Another Dimension To Hiring Beyond Skills

Last week, we talked about hiring and the fact that, generally speaking, hiring for attributes like passion, values, expectations, and talent rather than basic skills will serve you, your team, and your entire organization better in the long run.

In writing last week’s post, I was reminded of an article that Dave and I published some time ago on the ECI Learning Systems website. I think that article, which I’ve shared below, adds another important dimension to our hiring discussion..….

We were recently working with a client and were discussing the fact that he was preparing to do some hiring. He had only hired a few people on his own in the past and frankly, wasn’t all that happy with the people that he had hired. Our client has a technical background and was good at spotting technical talent but he found that just because people had the talent to do the job, didn’t always mean that they could or would work for him successfully.

The truth is that there is much more to hiring and building a successful team than just hiring people who have the talent and skills to do the job. You don’t have to think hard to identify some talented under-achievers in just about any field. Likewise, you can probably think of many examples of over-achievers who seemingly lacked the natural talent, yet somehow always managed to rise to the top.

When you are hiring for specific skills, you need to make sure that your candidates have the right talent and skills to succeed. If you’re hiring an accountant, you want to make sure your candidates have the accounting degree or equivalent experience to do the job. The same would be true of a salesperson, programmer, or customer service representative. Step one in the hiring process is always, “Does this person have the skills and talents to do what I need them to do?”

But what happens after that? What else do you look for when you are making the critical hiring decisions?

The list of attributes can be long, but let’s focus on four things:

Integrity – adherence to a moral or ethical code

Energy – will take action and make things happen

Coachability – can be further trained or developed

Team Oriented – willingness to put the teams’ goals ahead of their own goals

If you hire somebody without integrity, you really want them to be dumb & lazy. ~Warren Buffett

If we could choose just one attribute to be used for hiring, it would be integrity. When an employee has integrity, you know that this is an employee you can trust.

Trust to tell you when they can’t accomplish something.

Trust to tell you when they don’t think you are right.

Trust to do the right thing for your customers.

When you can trust your employees and your employees can trust you, you have then truly built the foundation for a great team.

I think this article expands our discussion of hiring attributes even further.

Beyond skills…beyond having a passion for your organization’s mission…beyond having values and expectations that are a critical fit with your organization’s culture and values…and beyond having unique talents that will make them an invaluable long-term employee…there are other, more personal, attributes that are important to your organization and should not be compromised in the hiring process.

We mentioned 4 of these personal attributes above: integrity, energy, coachability, and team-oriented attitude and behavior. Do these attributes resonate with you? Are there other attributes that we did not mention, which are critical to your organization’s values, expectations, and mission? Do you currently explore these attributes in your hiring process? If so, how do you determine if a potential employee has “the right stuff”?

We’d love to hear your thoughts on hiring and how you handle this critical process in your organization.

At ECI Learning Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity and profitability by creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of training and personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments allow us to create a development plan tailored for your success.

Until next time….

Laurie Valaer

ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ECILearning.com

Is there Hiring Beyond Skills?

The topic of hiring has come up in several recent discussions on our radio show, The Leader’s Edge.

Hiring can be a tricky subject, as there are different schools of thought on the process. HR departments often insist that hiring must be done based on a person’s skillset and their ability to immediately perform the tasks at hand….with no forethought to how this person will perform long-term, or in other roles, or as a team member or leader.

Wise leaders (including those we’ve talked to on our show) and many great leadership experts believe that there is a better way!

In September, Steve Cooper, CEO of the Hospice of St. John, was a guest on our show. His non-profit staffs a combination of paid and volunteer personnel. Steve talked about how important a person’s passion for the hospice patients and families is to their ultimate success there. Similarly, several months ago I read an article in the Denver Post about the Autism Society of Colorado. Their executive director also mentioned that true, authentic passion is the key to hiring successful, long-term employees in their organization. The common message from these non-profit leaders: Hire for values and train for skill.

Now, you might be thinking to yourself…. “well, I can see how that makes sense in the non-profit world…but it really doesn’t apply to my business.” Again, several of our radio show guests would disagree with you. Heidi Hollenbeck, John Scarborough, and Richard Battenberg are all high-level executives in high-tech industries. All three talked about how important it is to determine if a candidate’s values and expectations match the company’s values and culture. The message from these successful business executives: Hire for fit and train for skills.

