In the past couple
of articles, we have discussed the various types of candidates
available to improve and enhance your performance team. Opportunities for talent
range from the enthusiastic “Captain of the Football Team” and the
ever-alluring “Prom Queen” to the seasoned “Second Actors” and the
skills they bring commensurate with their particular level of
experience. Hopefully,
we have added depth to your candidate pool.
Imagine you have
an urgent need on your team.
What happens next?
The hiring manager is usually responsible for submitting
their “request,” and it generally includes such items as
Responsibilities, Duties, Education, Experience, and a few requisite
Technical Skills or Qualifications. Some companies will also
include all the ADA requisite skills and abilities,
as well. Generally, the
job specs stop there!
I recently
attended a seminar where one of the topics discussed was the “cost
of a mis-hire.” What is
that, really? Most of
us consider the more tangible costs—the recruiting fees, relocation
costs, time and effort spent interviewing, etc. However, do you also
consider productivity losses, business opportunities or bids lost,
and the potential damage to your company’s reputation as a result of
the aforementioned losses?
These costs are just as real. So what can you do to help
prevent that “mis-hire?”
When putting
together the profile for the position in question, do you take a
serious look at what the previous person was (or was supposed to be)
doing, as well as what they should have been doing for the
future? How many times
have you said or heard others say, “Get me another person just like
the last one.”? Does
that mean you don’t want to embrace new technology or continually
improve your products or processes? Of course not. But we still say it. Ideally, the profile should
be set up to reflect not only where we are, but where we want to
go.
Once you have
evaluated what the previous person accomplished and more
importantly, how they did it, have your hiring manager determine
both short-term and long-term expectations for this position and
incorporate the necessary skills and behaviors into the
profile. Once that’s
accomplished, have them take a hard look at the “interpersonal
skills” and other “personal characteristics” that this new person
should possess that will ensure their success once on
board.
After all of this
information has been prepared, you should be in a better position to
target the “right” person for the job. As we discussed in the
“WIIFM” (“What’s In It For Me?”) article, your interview team will
be prepared to sell the prospective candidate on why they should come to work
for you. However, once
you are interviewing, how are you going to determine if the person
is, in fact, “right”?
Of course, we all know that most of the information contained
in the job description will be contained somewhere in the
candidate’s resume. I
say that with slight “tongue in cheek.” If only it was that
easy!
So once we
are satisfied that the candidate has the requisite education,
experience, and technical skills, what else are we looking for? Their behaviors—specifically
the type of on-the-job behaviors that indicate performance. The question you should ask
yourself is what do they
do with all of those skills and how do they do it? Said another way, what
behaviors do they possess that allow them to consistently accomplish
and exceed expectations?
To hire the right
person, you must know exactly what you need for that person to
accomplish in this position and the capacity they possess for
reaching that desired level of achievement. Likewise, you should know
exactly what that person wants to accomplish and the
capacity they possess for reaching that desired level of
achievement. Your needs and their wants should be in
sync. The resume is
certainly the first step in determining these crucial criteria, but
ultimately, it’s not the most important one. Consider the resume, but
when decision time comes, hire for the behaviors.
(Do we know
what behaviors we’re looking for in a person so they’ll be a
significant contributor to the company’s productivity and growth,
and if so, how do we determine if a particular candidate has
them? For answers to
these questions and more, tune in next month, when we’ll address the
types of questions you may consider asking candidates during
behavioral interviewing and the types of answers that will tell you
if they possess necessary traits that go beyond the basic job
requirements.)
