Hiring
Great People
You’re
only as good as the people you hire
What it Means
Everything
you do as a leader is more effective if you’ve hired the right people for your
team. Hiring is, without question, one of the most difficult and daunting jobs
a leader has, but the more disciplined effort you invest in this process the
better prepared your team will be to win.
Why It
Matters
·
The
only sustainable competitive advantage any organization has available in the
long run is its people. There are few decisions more important that who you ask
to join your team.
·
A
good leaders wants to be surrounded with great people. The last things a leader
should want to be is the smartest person in the room.
·
The
right hires help carry the organization’s values and culture, as well as its
performance.
·
The
more thorough the hiring process, the fewer hiring mistakes.
·
Hiring
mistakes have to be addressed immediately and head-on for the health of the
team.
Hiring the Right People
Purpose
Challenger managers recognize that finding the right people for
each position is critical to fulfilling the Challenger mission. They will seek
people who not only possess necessary skills and credentials but who also
demonstrate Challenger values—self-reliance, productivity, and sound judgment.
They will seek people who are positive, passionate, and responsive—people who
are pro-American and who embrace the Challenger mission.
Policy
Managers will fully
utilize each of the tools identified in the hiring process to discern whether
candidates will be a credit to Challenger School and its mission before
endorsing them for employment, transfer, or promotion.
Action
Plan
Hiring Great People
Winning
teams don’t remain static. Their players grow, change roles and, in some cases,
move on. Great leaders recognize this and are constantly thinking about how to
build their lineup of new talent. You’ll find tools to help you:
·
Identify
which inside and outside candidates are best suited for an open position
·
Be
a more effective interviewer when screening candidates
·
Conduct
more effective reference checks
Action Plan
(Refer to
the hard copy hand-out entitled: “Your Starting Point”)
Quick Wins for Hiring
In
reality, your hiring process should be rigorous and substantial: not quick.
Indeed,
one of the principles of hiring great people is to take the time to do the
research, check for sources of potential candidates and conduct thorough,
deep-dive reference checks. But remember, these “quick wins” are really just
ways to get you moving and making things better today than they were yesterday.
Job Descriptions for
Your Team Members
Imagine a
member of your team resigned today. How prepared are you to start the hiring
process to replace that person? Gather the job descriptions of every person on
your team and review them.
·
Are
these descriptions still accurate?
·
What
has changed since those descriptions were created?
·
How
should these changes be reflected in the job description?
·
How
can you “energize” the job descriptions? Do they vividly capture the roles and
convey a sense of excitement and opportunity around them?
Use the
answers to these questions and revamp every job description that is out of
date, or just not exciting enough.
Keeping
job descriptions current is not only fair to the people currently in those
positions, but it means you are prepared to start the hiring process
immediately if you have to.
Quick Wins for Hiring
Your Successor
Imagine
you were offered a promotion today. How would you contribute to the search for
your replacement in your current role? Get your job description out and read
it.
·
Is
this still an accurate description of your position?
·
What
has changed since you started in your role? How should these changes be
reflected in the job description?
·
Based
on your experience in this role, what are the best qualities and skills the
next person in the role should possess?
·
What
are examples of great interview questions that should be posed to candidates
for your position?
Helping
ensure that the transition from you to the next person in your role is as
effective and seamless as possible is the right thing to do for your
organization and demonstrates the leadership foresight of succession planning.
Where Is All the Talent? –
Sourcing Great Candidates
Great
candidates aren’t just sitting around waiting for you to call them. They’re
busy doing wonderful things in their current roles. Sometimes they’re happy in
those roles and aren’t actively looking for a change; sometimes they’re ready
for something new: a promotion, a bigger challenge. But they probably all have
one thing in common—they don’t know that you’re looking for them!
Many
hiring managers display a classic trait of “not being able to see the forest
because of the trees.” In other words, they can get so caught up in searching
for the candidate that is “out there” somewhere that they fail to take
advantage of sources that are much closer to home.
Networking. . . it’s old fashioned
and it works
Great
candidates are everywhere, if you know where to look. As you think about the
sources for potential hires, start to shift your mindset to one that views
everyone who crosses your path as either (a) a potential new addition to your
team, or (b) a source of information for a potential hire. This means:
·
Contractors
·
Suppliers
·
Competitors
·
Consultants
·
Other
managers in your organization
·
Journalists
covering your industry