The Criticality of Hiring "Right"

I had the opportunity to spend a good part of this week with people who are true linchpins- they make critical contributions to organizations that they are part of and that they serve.

We were exploring the importance of behaviors and your "unconscious" persona in how you interact and effect others in various kinds of relationships. It was especially interesting to hear how the "leader" effects everyone on the team, or at least the key contributors. What was also very interesting is that these impacts come through channels that in large part are behavioral or interpersonal rather than technical.

The reason I think this is so important is because so much of our hiring processes still concern themselves with "skills" rather than attributes and behaviors. This correlates well to other research that I have discussed in this blog and other places about the importance of understanding and hiring" the "whole person" not just a set of skills or qualifications.

Think about how many people who looked great on paper, but either in the interview or worse yet after their hire we realized we didn't have the right "fit". How many times did the fit issue related to their technical competency? Worse yet how effectively do we deal with the issue once we discover it? I find we either usually "suck it up" and add one more person who isn't really performing at an optimal level or rarely we "cut our losses" and terminate or transfer the person. Neither of these is a great solution.

So what is my point- it is that we need to really invest the time, energy, and commitment to understand ourselves in terms of our company culture and the people we invite to "join up" with us before we extend the invitation. There is a better way to do this...