Six Steps to S-E-L-E-C-T the smart people
Rightly said by Jim Collins, in Good to Great, that “Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” Organization performance and success depends on the quality of the people. As people leader it’s your important responsibility to hire best candidates for the organization. It is important that you spend quality time in hiring smart candidates and ensure you hire right candidate for the right job in right time. Sam Altman said “If you compromise and hire some mediocre, you will always regret it”. Research says cost of wrong hire is very expensive, apart from the cost amount of time and efforts go in vain and disturb entire ecosystem of the organization. So hire the best candidate for the best results as Steve Jobs said “We hire people who want to make the best things in the world. similarly, Bill Gates, Microsoft said, “The key for us, number one, has always been hiring very smart people.” So let’s see below six steps to select best candidates for your organization
S- Screen resume and application
First step to select best candidate is to screen resume and application for targeted job position. You may have flooded with number of resumes and applications for a single position basing on your recruitment strategies. You have to spend quality time in initial screening to short list the candidates this is very crucial otherwise you ending wasting time, energy and money as Robert Half said “Time spent on hiring is time well spent.” Success of hiring best candidates start with screening the best candidates from the talent pool available basing on your organization culture, values, business expectations, functional roles, responsibilities and job requirement. Once you have convinced the resume fits with your job requirements then invite a candidate for interview to validate the data for the selection of the best candidate.
E – Examine functional knowledge
Second step to select best candidates is to examine his/her functional knowledge. Assessing domain knowledge is very critical and one should do not go by the marks and credits scored in the examinations. Asking relevant situational questions can help you to evaluate one’s domain knowledge. Leader should select the smart and more knowledge candidate them him if you hire mediocre candidates then the performance will also be mediocre. Lee Iacocca said “I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way”. Assess the domain knowledge by asking questions related to key principles, concepts, rules etc in specific subject. to ensure prospective candidates possess through subject knowledge and can able to apply knowledge in business context to solve the functional or business challenges.
L -Learn about candidate motivation and achievements
Third important step to select best candidate is to learn about the candidate’s motivations and past achievements. Do not select candidate who has got good knowledge but work for money alone. Check his interest, passion, motivation and more important learn about his values, aspirations and assess his personality and character. Simon simek said “Great companies don’t hire skilled people and motivate them, they hire already motivated people and inspire them. Similarly there is a saying “Hire for character, train for skill” and finally Stephen covey said “If you can hire people whose passion intersects with the job, they won’t require any supervision at all. They will manage themselves better than anyone could ever manage them. Their fire comes from within, not from without. Their motivation is internal, not external”. So learn about candidate’s motivation, achievement, passion, personality and character which goes long way in success of individual and organizations
E – Evaluate experience and employment history
Fourth important step to hire right candidate is to evaluate candidates relevant experience and employment history. check whether candidates work experience is relevant to the job requirements and ensure he can handle the job requirements and able to overcome the work challenges and meet the business requirements. Joe Pantoliano said “When I interview somebody, I look at their resume to see what they've done, who they've worked with, and how many times. If they've gotten repeat work. Those are the kinds of actors I want to hire”. Otherwise you need to invest lot of time and energy in making the candidates understand the job requirements and importance. Moreover, it could lead to waste of time, extra effort if any deviations from the expected outcomes. so ensure experience and employment history for the best fit.
C – Check Competencies and skill sets
Fifth step to select best candidates is to check competencies and skill set of the candidate for the applied position. This is step is very critical though the candidate may have education and experience in related field it is very essential to check their technical and behavioral competencies. Hard skills and soft skill are both equally important for productivity, performance and team work. you may not get 100% right fit however if the candidate has motivation and right attitude that’s good enough rest you can build on them. As Bobby Flay rightly said “Today, when I hire, I look for people who want to be trained and molded. Check for competencies and skill set by asking right question and probing questions to identify required competences demonstrate in the past which can indicate his future behavior in a given situation. As past behaviors indicate future actions.
T -Test technical and behavioral capabilities
Last and but not least step to select the best candidates to is to test candidates technical and behavioral competencies through online or off line test this to make sure you do not commit any mistake in face to face interview. Check the test results both technical and behavioral and compare with the interview comments to see is there is mismatch in score. Once you validate the score and take consensus with interview panel members you can take a right decision in hiring the right candidate. As Harvey Mackay rightly said “The service leaders hire one out of 50 applicants, sometimes one out of 100, but they're very, very careful. You can't afford not to be extremely choosy when you hire. However, if you do not find right candidates do not compromise with mediocre that can be very risky. As Jeff Bezos said “I’d rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong one” therefore make sure you test technical and behavioral capabilities required for the open positions.
S-E-L-E-C-T SUMMATION
First step to select right candidate is to screen resume and application for targeted job position. Second step to select right candidates is to examine his/her functional knowledge. Third important step to select right candidate is to learn about the candidate’s motivations and past achievements. Fourth important step to hire right candidate is to evaluate candidates relevant experience and employment history. Fifth step to select right candidates is to check competencies and skill set of the candidate for the applied position. Last and but not least step to select the right candidates to is to test his technical and behavioral competencies through online or off line test this to make sure you hire right candidate. As Donald Rumsfeld said “Your performance depends on your people. Select the best, train them and back them. When errors occur, give sharper guidance. If errors persist or if the fit feels wrong, help them move on”.