With workloads increasing and time management becoming more important than ever, processes are being streamlined and companies are striving to do things better and faster. The quest for efficiency, high quality, and high value in the marketplace takes a lot of scrutinizing of processes, technology, and resources. What about the human resources (not the department, but all of your employees)? How much more successful could your organization be if your employees were all star employees—those who are doing what they do best and also truly enjoy their jobs?
Here are a few tips for snagging a star employee:
Job Description. A lot of folks tend to use the same old job description that existed twenty years ago. Things change. And so do jobs. Take a few minutes to update the job description so it’s more concise and captures the actual current duties of the position. Be specific. In addition to a job description, we discuss and draft the ideal “talents” and Kolbe scores that we would like to see in candidates (for more details, see Assessments below).
Recruiting. Diversify your recruiting sources. Don’t rely on your same old Monster posting or drab newspaper ad. Try a professional group that potential hires may belong to. For example, if you’re hiring an accountant, try advertising with an accounting association. Mix it up. Try different types of media sources; just be sure to include the Internet. And don’t forget about tapping into your own employees. Many organizations offer a hefty referral bonus if an employee refers the winning candidate.
Essay & Extras. For some of your positions, you may want to ask the person to respond to a question or two related to the position or your industry. (Or perhaps you just want to ask something fun.) This is a must for a position that involves a lot of writing. Even for other positions, it’s a great way to discover a candidate’s thinking and writing style, not to mention their writing and grammar skills. Plus, it helps to weed out some of those candidates who aren’t truly interested or qualified. In addition, you may want to ask the candidates to provide extra materials along with their resume. For instance, if the position requires the person to do presentations, ask them for a sample slide deck. Or, if the position involves managing a department, ask for a sample policy that they created and implemented.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Keep an open mind. If your ideal candidate is someone with 5+ years of continuous experience and a bachelor’s degree, don’t initially rule out someone who is pursuing their degree and has 4 years of experience. Perhaps that someone with 4 years of experience and a 2-month gap in their work history is perfect for the position and the only one who really fits your culture. A short phone interview to find out is well worth your time.
Initial Interview. At Next Generation Consulting we usually do the initial interview over the phone or via web conferencing. (We’re all Apple® geeks, so iChat is our medium of choice.) This interview should help you determine the candidate’s values, demeanor, motivations, and ability to do the job. The “potentials” will be asked to participate in the next step(s) of the process. Be sure to include some behavior-based questions and avoid questions that can be answered with a “yes” or “no.”
Build a profile. Building a profile of each potential candidate will make you look smart and save you and your company precious time. The profile should contain their interview questions and responses, their essay questions and responses, their assessment results, their resume, and any other significant information. Share this profile with everyone who interviews the candidate. Give them enough time to review the profile, so they don’t waste time asking the same questions.
Assessments. Once you have a few good candidates, it’s time to peel back the layers and find out how they tick, and what they tick best at. No, you don’t have to hook them up to wires and monitor their brain activity. We’ve discovered a couple of assessments that help us discover candidates’ strengths and talents. The two assessments that we use are the Kolbe and the StrengthsFinder. The Kolbe measures a person’s natural instincts and behaviors, while the StrengthsFinder reveals a person’s talents. If you’d like to learn more about how these are used in the hiring process, please see the article titled, NGC Hiring Process.
Group Interview. You’ll want to talk with the person further after you get their assessment results. Hopefully, their results align closely with the position at hand. (If not, it’s still worth a conversation to discuss the results and hear what the candidate’s opinion is.) It’s best to have the candidate meet with others who will be working with her/him in this position. Interviews at this step in the process depend upon your organization and the position at hand. We like to do the final interview as a group with all of our team members present. We also like to make this interview a more relaxed, fun interview, where every team member asks questions from a pre-determined list. We tell the candidate ahead of time what the tone and format will be for this final interview. We like to ask the candidate some fun questions and encourage them to be themselves. Our favorite is, “Tell us about a recent embarrassing moment.” It’s important to capture the candidate’s values and personality. It’s essential that these be in alignment with those of your team and organization.
Group Discussion. After the group interview (or individual interviews), hold a discussion with everyone who participated in the interviews. Everyone should have a copy of the candidate’s profile by now. Discuss the pros and cons (if there are any) of hiring this person. Ask everyone how much they’d like working with this person. Ask if they feel this person’s values are in alignment with those of the organization’s. Discuss their assessment results and how well this person will fit in with the team. Ask if anyone detected a red flag.
So now you’ve hired the right person. How can you be sure that they’ll stick around? No, there aren’t any guarantees. But we can help your organization improve retention and become a talent magnet. Find out more here or contact info@nextgenerationconsulting.com.
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