Recruiting the right people is one of the biggest challenges whether you are building small teams from scratch or are leading large teams. whether your teams are centralized or distributed.
Many hiring managers are still hiring people with the image of a factory worker in mind (although most wouldn’t do it consciously), each factory worker in charge of a set of tasks on the line. We hire people to do the job we defined. We want them to be capable to do a specific set of actions that the role describes.
I remember at the beginning of my professional career. I went through these group interviews for entry-level positions at recruiting consulting companies for large corporations. In order to pass the multiple rounds of interviews, you had to demonstrate (or not demonstrate) certain qualities they were looking for. I’ve failed a couple of these group tests until I realized what they were looking for, I passed them from this stage because, well, they are very simple to pass once you understand what they are looking for, I did not sign with these companies as I got to the personal interview I realized that the parts I failed at were the parts that make me who I am.
Here are 3 tips for hiring managers on how to make great hires that can contribute everywhere:
1. Look for authenticity and openness
When being interviewed people are less likely to be authentic. They might try to be who they perceive you want them to be. Creating an open interview environment is something that is the responsibility of the interviewer. You can do so by being open about the position, about the company, and most and foremost about yourself in a candid way. The candidates you want are people who can give you a glimpse into who they are, who can show vulnerability in the interview. If they can show it in the interview you know they will not be scared to show you more, later on, and this is critical for a lot of reasons (acknowledging mistakes, being self-aware – being open for feedback).
2. Where they want to go and can I take them there?
The job market today is as dynamic as the people in it. As hiring managers, one of our main objectives whether we realize it or not is to decrease employee attrition. The reasons why is clear. How to keep employees engaged and within the organization is a topic of its own, but I claim it all starts by hiring the right people for growth.
An old-school notion is to hire for stability – someone who can do the same role for years at the same level. This is a wrong assumption. People either get better at what they do overtime or they get worse. The only difference is the amount of time it takes them to burn out. Finding people who are passionate and want to grow is key for successful hires. If where they want to go aligns with where you can take them then if they leave eventually it’s because you failed as a leader to show progress in getting them there.
3. To culture fit or not culture fit – this is the question
I’ve experienced a lot of hiring managers, recruiters, and execs who will say someone is not a good culture fit because he or she don’t fit their perception of the team – Too young, too old, too Introverted, too ambitious, slower than the rest, not confident enough, etc, etc, etc. I’ve made some of my best hirings by completely ignoring this.
I’m more concerned about the first two tips I’ve raised above than culture fit. It’s not because it’s not important that people click and work well with one another. It is one of the most important things in a team, department, and company. It’s that in order to create a really good and productive work environment and amazing team dynamics you need to diversify everywhere. If all the people you hire are coming from the same place then you will see less creativity, a lackluster vibe, and limited results at the end. A work environment that is fun and open can’t be that if everyone is similar.
