<p><strong>Scenario:</strong> <em>"Dude, just make sure they can do the job. Yay!"</em> You have two choices when you're hiring your next employee:</p> <ul> <li> a) Hire her to do a job.</li> <li> b) Hire her to kick major ass, take names, and rock the world like a crazy !@#$%^ for your company.</li> </ul> <p><span class="highlight"><strong>Most companies hire for the former; rock-star organizations like GE's Leadership Center, McKinsey, Google, Goldman Sachs, and Patagonia focus on the latter.</strong></span> There's an amateur way to hiring; then, there's the sexy way.</p> <h2>How to Hire Like a Badass</h2> <p>Based on a decade of studies by Researcher Jim Collins, ask yourselves these checkpoint questions:</p> <h3>1) "Has Darlene ridiculously blown us away?"</h3> <p>After checking for references, pinpointing weaknesses, doing the interviews, and all the yadda shizzle that goes into hiring for your company, ask yourself: <span class="highlight"><strong>'Did Darlene super excite me?'</strong></span> <span class="highlight">If you're in doubt, don't hire; keep looking. </span> Filling your company with mediocrity will rub off on your team.</p> <h3>2) "Will we need to hand-hold Darlene?"</h3> <p><span class="highlight">A chunk of people need hand-holding; others just need some basic guidance, who will then blow you away with their initiative.</span> You want the <strong>latter</strong>; otherwise, you'll consume masses of resources/time ensuring the person doesn't mess up at every freakish thing that the person freakishly does every freakish hour. A question to check for initiative: <span class="highlight"><strong>Ask her: "If the company you're working with has horrible marketing materials that's preventing you from doing your job, what do you do?"</strong></span></p> <ul> <li><strong>The wrong answer</strong> (lacks initiative): "I would tell them to redo their marketing materials."</li> <li><strong>The right answer</strong> (shows super-initiative): "I would work with them to provide the most effective marketing material."</li> </ul> <h3>3) "Can Darlene excel like the biggest-baddest-mofo in her intended position?"</h3> <p>In other words, paraphrasing Collins: <span class="highlight">In the seat that she'll hold, could she potentially be one of the best in that particular seat?</span> Some clues to ask yourself:</p> <ol> <li> On a scale of 1-10, how passionate is she with the position? </li> <li> On another scale of 1-10: How good is she now? How good can she potentially become?</li> </ol> <p><span class="highlight">If you ultimately tell yourself she's destined for greatness, you're potentially looking at a great hire.</span></p> <h3>4) "Does she display a pattern of concrete results in positions she's held in the past?"</h3> <p>Results might include: increased sales by 10% quarterly, made company 50% more efficient, increased referral rates by 2x, etc.</p> <ul> <li>If she's humble about those results = good. (i.e. She's doing stuff to benefit the company, not her.)</li> <li>If the results continue after she takes on a new responsibility = good. (i.e. Again: she's doing stuff to benefit the company, not her.)</li> </ul> <h3>5) "Does Darlene share our core values?"</h3> <p><span class="highlight">A company meshed with altering values loses its identity; instead of seeking greatness, it becomes another boring-blah organization trying to make everyone happy -- but passionately exciting no one. </span> So, seek people who share your core values (e.g. innovation, fun, rebellious, customer-obsessed, etc.) Do this test: <strong><strong>If you were imprisoned for the rest of your life in a 10x10 cell, would you choose your potential hire as your cellmate for the rest of your life?</strong></strong> <strong>Tip: </strong>Don't wait to get this part absolutely right, as people can be a little tricky if you've never worked with them -- and you'll spend the rest of your life wondering if the person could've been a great asset to your company. <span class="highlight"><strong>Instead, build your company in a way such that those who fit your values succeed -- and those who don't will quit, quickly.</strong></span></p> <ul> <li>For instance, Google can ensure their contract-to-hire engineers fit their core value of 'technical contribution' by incorporating a policy that engineers must create X innovations in Y months -- before they're hired as long-term employees. </li> </ul> <h2>"Will that checklist help me hire, perfectly?"</h2> <p><span class="highlight">It'll astronomically boost your chances of hiring correctly for your company, but it's not the be-all-end-all to hiring your next superstars.</span> According to the study, the visionary companies rarely hired correctly. Yet, they experienced a <strong>double-hump</strong> to their hiring:</p> <ol> <li> Those who suck get blown out the door -- viciously quickly.</li> <li> Those who rock, the companies ensured they stayed at the company for a long time.</li> </ol> <p><span class="highlight">In other words, it's not how you hire -- but what happens after you hire.</span></p> <ol> <li>Do the wrong people run for the exits quickly?</li> <li>Do the right people stay on for a long time?</li> </ol> <p>If you get two positives, rock on.</p> <h2>Hire the sexy way.</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> 2007-04-01T22:08:00-07:00 true 513 what-to-hire-in-people-2 0 2009-11-06T21:45:45-08:00