HIRING THE DREAM TEAM THAT WILL ENABLE YOUR COMPANY’S SUCCESS

Managers Growth / By /

You can achieve so much more with 1 A-player employee than with three average ones.

Recently I had to hire a person for the first time. As a newbie, I researched, read, and picked the brains of successful companies’ COOs and more experienced colleagues.

Here is what I learned.

From books:

Who The A method for hiring by Geoff Smart and Randy Street

How to Hire Motivated Players – MBA Show

Hiring Success by Jerome Ternyck

Hire with your Head by Lou Adler

Talent Magnetism by Roberta Chinsky Matuson

Hiring an player a HIRING THE DREAM TEAM THAT WILL ENABLE YOUR COMPANY'S SUCCESS
Hiring quality employees for your company is for sure -hands down- what will make your business a success or a failure. You can achieve so much more with 1 A-player employee than with three average ones.

Studies by the authors I consulted have found that a typical hiring mistake will cost a company around fifteen times the employee’s monthly salary.

Some of these costs stem from poor decisions made by the employee; the rest from the work necessary to fire and replace. So what is an A player employee? An A player employee has the right skills for the job and the right mindset to fit in your company’s culture. Never forget; talent is key to making your vision a reality.

Most managers make at least 50 percent of their mistakes during hiring decisions.

 One recurrent advice is also to fire fast. Pay close attention during the first three months of the new hire. Identify if they are a good fit or not quickly, so your company and the person you mistakenly hired do not suffer. Once you are confident that the person you hire is indeed an A player because they have demonstrated, you must ensure they stay. Your job is to guarantee that you are taking care of them to secure retention, productivity, safety, inclusion, and opportunities to grow when the possibilities are there. Hiring is tricky. If you hire based on instinct, charismatic candidates can fool you with little actual ability. It has happened to all of us; we do not understand some hiring choices from our managers (as always, we are judgmental when the hiring decision is not ours). Do you know who I am talking about? The typical colleague is likable initially, but instead of summing to the team with a value-added, they drag the rest down due to their poor performance or culture misfit.

Don’t be fooled by eloquent people who won’t be able to adapt to your company’s dynamics at the end of the day.

Often you’ll come across candidates who are “pretty good” but not “the best.” Don’t settle! If you’re on the fence about a hire, keep searching. 

A bad hire can lead to significant losses down the line. Spend the extra time and money to find the perfect fit. You’ll end up saving yourself a major headache down the road. Think long-term. Seventy-seven percent of the CEOs interviewed by the authors I read said that 

using their network was hands down the best way to make successful hires for their company.

You know who are the TOP players you interact with within your business world. Ask them for references. Most likely, they have already spotted your next shooting star.

Prioritize attitude, self-motivation, and work ethic. 

How much does the candidate know about our company? If they did their homework (read the annual report, read your company’s website, and investigate online about it); it means they are interested. Therefore, self-motivation is there. If you want a motivated team, you need to hire motivated players. My dream team consists of people that want to grow every day, learn and evolve; people who have mentors and look for ways to improve themselves. When you spot your potential A player, share the vision of your company with enthusiasm with them! Sell them the opportunity to work with you! Tell them what you offer; the exciting intellectual challenge the role and workgroup offers, the inclusive and safe environment, the awesome people they will get to work with, etc.

A candidate’s ability to fit into your company’s culture is often more important than their skills.

Traditional job descriptions aren’t effective at finding the best candidates. Don’t rely on job descriptions. 

Use performance profiles instead.

A performance profile outlines the goals of the position rather than the skills and qualifications it requires. Don’t just say you’re looking for a candidate who’s good at market research, for instance. Say you expect the person to 

“prepare a comprehensive competitive analysis report in the first month.”

When you emphasize specific tasks, you’ll turn the job’s requirements into measurable objectives.

 Focus on what your candidates can do rather than what they have done.

Your employee’s skills aren’t what matters – it’s what they can do with them that counts.

Giving candidates a task is much more helpful than having them respond to a job description. The best candidates look for positions based on what they’ll be doing and learning, not the skills they already have. They’re interested in bettering themselves and growing.

Treat your candidates like potential customers, not future subordinates.

Selling a candidate on a job means convincing them that the position fits their skills and lifestyle.

