Posts Tagged ‘job fit’

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Fit Happens

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

Marie was hired into a customer service role for a large international distributor. Her responsibility, in addition to doing the daily service tasks, was to provide “consistently exceptional service.” Based on her robust resume of previous work experience, the company expected great results. Marie failed.

Marie consistently lost her temper with customers who did not know how to order, had questions or required a second explanation of a product solution. She did not accommodate any changes to how she provided service – no personal touch – all customers were dealt with in the same efficient, but impersonal, manner. As Marie openly said, “I don’t really like people – but I’ll deal with them to get the job done.” Quite a first impression for a customer.

Marie may have been a great person (I’m sure her parents love her), but she is a misfit for this role; the role needed certain consistent behaviors that were not part of her core abilities. Fit didn’t happen.

Time after time I see organizations relying on candidates’ past skills or experience as the exclusive method for hiring. And though there may be mandatory role skill requirements, it is critical to also assess a candidate’s “fit” for the role – what the talents, strengths and passions are to be successful in the role.

Regardless of what our parents may have told us, we are not great at everything. But we are great at some things. When we discover these personal areas of greatness, we then can assess our world – what roles need what we do best – and can find our fit. Fit happens.

I find there are two primary problems in recruiting today’s A-level talent:
1. The organization does not clearly define the core abilities needed to be successful in the role,
2. Job seekers do not know themselves well enough to know their unique talents, strengths and passions.

Hiring managers must better define the required attributes in each role, and state them in their sourcing process. They must also require job seekers to spend time discovering and articulating their unique abilities. Only then can the two sides meet in the middle for a meaningful process committed to finding the right person for the right job. Then, fit happens.

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Make All Your Employees Talent Scouts

Sunday, July 17th, 2011

Today’s intellectual (thinking) workplace has redefined what we need from our employees. Employees no longer complete rote tasks; today’s service workplace now requires employees to think their way through constantly changing customer situations to provide responses that are customized and personalized. This means today’s employees must think in particular ways to be consistently effective, to inspire customer loyalty, and to drive profitability.

An organization’s most significant asset is the intellectual capital of their employees – how they think, invent, create and respond. Therefore, every organization needs employees who are the right fit for the job – employees who have the right talents, skills and experience – they connect to customers and drive results. This makes the sourcing and selection process both more critical and more difficult.

No longer will most any employee be able to do any job. Fit matters. And to find employees who fit the role, the organization now needs a greater list of candidates to select from – to ensure the attributes needed to drive performance exist within the candidate. This focus on fit now requires a fuller pipeline of viable candidates. And one of the greatest ways to fill the talent pipeline is to use your workforce’s connections and sourcing ability.

Consider the following ways to use your workforce to identify, find and recruit A-level (the right fit) employees:

1. Clearly identify the talent profile of for each role (this should identify the talents, skills and experience needed to be effective in the role). Share this information with all employees. Now employees know the attributes needed to be effective in each role.

2. Have all employees take a talent assessment, to be better aware of their natural abilities (talents and strengths) and to become familiar with the nomenclature of talents. Having a common language of talents allows the organization to better define, discuss and understand what attributes are key for each role, and what attributes must be sourced.

3. Provide talent scout business cards to all employees; these cards have the employees’ name and “Talent Scout” as their role. Coach employees to give cards to those people they see in their normal day who exhibit the talents and attitudes needed in company roles. Invite these people to find out more about the company. This starts to fill the talent pipeline so that when openings do happen, the organization has already started to source good fit candidates.

4. Have employees talk about open company roles to their (social and professional) networks.

No longer can management be solely responsible for sourcing all talent. Employees see and talk to (talented) people all day. They are connected to personal and professional networks. Be sure they know what attributes encourage great “fit” in each role and send them out to the world to scout for (the right) talent.

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You Say You Want A Great Company…

Sunday, December 5th, 2010

But you know how it goes. You can’t have a great company without great people.

