Argghhh! How do I Employ the right person?

Argghhh! How do I Employ the right person?

How is it that when you employ a person they appear right at the interview but fail to live up to expectation? I ask myself: Have I employed the right person or just the first person that came along? Have I selected a person from a group after comparison or in isolation?

Getting both of those questions wrong has caused me severe grief in the past. The learnings I took from those mistakes are explained below.

Firstly, I find it is far better to look within a potential employee for 3 qualities:

1. Energy
2. Attitude
3. Behaviour

I consider these qualities to be ahead of Skill and Experience (although these are needed too, on there own they are insufficient.)

In preparation for any recruitment interview I conduct, I always survey the applicant’s CV and call them to discuss their employment history, dates, pay, etc., etc, cross examining them where possible (because, in my experience, CV’s contain much fiction.) With all that CV stuff out of the way and, providing the applicant has impressed me with their phone communication skills, I invite them to come and see me for an interview.

How to scope out potential in an interview

The interview comprises of me, the interviewer, concentrating on asking situational (from past employment) and hypothetical questions (about future situations they may encounter working in my business) to ascertain the applicant has the following qualities: (Following 100 Greatest Ideas for Effective Leadership & Management by John Adair)

1. A sense of pride in their work.
2. Attention to detail.
3. A willingness to ‘walk the extra mile’ to get things right.
4. A total lack of the ,’its good enough, let it go’ mentality.
5. An inner direction or responsibility for the work ( without the need for supervision)
6. An ability to assess and evaluate own work, independently from the opinions of others.

If the applicant can convince me they posses the following qualities…

1. Energy- not necessarily extrovert but alertness and quiet resolve.
2. Commitment – to the common purpose.
3. Staying power – in the face of problems/difficulties/setbacks.
4. Skill – possession of skills indicates aims and ambitions.
5. Single-mindedness – energy applied in a single direction.
6. Enjoyment – goes hand in hand with motivation.
7. Responsibility – willingness to seek and accept it.

….they get the job.

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