***. You’re never going to succeed, leading your business to suffer for it.

CJ Pony Parts, a car parts retailer out of Harrisburg, recently spoke with me on the subject. They said that the most skilled and knowledgeable car expert out there wouldn’t get hired if he or she wasn’t a team player. They also look for people who are seriously passionate about cars instead of people only looking for a paycheck. If you’ve sent out the same resume to the first 50 jobs you saw on Monster.com, you might not be the best fit.

4. Skills Can Be Learned
Skills can be taught and experience can be gained. You can teach someone how to use a certain software program or drive the lift in your warehouse or input data on a spreadsheet. But personalities do not change. If you hire someone with lots of experience but a bad personality, you’ll spend a lot of time being frustrated over something that is never going to get better. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking “I can make them change.” You’ll fail, and waste a lot of money in the process.

Instead, focus on finding a person who likes to learn and is eager to get better. These are the people who can be turned into great workers. Even if the person has a fraction of the experience that you wanted for the job, you’ll find yourself having to deal with fewer problems if you bank on their good nature rather than their long resume.

5. Achieving a Well-Balanced Team
You wouldn’t field a team composed entirely of point guards on a basketball court, and you shouldn’t field a team of all Type A personalities at your accounting firm. Balance can be a great thing to round out the offerings at your company.

Look at the people you work with and make a mental catalog of their personality traits. Is there anything that’s missing? Perhaps you have a number of really hard workers, but they’re a pretty quiet bunch. When the phone rings, they look around nervously waiting for someone else to pick it up first. You may need a more vocal person to take your open position so as to add a little spunk and spirit to the crew.

Or maybe you have too many people fighting to be the dominant voice, the alpha male or female of the cubicle. Then perhaps it’s not bad to hire someone who considers themselves great at following directions. After all, without any followers, there would be no one to lead.

The next time you interview someone, think about how their personality would fit into your team. Chances are, it will help you make a better choice.

Scott Huntington is a writer, journalist, and career expert from Pennsylvania. Follow him on Twitter @SMHuntington.

What do you think? Is this something you can benefit from or do you have a few tricks up your sleeve that are just as powerful? Make your voice heard by leaving a comment below. Don’t forget to hit the share button if you know others who will find this post useful.

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