Are you starting to see a theme here? Let’s look at one more perspective. In this excerpt from the Hiring and Interviewing chapter of “The Engaged Manager”, my business partner, Coach David R Meyer, shares thoughts from his personal hiring experience:

Finding the right players for your team, not only for today but also for the future, is one of the most enjoyable tasks that you will perform as a manager. Searching for talent and improving the quality of your team can only serve to make your team stronger and your own job easier.

…

The purpose of this chapter is to help you find the best talent for your organization. Ultimately, hiring for talent, while more challenging and time consuming than hiring for skills, is one of the keys to your long-term success.

...

If you want to hire the very best people, if you want to build a great team, if you want to be a great leader, then hire for talent and attitude and train for skill.

Certainly, there are some exceptions to this rule. If you were in a hospital and hiring neurosurgeons, then you would not hire a great guy or gal who did not have a medical degree. But being a neurosurgeon is a specialized skill that takes years to acquire. This is not true for most positions. In addition, as you interviewed neurosurgeons, you would look for the neurosurgeon with the most talent and the best attitude, NOT the one who had performed the most operations.

Skills are the most routine part of any job. Yes, you need to make sure that the basic skill-set exists in your candidate, but not the specific skills. Skills can be taught, talent cannot. When you hire based on skills, you are hiring based on the lowest common denominator of the job. When you hire for talent, you are hiring the potential to do so much more than the job requires. When you hire for talent, you are hiring for future growth.

When you hire for talent, you are hiring for things that cannot be taught!

Hire for talent and you will hire for greatness.

Dave’s message from this chapter: Hire for talent and attitude and train for skill.

Now, as Dave points out in this excerpt, skills do play a role in the hiring process and are certainly critical in certain professions. But, once you ensure that the person has the basic skills to do the job, hiring the RIGHT person for the job can depend heavily on their passion, values, expectations, and overall talent. Remember….skills can be taught, many of these other attributes cannot. And, these attributes could mean the difference between hiring a successful long-term employee and replacing someone who was not a good fit a few months down the road.

Take a look at your hiring processes. Is there room for improvement? Do you hire only for skill-set? Is it appropriate for your business to consider hiring based on other attributes? Besides passion, values, expectations, and talent….are there other attributes that make sense for your organization? If so, we’d love for you to share them here!

At ECI Learning Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity and profitability by creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of training and personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments allow us to create a development plan tailored for your success.

Until next time….

Laurie Valaer

ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ECILearning.com

A “F.A.I.L. to Succeed” Culture

Dave and I have given several presentations this year on the subject of failure, and the role of failure in success. As individuals, we have been taught that failure is a bad thing. Now I doubt that anyone sat each of us down and told us that failure is a terrible thing and that we should never, ever fail….or that any of us actually had a class on failure where we were told it was bad. But, all of life’s lessons, the things that we are encouraged to strive for, and the things that we might be admonished for, all potentially lead us to the conclusion that failure is bad.

Our presentation on failure is called “F.A.I.L. to Succeed” and, in it, we actually encourage people to take a few more risks and to not be afraid of failing. We offer a 4-step process to help individuals embrace the notion that failure is how we learn; that failure has lead to some of the greatest successes of our time. Now, I’m not going to go into all of the details here….because it would spoil the presentation for you! (but…..if you’d like to hear more about the tie-in between failure and success and how it can help empower your employees or group members and can lead to more innovation, give us a call. We’d love to bring “F.A.I.L. to Succeed” into your organization or company).

What I will discuss today is the idea of applying the “F.A.I.L. to Succeed” concept to company culture. Managers in a “F.A.I.L. to Succeed” culture understand that, for innovation to happen, employees need to have the space to envision, explore, experiment, and learn from any mistakes they might make in the process. A “F.A.I.L. to Succeed” culture is one where employees are rewarded for being flexible, taking risks, and trying new things; rather than being inflexible, sticking to the old tried and true ways, and doing things as they have always been done. What’s the old saying….. “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, then you’ll get what you’ve always got.” Not exactly the mantra of innovators, is it?!?!?

Now, don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean that management should simply let employees experiment randomly, never learning from their mistakes and never applying those lessons to the task at hand. This is a sure way to accomplish nothing but repeated mistakes, schedule and budget creep, and, eventually, a loss in profits.

Rather, in a “F.A.I.L. to Succeed” culture, success is the ultimate goal and, when employees fail at something, they are encouraged to stop and examine that failure. Only when they acknowledge the mistake to themselves and others, can they truly examine the underlying reasons for the failure and learn the critical lessons that will make their next attempt more successful.

