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Get the Right People on the Team
DO WE HAVE THE RIGHT LEADERS?
Leadership can only be exercised by an individual or a team of individuals who has a vision and the ability to motivate others to execute that vision. If one has leaders unable to do both, one needs to address this immediately. When one has successfully selected and developed the right people for his/her staff, the staff should all be able to leave and become world-class consultants in the function in which each staff member leads. To ensure our target culture stays intact as we grow, we must promote from within as much as possible. This will require formal succession planning for key positions. We don’t want those in our succession to plan to leave, so we need to ensure they are compensated according to the value they provide the business. Our HR processes (including promotions, reviews, and bonuses) must be aligned with this new way of thinking. If we say one thing and incentivize another, we will get what we incentivize. The following is an approach to ensuring we have the “right people” on our team.
RECRUITING NEW MEMBERS
We have often noticed that companies hire for technical expertise over value and cultural fit. This leads to hiring people for what they know and then firing them for who they are. We should always hire those people who fit into our culture and value system. If we have created solid processes, we can close the gap in knowledge. We should always be looking for talent and then recruiting that talent when it is needed. Our goal should be to promote and recruit talent from within as much as we can, but there may be times when we must hire from the outside, so a culture fit must be ensured during this process. The outside hires are typically at the higher levels of the organization, so the wrong hire can have a huge negative impact on the culture. A general rule of thumb is to create development processes so robust, that we can hire from within 80% of the time or more. However, we look for outside talent 20% of the time to ensure we introduce new thinking.
SCREENING
Tools which are well developed will ensure that the selection process is world-class. Below are some common tools and their uses:
DISC/Myers Briggs: Used to determine a person’s temperament or personality type. Different types of personalities perform better at different positions. While there are no “bad” personality profiles, personality profiles do show areas in which a person may want to focus for improvement based on the individual’s current or targeted position.
SCREENING CONTINUED…
Change Style Indicator: Used to determine if a person is an originator, conserver, or pragmatist when it comes to change. Again, there is no good or bad style. However, it does give insight as to how the person will deal with change.
Wonderlic: Used to determine how fast a person can learn. This test is used by the NFL to test quarterbacks, since they have to process loads of data and respond quickly. Quick witted people score highly on this test while deep thinkers tend to score lower. However, these different types of people are typically working in different areas, and there is value in both styles.
Personality, Change Style, and Speed are only three aspects of the recruiting process. We also need to consider if a prospective person will be a fit for the culture. This can be done by having the team members with whom the new person will be working actually conduct the interview. Team members should ask questions that will ensure the new person is a fit. It also gives the team ownership once the person is hired. During this interview the psychometric testing will be validated using open ended questions including role plays and case studies.
TECHNICAL CAPABILITY
While culture fit is the most important aspect, technical aptitude is also important, so we must develop some method to test the person’s technical aptitude for the given position. For example, if we are hiring for a position that deals with electronics, we would target someone with an electronic background or degree. If we target someone with a mechanical background or mechanical degree, the learning curve could be prohibitive. In this case, we would select someone with an electrical background and then test that person’s electrical aptitude.
While we may hire outside the company for higher positions, our Front Line Managers (Team Leaders and Group Leaders) should be promoted from within to ensure job knowledge is present. A Front Line Manager will find it hard to lead team members in jobs the manager has never performed. A common approach would be to promote from within while following one’s external screening process. Make no mistake about it, the best way to protect a company’s culture is to promote from within.
RETENTION
As important as recruiting is, retaining is even more important. As we develop the team, there will be those looking to steal the company’s talent. We must incentivize the high performers in an organization to keep them from leaving.
HIRING PROCESS
An effective hiring process is outlined below. This is only one of the many processes we have seen, but this process has proven to be quite successful.
HIRING PROCESS CONTINUED…
Pre-testing
- - Resume review
- - Psychometric resting (online or electronic)
- - Technical exam (timed)
- - Video of person teaching a topic related to the position
- - Phone screen (focus questioning on any areas of concern in the above items)
Interviewing
- - Group interview with peers and managers
- o Questions aimed at resume’s statements
- o Questions aimed at gauging values’ fit
- - Proctored psychometric testing
- - One week tryout (in some cases this isn’t possible)
Do you have the right people on your team? Do you have a process to ensure you don’t hire people that will harm your culture? Do you have the right incentive program to keep the high performers? If you answered no to any of these questions, Drive Inc can help. We have experienced professionals who can lead coach you through this process. For a no‐obligation introduction meeting, please contact Paul Eakle at paul.eakle@driveinc.com or 865‐323‐3491.