This past week the NY Times columnist Tom Friedman wrote an OP-ED titled, Americans Want the Greatness Back. He presented some startling statistics that nearly half of the Americans who vote feel that our best days are behind us, not ahead of us. And though his OP-ED is more about what changes may need to happen in our political process, his message is clear. Greatness as a nation can only happen when we each recommit to personal greatness.

So back to my opening line, you can’t have a great company (country, town, organization, family, etc), without people who choose to be great. How do you inspire each employee to choose greatness over just showing up?
Consider these ways:

1. Clearly define what your company believes in and its commitment to greatness in all it does; this attracts like-minded people. You set a standard and belief that guides not only who you hire, but what behaviors are expected once they are hired.

2. Hire the best people for the job; hire based on talent and fit, not just on experience. This way you hire people capable of greatness because their work matches what they are intrinsically good at. Employees who feel capable and competent perform at greater levels.

3. Connect employees emotionally by customizing their jobs around what they love and are interested in. There are few jobs that employees love everything about. But if jobs are sculpted around employees’ interests, passions and values, employees become more emotionally invested in their work. This raises their effort, interest and performance – their greatness.

4. Openly value your employees by building strong personal relationships with each through constant communication and contact, performance feedback and honest interest (see this issue’s Recommended Read). Employees who are personally connected to their managers, team and organization, feel more part of the team and therefore commit greater effort.

Personal greatness must be inspired, encouraged, developed and applauded – this is part of management’s role. And the more personal greatness grows, the more organizational greatness will grow. Great organizations realize that they are great because their employees have chosen to bring their best and to make an impact – they have chosen to be great. And if we can rekindle it in the workplace, we may be able to rekindle it across the nation.

Please share this with someone who can benefit from it and contact me to help you learn how to activate the personal greatness of your employees. More information at www.FireUpYourEmployees.com.

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The Case for Hiring Overqualified Candidates

Sunday, September 12th, 2010

The recession has brought up many odd workplace perspectives. Here are a few:

1. Don’t hire someone who is currently unemployed – they are that way because they are unemployable.
2. Tell your current employees they are lucky to have a job – this encourages them to work harder.
3. My favorite – and what I want to talk about: Don’t hire people who are overqualified – they will just leave when times improve.

Though a person may have qualifications in excess of what a specific job currently requires, it is the future potential that should also be considered. No job remains static. Today’s responsibilities are quickly outdated by changes brought on by competition, technology, social trends and other variables. The greater impact and performance an employee can bring to an organization the better. Hiring is not just for today – it also for the future.

Today’s best employees are not those who just show up and do the defined job. Today’s best employees use their talents, strengths and perspectives to continually look for opportunities and areas to augment the business and its success. Employees who have more qualifications, and are coached to use these qualifications in addition to their regular jobs, help the organization become more competitive, more responsive and more creative. Consider changing the term overqualified to “significantly qualified.” How can a significantly qualified candidate add value for your organization? Shouldn’t you always look to have the best talent for your organization?

Consider: A previous sales manager is now hired for a customer service role. In addition to handling the role well as defined, he/she could also:

o Redefine the service standards and host departmental training.
o Initiate a needed and yet to be implement customer survey process.
o Mentor other employees in more significant service responses.

It is management’s responsibility to keep this capable employee focused on reaching for greater
performance – to understand the employee’s other qualifications and find ways to connect him making a difference using his best talents and strengths.

Not taking advantage of the best person for the job – even “overqualified” – is like selecting a cheaper quality used car when a better car is available for the same money. For the same money you can dramatically improve your experience. For the same money you get the job done and bring in someone capable of helping you grow in areas that you may have never considered. For the same money, you expand the performance capacity of your team. This doesn’t mean that anyone who is overqualified is a fit – nor anyone who is overqualified is not a fit. It just means consider everyone who can make the most significant difference.

Remember you are investing in your people. Consider each candidate for both current and future impact. Hiring is both for performance AND potential.

Please forward this to someone who can benefit from it and contact me to help you learn how to use talent-based hiring to bring in the best talent.

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