Hiring Great People And How to Be One Yourself: Five Secrets
Bad news. Your senior vice-president, your marketing director or your accounting department head has decided to retire, move to Okinawa or start his own business??and you're left staring, horrified, at a polite letter of resignation. The timing couldn't be worse. You've now got a vacancy to fill, and you need to do it...well, yesterday. Is there any ray of hope? There is. But first, let's get one important fact out of the way: No one truly enjoys the hiring process, no matter how favorable the circumstances. It's a nuisance, an irritation, a drain on both your time and energy. It can also be a professional land mine. No matter how savvy or perceptive a recruiter you may be, you're treading the uncharted territory of some total stranger's professional qualifications. Every executive can tell horror stories where, despite the best of intentions, he wound up saddled with a salesperson who couldn't sell, a trainer who couldn't train or a manager who couldn't manage. The result? More time and energy, not to mention money--?drained and lost. Yet the guidelines which encourage successful hiring are remarkably simple, as long as you plan well in advance. Here are the five essentials: ? Hire only people who excite you. You actually can't afford anything less. Due to the downward shift in our economy and our increased technology, most companies are no longer supporting the head counts they once were. Instead they're keeping fewer people and expecting them to absorb more comprehensive duties. So at some point during that initial interview, you'd better be sitting on the edge of your chair, panting with anticipation at the prospect of adding this rising star to your existing team. Sure, it's a tall order. But settling for someone who's mediocre, or worse, "should work out just fine" isn't good enough. Getting revved up during the first-impression stage isn't enough, either. You should feel that same energy during every follow-up meeting. Remember: This person who rivets you will also rivet your clients, his or her fellow employees and your general public. A lukewarm response from you, on the other hand, will virtually guarantee the same from others, both externally (outside your firm) and internally (inside it). But do you dare to be that picky? Absolutely. Read on. ? Don't take risks when hiring. Well-groomed appearances and impeccable manners can be distracting, if not downright misleading. Look past them. Also, don't take resumes too seriously. So this applicant has an accounting degree. So what? How do you know he/she can really do the job? Find out by checking into past performances. Ask lots of specific, quantifiable questions: "How much money did you save your former employer?" "What sort of impact did you make on the company?" And most important of all: "What was your single, most significant contribution? Was that a team or an individual effort?" While the ability to work independently is a definite plus, beware of too many "I-me-my" answers and not enough "we-us-our." Also, watch for a chronic inability to furnish specifics or a heavy reliance on workplace-oriented jargon. If you keep hearing statements like, "I helped to optimize my firm's profitability" and "I feel that I achieved sustained results," pretend you're Columbo. Scratch your forehead, act confused and then probe deeper??up to a point, of course! Eventually you'll either strike gold or just bump into more and more boulders. ? Develop a winning job description. You'd be amazed at how many executives admit to a dirty little secret: They loathe the task of writing a description so much that they often won't even bother to do it! No wonder new employees can be seen scurrying around, looking clueless. That description must be clear, concrete, concise and in writing. It must include not only responsibilities, but also expectations in all areas??exactly what your new employee is being hired to accomplish and exactly how his/her success will be measured. That kind of clarity is essential for both of you. At the end of one year, a performance review should be a breeze. If he or she has accomplished A, B and C, then he or she has done an excellent job. Again, quantifiability is key. ? Hire only people who will be challenged by their new positions. Would you, as a former CFO of a $150,000,000 company want to take a professional step backward and become a controller for a $10,000,000 one? Would you feel stimulated? Of course not. More likely you'd be bored senseless after only six months, and then you'd start scouting around for something more interesting. Even a lateral move can be a kiss of death. Employees who become intellectually stale will just take up valuable space. Those who keep growing and evolving professionally are not only happier; they're also more immune to your rivals' recruiting practices. It's your job to minimize turnover by plugging the right applicants into the right (that means upward) positions. ? Slow down. When someone retires or resigns, take a deep breath before forging ahead. This is no time for a panic buy. Don't feel you need to fill that corner office within mere hours or even days. Rushing into a new relationship, as anyone who's ever answered a personal ad already knows, can block your intuition and remove your objectivity. You may even forget to ask your team members for their input. Big mistake. They're the ones who will have to work with this "new kid," remember, and their insights, not to mention their unqualified support, are vital. Now, what if you're on the other side of the fence??a job applicant who's looking for a challenging, rewarding position? How can you become a more desirable candidate, exude more magnetism and thoroughly excite your recruiter? Easy. Just reread the previous recommendations and flip-flop them. * Act enthusiastic about the prospect of being hired. Both of you should be equally eager to get started. * Answer questions regarding your accomplishments with specifics, rather than clichés. Gather data in advance to support your claims. * Request a clear job description. Know exactly what you're getting into. * Accept only a position which challenges you. Otherwise you'll get restless very quickly. * Finally, meet the people you'll be working with before accepting any job offer. Check the fit. Feel the chemistry. If there isn't any, then you need to move on. Don't waste anyone's time, least of all your own. There's nothing complex or unrealistic about hiring great people??or even about being one yourself. With such a wealth of talented, dedicated applicants out there and companies who are thrilled to recruit them, matches made in heaven occur every day??not only in romantic movies, but also in firms exactly like yours and with people just like you. John Uprichard is president of FGP International http://www.FindGreatPeople.com/, a recruiting firm that specializes in finding outstanding applicants for great companies. He has witnessed the hiring mistakes of both large and small organizations and has learned something from each one. © 2004 John Uprichard
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
New Leadership For A New War
Military analysts call this "asymmetrical" war (as if war has a terrible symmetry); and we know that it will be as different from conventional war as three-dimensional, blindfolded chess is from conventional chess. But one thing is certain, leadership lies at the heart of achieving victory. You only have to look to history to understand that when people needed to accomplish great things, whether in war or peace, great leaders had to rise to the occasion.
