It’s a funny thing about life, if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.
--Writer W. Somerset Maugham
One of the most important tasks of a great leader is hiring and keeping the most talented people. As a business leader, I'm sure you've asked the question, "How do I hire the “right” people for my team and, in turn, for the company?"
In today’s business world, each of us have uniques skills, talents, backgrounds and work experiences. It’s easy to hire people, but hiring the right people requires more effort and time. Take the time to determine the criteria for hiring the right person for your team. Look for people who sincerely want to help other people. They will build solid, trusting relationships with other team members and your business partners. Look for people who have a positive attitude and can take responsibility for their own actions. They can be counted on to have integrity in their work and business relationships. Look for people who are driven by business challenges. They will give 110% of their effort to find the most effective solutions for your company.
The quality of your employees directly determines your ultimate level of success. Insist on hiring only the absolute best people. Make sure that the person you hire has the right chemistry and dynamics to work within your organization and team. A true team shares similar attributes and attitudes. The most qualified person is not necessarily the greatest player when they can’t work well with your existing team. Great teams are passionate, true believers who will always go the extra mile for each other and by extension for you and your company. The right person sticks with your company and your company’s efforts through thick and thin.
If you hire well, the benefits are tremendous. If you hire poorly, the problems are also tremendous. If you only hire the best people for your team, you can trust that they will contribute their knowledge, creativity, and ideas to solving the company’s business issues and challenges.
"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it."
-- Theodore Roosevelt
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3 comments:
The blog on “hiring the right people” pointed out some interesting qualities that should not be overlooked. I have seen where hiring the most talented people based on technical skills and not what I would call “soft skills” turned into disaster for the manager and organization. What good does it serves to hire someone who cannot communicate with clients, team members, and management, but know they are right on the subject matter? I would place more weight on “soft skills” than technical skills. Not that I am going to over look the skill set that the person has and how proficient they are in those skills, but I also need someone to be a team player, can communicate effectively, and fits into the team and the company.
I have also seen where the hiring manager is always looking for the perfect person that they never hire anyone and lose the job opening because it took so long. What a shame when they could have had a great employee, but because they did not have a particular skill which may be unique to the business unit or company. There are many companies or mangers that do not look within their organizations for people that would be a good fit for the opening. This could provide job growth or new opportunities for an employee who has the ability to learn and a track record of being an excellent employee. It also displays the company culture to promote or provide new learning skills for employees that support the company and are considered a real asset to the company. What a morale builder!
Managers should find new opportunities for their employees that will increase their value and skill set within a company. Why would a manager want to keep a great employee doing the same job all their lives? They will end up leaving anyway. A good manager will take his/her employees in mind with new job openings and determine if it would be a good opportunity for the employee and the company. The manager should be able to talk with a hiring manager to make them aware of a great candidate within the company for the opening. But don’t assume that the employee will want to make the change. Always talk with the employee and find out what they are looking for in a job and career and see if they would be interested in the new job position. If so, tell them that you help them in making the hiring manager aware of why they would be great at the job.
I remember when I had a great manager that stated “promote your employees up and out”. This provides career growth for the employee, keeps great employees for a company, get you noticed as someone who understands the value of employees, and increases your opportunity as a manager.
There's a lot of great info in both the post and the comment, but 2 questions come to mind: 1 - what about the people who aren't what they seem (good/ better than they appear), and 2 - What happens when the group won't accept someone, is it the fault of the person, or the manager?
The answer to Tad's question is "yes." Things human are fuzzy and non-specific, and in the workplace there is very little that is clearly one way or another. Management is always in the unenviable role of balancing numerous forces all at work at the same time and all of which make a difference is some way. This is one of the reasons why people need one another. To keep us clear and honest and working in our best interests - which also happen to be the best interests of the team, group, organization. If that is not the case we have a basic "fit" problem that will probably only be solved by separation and/or divorce.
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