Nickel in demand

Recruitment
Hiring the right people is immensely
complex – it is no surprise that so
many mistakes are made. Getting
recruitment right will pay huge dividends,
but is enough rigor applied to the process?
Though luck will play its part, businesses
need the right people to be available and
attracted to your organisation. If there are
two things that are critical it is to assess
people’s values and leadership.
Values must come first. Underlying
nearly all the failures of directors will
be inappropriate values. These are
the things that define how a person
behaves and in turn, the culture of the
organisation. Values also have a big
part to play in the way that a person
‘fits’ an organisation. They may have a
different style or character to that which
you imagine and may even have a slight
mismatch of background and experience;
but the values must come first. Always.
Remember, ‘hire the smile, and train
the skill’ – the same simple rule applies to
values. ‘Hire the values, train the expertise’.
Values are the inner beliefs, the things that
define behaviour in individuals. They define
how people approach work and how they
relate to colleagues – and in a director they
define how they behave as leaders. They
can and should be defined, but rarely can
this be achieved with a five-point list that
is hung in reception; these speak to an
aspiration, designed by committee.
So how do you define the values that
you seek in a new recruit? It is not as hard
as it may sound.
The starting point is analysis of what
constitutes the existing organisational
culture – the blend of beliefs and
behaviours that makes the people
effective and the company successful.
Do not treat this lightly – in competitive
markets the most important differentiator
that you have will be your culture and
how employees behave. Those involved
in the recruitment process must use this
defined value set as a basis for candidate
assessment in the interview process.
They need to ensure that candidates are
assessed in a balanced and objective
manner. It sounds obvious, but candidates
can all too easily be seized on with too
much enthusiasm by senior colleagues
when they see the experience on paper.
HR and other directors should be looking
beyond experience to ensure that the
personal fit is matched.
In addition to the formal processes,
there are two other ways to assess
candidates. Firstly, telephone them at
home, out of hours. Catching people off
guard and away from the mentality of
the interview ‘performance’ can be very
revealing. Heed the findings because these
often represent the real person.
Secondly, ensure that many other
people in the organisation meet the
candidate before they are appointed –
especially those that will come into direct
contact. Ask these people for their views.
They will be most revealing and if this
process is used frequently the employees
own empowerment will increase. They will
also help the new director more when they
do arrive and increase the chance of the fit
working and lasting.
About the author
Stephen Archer
Stephen is a UK-based consultant and
business analyst and in 2003 founded Spring
Partnerships LLP. He is a consultant to various
multi-national companies at CEO level,
and has been called the ‘Jeremy Clarkson’
of business speakers, for his amusing and
insightful perspectives on the changing
business environment.
www.spring-partnerships.com
BE Monthly [ Aug 2014 ] 9