Indecent Proposal in the Workplace ? An Overview of Workplace Harassment & Employer Liability
An allegation of harassment in the workplace is a growing phenomenon facing companies across the U.S. The following is an article derived from a 2003 seminar I attended at the National Business Aviation Association {NBAA} Convention in Orlando, FL. The full name of the seminar was ? Indecent Proposal in the Workplace ? An Overview of Workplace Harassment & Employer Liability. The seminar was presented by Patricia Griffith and Ellen Ham of the Law Firm of Ford and Harrison in Atlanta.
The Leadership Imperative: Making Your Leadership Your Life
Nearly all leaders I've encountered are underachievers. They're getting a fraction of the results they are capable of. And in most cases, it's their fault. Their failures are the result of the choices they make. For the opportunities to consistently get more results are all around them all the time, theirs for the taking.
Radical Creativity from Incremental Creativity ? large movements from small changes
Positive radical movement is the holy grail of nearly every decision maker. Every CEO wants to radically shift his profit and loss statement into the black, every inventor yearns to find the next killer gadget and every screenwriter wants to make the next significant leap in film.
Negative Self-talk is Too Expensive
I'm always fascinated by the people who lift huge weights,
particularly in competitions like the Olympic Games. There
are events for men and women and they get up on stage to
lift a bar with huge weights attached.
I often wonder what sort of things they're saying to
themselves as they pace up and down, rubbing their hands
with resin powder and taking huge breaths.
Policy & Procedure Manuals - Tools For Greater Productivity and Efficiency
In today's tough retail environment the retailer needs all the tools he can get to help improve efficiency, productivity, and the bottom line. Two of these tools are the company's Policy Manual and Procedure Manual.
11 Strategies on How to Work in An Open Plan Environment
Many work environments now are open plan, with only a few senior managers having offices of their own. This style of work can have great benefits for team building ? fostering cooperation and collaboration and can be wonderful for developing the social aspects of teams, but on the flipside, it can drive some people crazy and be damaging to productivity. Most open plan offices require large numbers of people to learn to work together in very close proximity, which can present challenges, particularly relating to how we manage the physical environment, the noise and the constant interruptions. Share some of these strategies with your teammates to help you achieve a working environment where everyone is respectful of the needs and space occupied by others.
Hiring a Book Keeping Service
Whether you choose to do your own books and accounting or hire those services out there are a few things you should know first.
Get Over Yourself
Let me tell you a secret.
People Skills: Eight Essential People Skills
Being able to communicate effectively with others requires people skills, and here's eight essential ones:
Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Human Resources at Work
This article relates to the Human Resource Functions competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It reflects one employee's satisfaction with the manner in which her HR department carried out their work. This competency examines how your employees feel with regards to the quality and implementation of the human resource role within your organization. A human resource department that is properly informed of employee issues, demonstrates a high integrity level, and communicates effectively with staff and management should expect a high satisfaction level in this competency area.
People - You Cant Make Them What Theyre Not
Many business people and managers are spending too much time trying to change the underperforming people who work for them. They seem to believe that if they train people - tell them what to do or even threaten them with the sack - then the performance level will go up.
What Makes a Good Appraisal Interview?
WHAT MAKES A GOOD APPRAISAL INTERVIEW?
Provisioning/User Management System Upgrades: Part I -- Ten Reasons Why Not To Do An Upgrade
Tommy Sherman daily monitors a helpdesk-provisioning queue for a large company. The current provisioning/user management system was written with homegrown software. It has not had a major update for several years. Each day, he is getting more and more frustrated. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot keep up with the increasing workload. New employees are screaming for their system ids and have no way of checking their id creation status. Existing employees are demanding timely updates to their ids when they transfer across business units. Ex-employees exist in the system months after departure. His frustrated manager will be meeting with him this afternoon to talk about his "unresponsiveness."
Focus and Shoot
One of my earliest childhood memories is watching Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) win his third Most Outstanding Player award while leading UCLA to its third straight NCAA title in 1969. Of course, March Madness? is now ingrained in our sports psyche. From the unveiling of the brackets in mid-March, to the playing of "One Shining Moment" celebrating a new national champion, the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship captures our nation's attention.
Measure for Measure
Can you imagine playing hockey without a goal? Basketball without hoops and nets? Football without a goal line? Golfing without holes or greens?
Preventative Maintenance of Company Delivery Vehicles
If you have company delivery vehicles at your small or medium sized business you should have a preventative maintenance schedule and procedures for employees who are drivers of these vehicles. When discussing preventative maintenance over the years with business owners the first thing which comes to mind is 'Oil change' and usually the business owner who is on the hook for the loans on these vehicles is more than aware of that fact. Yes, you should change the oil. Obviously you should. How about every 3,000 ?5000 miles. After all, that kind of driving is hard on a vehicle, not to mention:
Be a Change Agent ( Part 1)
Aligning business organizations to be successful in the present and keep on doing this in the future means to develop a new style of Leadership.
To celebrate success in our days a leader most is able to craft a strategic vision, define objectives, design, implement and monitor the execution of a strategy and be a change leader in those same organizations.
How to Keep a Good Employee: Look, Listen, Learn
Recently a client told me a wonderful story about how a change of attitude helped her to keep a valued employee.
5 Steps to Continuous Process Improvement
Part One of Creating Well-Defined Processes Series
|