Also, please focus on the candidate’s skills, not their academic titles. I have met so many people across my career with master’s degrees that cannot do the job. Getting a title has become like a medal to show for, not a symbol of actual ability or badge of demonstrated skills. I do not trust academic titles but skills. Not all jobs are created equal. And depending on the tasks you need a person to perform, the hiring process can vary. But, if you are searching for TOP engineers or financial analysts for very analytical or technical jobs, you may find the following blueprint very useful.
Hiring an player a blueprint 1 HIRING THE DREAM TEAM THAT WILL ENABLE YOUR COMPANY'S SUCCESS

ACTIONABLE BLUEPRINT FOR HIRING AN A-PLAYER FOR VERY ANALYTICAL OR TECHNICAL JOBS

Note this process is for particular jobs. It involves several interviews to ensure you have found your shooting star.

You and the new hire do not have to pass the uncomfortable experience of firing. Spend the extra time identifying the correct person for the role. It will save you a headache down the road.

It is your responsibility with the people you are hiring to make all the checks you need to guarantee you invite the correct person to form part of your company.


  1. Make a clear job description

that indicates:

  • What they will be doing.
  • The skills needed to perform the job adequately.
  • What your company offers for them. Why should they choose you?

2. Recruiter contact.

Give your recruiter some questions and answers about the technical basics your candidate must know.

Use it as the first filter. The ones that have the basic knowledge can move ahead.

 

3. First Manager contact;

Identify if they have done their research.

How much do you know about my company?

Identify if they are self-motivated: Who are your mentors? How do you improve yourself?

Identify their self-perception and goals: What are your professional goals? What are your professional strengths? Your weaknesses?

We need a XXX analyst/ engineer that can adapt and learn to fast our organizational and environmental context with a solving problem approach and analytical capability.

Example;

We need someone with the ability to:

Propose creative and innovative solutions to problems.

Understand complex scenarios to analyze, plan and coordinate the best route to achieve goals.

You need to express what type of skills you are looking for and describe the work environment because if you are looking, let’s say, a treasury cash manager, and they got the academic title,

the experience and knowledge; that does not guarantee you they will have the correct mindset/personality/aspirations to fit your company’s culture.

Your company may be too innovative, creative, and fast-paced for them, and they won’t feel comfortable in that environment. Therefore, they will not blossom nor even adapt to your company’s dynamics.

That is why it is crucial for you to properly communicate the environment and expectations of the person who gets the job.

 

4. Measure your company’s culture adaptability

My company has a Fast-paced culture; innovation and improvement are part of our DNA. We do not limit ourselves to a checklist or to-do list, and Adhoc situations arise daily.

We always have projects to improve, simplify or optimize processes.

  • Set clear expectations since the 1st manager contact, so the candidate understands the type of environment.
  • Ask them directly in the 1st manager contact if that fast-paced environment is something they will feel excited about? Let them know the working dynamic and inclusive culture since first contact.

5. Managers Interview

  • You can ask them about past experiences. But challenge the candidate to imagine what they could do for your company in the position you are hiring. It will give you a glimpse of the candidates’ ability to express their ideas, communication skills, and past use of their skills in the workplace and how they can use those skills in your company.
  • An excellent exercise includes practical exercises that you know they may face at the job to see how they react, analyze and solve. Plus, they will realize what type of situations will arise from the beginning, so their creativity starts to pump.

 

6. Whiteboard Review

This one is an excellent practice my husband learned during his working days at Akamai – a world’s cybersecurity and cloud service leader.

Give 1 to three topics related to the role of your company for your candidate to investigate. Give them a week to prepare.

The goal of the dynamic is for them to research, prepare and become as much knowledge as they can in the critical topic you provided them.

Then, the candidate must present to a panel of experts the benefits, cons, pros, and uses of the technology, practices, method, or process they got assigned.

The panel’s role -experts and managers- is to challenge the candidate by questioning their conclusions.

This practice allows you to determine how self-motivated they are, their research and communication skills, adaptability to stress scenarios, and analytical capabilities.

 

7. Subject Matter Expert Interview

Arrange an interview with one of your technical experts to ask them questions about the knowledge they must possess.

For example, you are looking for a cash manager for your Treasury department.

The expert may ask the candidate about cash pooling, credit risk, market rates, etc.

At the end of the process, you will quickly identify if the person has the skills and attitude to fit in your company, ensuring their fulfillment and your company’s growth.

 

Author: Ruth Valverde A.

Date

More
articles