A Checklist For Great Hiring

Reviewing Organizational and Team Goals

Review team goals and responsibilities.  Take a look at what your team and the organization needs. Are you in a fast growing phase or attempting to build a more structured environment? Are you concentrating on keeping your accounts happy or driving new products to new markets? What is your team responsible for and where do you need the talent, knowledge and skills to get you there?

Identify needed team talents, knowledge, and skills. So, what are the strengths you need to bring into your current team? After reviewing team and organizational goals, it’s good to make sure that you have the right current team members owning the areas of responsibility that engage and align them clearly with their talents and experience. Once this is done, you and your team can meet and discuss what is desirable in the new hire. Keep in mind for the new employee to be engaged and successful his role must put to best use his talents, skills, and knowledge areas. Often is the case that teams, in the name of hoping to draft the responsibilities for new hires, create job descriptions which are full of tasks no one wants to do!

Create a role description which details success criteria and key deliverables. Answer the question of what will this new person need to contribute to be successful? Be intentional about the talent areas and experience this individual will bring to your team.

Engaging Stakeholders

Collaborate with key stakeholders to ensure role expectations are understood and shared. Often very talented new employees are set up to fail because their multiple stakeholders (peers, other managers, internal clients, leaders) have differing expectations of what they will contribute. So before you go into the interview and selection process, socialize your draft role description with these important groups. Listen to their feedback and edit where necessary to ensure clarity of role expectations.

Bring stakeholders into the interview process. Meet with the people who will be participating as part of the interview loop. Develop consensus on what areas each differing audience will focus on within the interview process. For example, internal clients might concentrate on how responsive to time demands the candidates are. Peers may want to know more about the interviewees’ work habits.

Structuring the Interview

Ask questions to gain understanding of the candidate’s talents and experience. What did the candidate especially enjoy doing in his past role? What specifically is he enthused about contributing within this new role as he understands it?

Use the 90/10 rule. As the interviewer talk 10% and listen 90% of the time with each candidate.

Share candid and honest feedback with others in the interview loop. Meet as a team and in person to share opinions and impressions. Make sure to not censor any stakeholder group. Listen for personal bias. Discuss any red flags and honor gut feelings. After listening to everyone’s ideas, concerns, and questions – thank everyone for their time and work in helping you to make the right candidate selection.

And one last reminder…. Great Hires + Great Managers = Exceptional Performers!