By Larry Cassidy,
Chair, Vistage International
Jack
was in his late thirties. He had worked for large companies for fifteen
years and finally decided to take what he knew and start his 
own
business. He ran the numbers, talked to friends and advisors, and
determined that with hard work he could get by in the first year, and
from the second year on, do very well.
It was the "hard work" that was the problem. Not the actual work: Jack
worked 12–14 hour days. The problem was that Jack only had so
many hours in a day. He could not get all the work done. So he decided
to hire an office assistant to take tasks off his back and free up time
to go after the big bucks.
And then Jack hired a few production employees. Then a shop manager.
Next a sales person. Then a bookkeeper, and of course, an office
manager. As year #2 rolled on, Jack looked up and he had
a—a—a company. A real company, with real people.
Eight
employees, soon ten, not long until twenty or even thirty.
The more employees, the more variety. Of course, Jack wanted different
skills to match up with the different challenges faced by the firm. The
problem to which Jack awoke at the dawn of year #3 was two-fold:
employees who varied from what he wanted in terms of skills and
capability; and employees who just didn't "fit in" (get along with,
work well with, or act as team players) with the other employees.
How could Jack have avoided this uneven performance or behavioral
mismatch? How do you avoid the same issues? Actually, there is no way
to get it right all of the time. These are people we are hiring and
with whom we are dealing. However, we can narrow the gap between what
we want and what we get, often by a considerable amount. We can do this
by a series of thoughtful steps that lead up to the actual hiring:
-
Define the values and environment that you wish to promote in your firm.
-
Define the position for which you are hiring, including core skills and
related behaviors required for success in the position.
-
Utilize a capable mechanism to identify and source qualified candidates.
-
Utilize interview techniques and questions that focus on whether the
candidate has performed successfully in the past on comparable
challenges.
-
And—utilize a valid testing instrument to assist in
determining
appropriate interview questions and to define possible issues to be
explored with the candidate.
One of the areas this book deals with is assessing the candidate and his/her
"fit" and, as part of the process, utilizing an evaluative instrument.
In other words, Step 5 above. There are several of testing instruments
available. Most have value and can provide direction and/or insights
you would not experience without such an organized look at the
candidate.
The book will talk about the details related to using a testing
instrument in hiring. In creating a lead-in for this discussion, my
observations are as follows:
-
Other than "socializing" reasons (i.e., we tend to like to work with
and around other people), we hire others to extend our work footprint.
That is code for: we hire others to do work we do not want to do, or do
not have time to do, or cannot do as well as the person we hire.
-
We pay the person we hire "out of our pocket." In other words, what the
business makes is now split between you and whomever you hire. So if
you are going to hand over part of the loot, you had better be getting
something very good in return.
-
A good place to start is that the person hired creates more additional
loot than you pay the person. The greater the excess, the greater your
return on hiring the person (if you buy a machine, you expect a return;
why is spending comparable dollars on an employee any different?).
-
Thus, doing the very best job possible of assessing the candidate is
important (even crucial). Can he/she do enough more, or do something
better by enough, to create revenue adequate to cover his/her cost plus
create an attractive return?
If it were my dollars in play, I would use all types of useful tools in
making this assessment. That includes a quality-testing instrument.
I would pick carefully the instrument and, every bit as important, the
person administering the instrument and assessing the results. I would
discuss with the administrator all aspects of the position and related
behaviors.
Finally, I would understand that any instrument is just one input to
the hiring process and decision (along with the resume, interviews,
discussion among interviewers, references, etc.). The results are to be
respected, but not to be held as determinant.
I welcome you to check out this insightful book and to the opportunity
to explore using quality testing instruments to improve your hiring
results, along with your bottom line.
Larry Cassidy, a chair of Vistage International groups in Orange
County, California, was the first in the company's fifty-year history
to facilitate 1,000 Vistage International meetings. Vistage
International (formerly known as TEC) is a CEO peer group organization
that focuses on executive performance. Cassidy, a former CEO himself,
has been involved with Vistage International since 1986 and has
counseled 300 business leaders. Cassidy has been recognized with
numerous awards including Vistage International's highest honor, the
Don Cope Memorial Award, presented annually to the top Vistage
International Chair.
Permission is needed from Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC to
reproduce any portion provided in this article. ©
2009
If you would
like additional information on this topic or others,
please contact your Human Resources department or Lighthouse Consulting
Services LLC, 3130 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550, Santa Monica,
CA
90403, (310) 453-6556, dana@lighthouseconsulting.com
& our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com
Lighthouse
Consulting Services, LLC provides a variety of services,
including in-depth personality assessments for new hires &
staff
development, team building, interpersonal & communication
training,
conflict management, workshops, and executive & employee
coaching. To order the book, “Cracking the
Personality
Code” please go to www.crackingthepersonalitycode.com.
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