Thoughts from The 100: Hiring

In my book, The 100: Building Blocks for Business Leadership, I devote seven chapters to the hiring process. Why so much focus on something so basic? As Sherlock Holmes might note, “It’s elementary.”

Without great people you cannot build a great company. People are at the heart of everything we do and they are central to client satisfaction. So avoid the temptation to hire quickly. While hasty hires may seem like a simple solution in the short term, you’ll end up spending more time and money in the long run. I’ve learned it the hard way: employees hired in a hurry rarely make a good fit. We use a proven hiring process at Intertech, which includes:

• Hire slowly – take time to thoroughly vet your candidates. If you’re wowed by someone’s technical prowess but concerned about his or her honesty or attitude, don’t risk it (more about this in my next post).
•  Consistently ask all candidates the same questions – to ensure the best hiring result, use consistent questions that all candidates must answer. You’ll find it will be much easier to compare candidates if you have an apples-to-apples set of responses.
• Vary the setting with interviewing candidates multiple times – for example, if the potential employee will have substantial client contact or need to interact with top management, take him or her to lunch to observe social skills and table manners.
• Involve multiple people from your organization – at Intertech, the final in-person interview includes meeting with two of our employees for a team interview.
• Use LinkedIn to learn more about any candidates that you may be seriously considering – this is a good way to find common connections, which may help you learn more about candidates from people you already know and trust.
• Always check references and ask open-ended questions,– it’s easy to let emotions, especially positive ones, tempt you to skip your due diligence before offering a job to someone who appears ideal. Don’t yield to this temptation. Always call the candidates three or four most recent employers or clients and ask questions that get the real story. Ask, “What did Bill do?” instead of, “Bill said he was a project manager who oversaw 20 employees. Is this true?” Open-ended questions ensure that you will get a more complete and accurate description of the candidate’s past responsibilities and performance.

Next time:

Teamwork makes the dream work or as we say at Intertech, “One Team, One Dream”

Thoughts from The 100: Making a Job Offer

Last time I shared Intertech’s hiring process (which you can read about in detail in my new book “The 100: Building Blocks for Business Leadership.”) But that was only half of the story. In my next several posts I’ll share my philosophy about how to select top performers and, most importantly, your role in ensuring that they thrive once they come on board.

Why only hire the most accomplished professionals? It takes time and patience to find and recruit top performers. Yet it’s a substantial investment that pays for itself over time. Companies that settle for mediocre employees experience eroding profit margins since lower pricing is their only competitive advantage.

It pays to be picky. In the world of Information Technology (IT), a top programmer is 100 times more productive than someone who rates at the bottom of a 10-point scale. Research (Bryan 2012) and my own experience back up this audacious claim.

Not surprisingly, top performers are not easy to find or recruit. They’re usually contentedly employed elsewhere and not terribly interested in switching jobs unless their current employer fails to recognize their value (and reward them accordingly!).

For this reason, strive to cultivate a “virtual bench” of possible candidates who are exceptional at their jobs even if they are happily employed elsewhere. Stay in touch with these folks because circumstances can change and they may become interested in new opportunities down the road.

When you find a top-performing candidate whose skills, personality and values fit your organization, it’s time to negotiate an offer. Some may consider my approach unorthodox, but I believe in treating people candidly. Ask your candidate what’s most valuable to him or her: time off, telecommuting, money or something else? Take that into consideration when you make your offer. Of course, if someone expects a lot, you should expect – and receive – a lot in return.

Negotiate your offer clearly, present face-to-face, and provide a firm deadline for the candidate to decide, although do give a reasonable amount of time to make a decision. If you require candidates to sign a non-compete agreement, you must disclose that at the same time you make the employment offer. Assuming your candidate accepts your offer, you still have plenty of work to do in ensuring that he or she succeeds at your firm… more about that on my next post.