One of the most important choices a leader can make is hiring. Making the right hire can improve your team, spur creativity, and ease everyone’s workload. Conversely, a bad hiring choice can cause problems that take months to fix, impede progress, and alter team dynamics.
What, then, constitutes an excellent hiring choice? Finding someone capable of doing the work is not enough. The best hires meet three key criteria: they are culturally compatible with your team, possess the abilities to succeed, and have the mindset to flourish.
The three golden rules of hiring better—hiring for skills, choosing for attitude, and retaining for culture—will be discussed in this blog. These ideas work together to create a hiring strategy that is effective both in theory and in practice.
Hire for Skills
Making sure the candidate is capable of performing the job is the first step in any successful hiring process. Although it may seem easy, hiring managers frequently make mistakes by focusing too much on charisma or potential while ignoring technical skills.
The secret? Seek proof of prior success in positions comparable to the one you’re hiring for. For example, if you’re looking for a sales manager, look closely at their background:
• Have they previously managed and expanded a sales team?
• What tactics did they employ, and what quantifiable outcomes did they achieve?
• How much time did it take them to accomplish those goals?
• What difficulties did they encounter, and how were they resolved?
Candidates who excel at this stage will respond with precise information, such as dates, figures, and illustrative examples. Watch out for ambiguous answers that frequently use expressions like “I was involved in” or “I contributed to.” Effective hires are able to explain their role and the impact they made in detail.
Hiring for skills involves more than just looking at a resume; it also involves asking probing questions in the interview to make sure the candidate has lived up to the hype.
Make an Attitude Selection
Assessing a candidate’s attitude comes next after you’ve made sure they possess the necessary abilities. Although skills can be learned and developed over time, attitude is a more profound and innate trait that is what makes good hires stand out from exceptional ones.
Seek out a candidate who is noteworthy for the correct reasons. When hiring a customer service representative, you may want to look for someone who truly enjoys helping people and has a lot of empathy. It might be the person who gets excited when talking about their own coding endeavors or experiments with open-source tools if you’re searching for a software developer.
Passion and drive are reflected in attitude, and these qualities frequently indicate how well a person will adjust, develop, and contribute in the long run. To learn more about their mindset, pose behavioral questions such as:
• Could you describe a time when you encountered a problem at work? How did you respond to it?
• What about your field most excites you?
• How do you go about picking up new technologies or skills?
You’re investing in a team player who will not only meet but surpass expectations when you find someone with the right attitude.
Hold on to Culture
The unseen thread that binds your team together is its culture. It influences how your staff members communicate, resolve issues, and eventually run your company. Therefore, it’s just as crucial to hire someone who fits with your company’s culture as it is to find someone who has the appropriate abilities and disposition.
However, hiring clones or people with similar viewpoints is not the same as cultural fit. Finding someone whose values, work style, and personality complement the team is more important. A cultural mismatch is more than just a small problem; it can lower team morale and productivity, which can eventually cause bigger issues.
Don’t disregard your suspicions that a new hire isn’t culturally compatible. Face it directly. Sometimes it’s obvious that someone isn’t a good fit for the particular environment of your business, even though it’s crucial to provide them with the resources and assistance they need to fit in. It’s better to identify this early rather than allowing the situation to worsen, so it’s okay.
Your business already has a culture, whether intentional or unintentional. Employing based on culture guarantees that you’re consciously forming it and creating a cohesive team.
The Difficult Choices: When Cultural Misalignments Continue
Although firing an employee is never pleasant, there are situations when it’s essential, particularly when there is a cultural mismatch. Individuals are not the only ones impacted by a bad cultural fit; the team as a whole may experience conflict and low morale.
The secret is to take decisive, caring action. It’s worthwhile to reevaluate if you’ve complied with the first two guidelines—hiring for skills and attitude—and you still discover that the candidate doesn’t fit your culture. Protecting the team dynamic and making sure your company’s values are upheld are more important than punishment.
This does not imply that you make snap judgments. Give people the chance to receive coaching, mentoring, and helpful criticism. A new employee may occasionally find their footing with a small adjustment or improved communication. Moving on, however, might be the best course of action—for both of you—if the misalignment continues in spite of your best efforts.
Keep in mind that your team deserves a setting where everyone can succeed. Making culture a top priority guarantees that you’re creating something long-term, not just for the present.
Greeting New Hires with Style
Introducing a new employee involves more than just showing them where the coffee maker is and giving them a laptop. A new team member’s sense of belonging, value, and readiness to contribute can be greatly enhanced by a seamless, purposeful onboarding process.
Set the tone with your team first. They should be encouraged to welcome the new employee with the same zeal as a devoted dog welcoming its owner home (yes, really). A welcoming, inclusive environment fosters a sense of belonging and speeds up the onboarding process for new hires.
Next, set clear expectations and conduct organized training. Confidence is hampered by ambiguity, particularly for someone adjusting to a new role. During those crucial first few weeks, make sure they have the resources, direction, and mentorship they need to succeed and follow up frequently.
Finally, keep in mind that your current team may oppose you. It’s simple for teams in organizations with strong, established cultures to grow suspicious of newcomers or wary of change. Remind your team that a fresh viewpoint can enhance rather than jeopardize the culture you’ve worked so hard to create by encouraging an attitude of cooperation and openness.
A careful onboarding procedure is an investment in long-term success, not just a good practice.
The Golden Triangle of Successful Hiring
Better hiring is a strategy, not a chance. By emphasizing culture, skills, and attitude, you develop a framework that goes beyond simply fulfilling job description requirements. Rather, you’re assembling a group of individuals who share your company’s vision and are not only competent but also driven.
Consider it as a golden triangle: culture promotes harmony and teamwork, attitude propels enthusiasm and growth, and skills guarantee that the work gets done. You put your team and business on a successful path when all three are in balance.
Keep in mind that hiring is a continuous process. The future of your business is shaped by every choice you make. You can create a team that not only overcomes today’s obstacles but also advances you towards tomorrow’s opportunities by adhering to these guidelines.
Cheers,
Thomas Michael
Thomas Michael is the CEO of the Michael Management Corporation – the place that brings you awesome SAP eLearning. He lives in Manhattan, is looking forward to trying his homemade gin this weekend and to coming up with new ideas to make businesses run better.