In our presentation on failure, Dave and I make the point that failure is temporary in nature. Problems arise only when failure becomes permanent. And failure only becomes permanent if we do not learn from our mistakes and move on. And, when moving on, we don’t simply forget the failure or the lessons. Instead, we focus on how we can grow from the experience, constantly looking for ways to apply those lessons and asking ourselves how we can build on what we’ve learned.

While risk can certainly be scary for an individual, it is even more so for an organization. But as the leader of an organization, you cannot let the possibility of failure paralyze you and your team. If you take no risks, you’ll have no failure…..but you’ll also have no gain.

Is a “F.A.I.L. to Succeed” culture right for your business? If so, is it the type of culture that you have created in your organization? Do you encourage risk-taking and acknowledge the potential for failure. Do you assume that learning those lessons are all part of doing business? Do you teach your employees that failure can be the road to the greatest, most satisfying, success?


At ECI Learning Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity and profitability by creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of training and personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments allow us to create a development plan tailored for your success.


Until next time….

Laurie Valaer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ECILearning.com

The History of Customer Service

In the beginning, Management created the product and gave it to the Customer. And the Customer liked the product; and it was good. And the Customer loved Management.

As the Customer used the product they began to have questions, and Management said, “We must give the Customer some help with the product. They need a friendly voice that they can talk to and ask questions.” And Management created the Customer Service Rep. And the Customer liked the Customer Service Rep because they were helpful and responsive and made the experience worthwhile; and it was good. And the Customer loved Management.

Management added new features to the product and made it more complex. And while the Customer liked the product, he had more questions and made more calls to the Customer Service Rep. Management added more Customer Service Reps and the Customer Service Reps did their best to help the Customer. And the Customer appreciated the Customer Service Reps; and it was good.

Into the land came the Efficiency Expert and he proposed to help Management increase their profits. And the Efficiency Expert introduced the Automated Call Distributor (ACD) to Management and told them that it would help the Customer Service Rep assist the Customer even more by responding to them quicker. And Management believed them and was thankful to the Efficiency Expert; and the Customer really did not notice the difference; And Management said it was good.

And the Efficiency Expert introduced Call Metrics to Management. And they told Management that Call Metrics would help them service the Customer even more. The Efficiency Expert used the Call Metrics to measure how long it took the Customer Service Rep to help the Customer. They told Management that the Customer was waiting too long for service and that by reducing the wait time there would be more profits. Management believed them. And the Customer did not notice the difference; and Management said it was good.

Then the Efficiency Expert told Management that they could best serve the Customer by helping them as quickly as possible. This would allow every Customer Service Rep to help more customers and it would create more profits. Management believed them. And Call Metrics were introduced to shorten the time the Customer Service Rep spent with each Customer. And the Customers began to feel unimportant; and profits increased; and Management said it was good.

The Efficiency Expert said that being friendly took too much time and did not service the Customer. By not being friendly the Customer Service Reps would be more efficient and could serve more Customers, and profits would increase. Management believed them. And the Customers noticed and were not happy; and profits increased; and Management said it was good.

The Efficiency Expert said that the Customer Service Reps made too much money and that moving the Customer Service Reps to a foreign country would increase profits and allow them to hire more Customer Service Reps to help the Customers. Management believed them. And the Customers could not understand the Customer Service Reps who did not speak their native language and they were upset; and profits increased; and Management said it was good.

And the Customers began to complain. They did not want short phone calls, they wanted help using the Product. They wanted someone to be helpful and friendly, and they wanted to talk with someone they could understand. And the Efficiency Expert said that this was not important and that it would hurt profits. Management believed them and worked to reduce average call times even more; and profits increased; and Management said it was good.

And the unemployed Customer Service Reps could not find other jobs and began to buy less of the Product. The Efficiency Expert said that costs must be cut even further and that average call times needed to be reduced and Customer Service Reps were told that no call could be longer than 2 minutes and 10 seconds. Call Menu’s were introduced to eliminate the need for the Customer to speak to a real human being. Customer Service Reps then cut off all calls in 2 minutes and 10 seconds regardless of whether or not the Customer was served. The Efficiency Expert said it was good; Management believed them. And the Customers were angry and began to buy products from other companies. Profits began to go down; Management said it was good.

The Efficiency Expert fought hard to cut costs even more by reducing the number of Customer Service Reps, eliminating user manuals and instructions, and implementing self-help tools for the Customers. Management said it was good. And the Customers stopped buying the product; the Company went bankrupt; and Management could not be found.

The End.

What is the history of customer service in your organization? This is always a great time of year to look around your organization and see where you stand.

Are you currently taking the best possible care of your customers? Or, has your organization lost sight of your key customer service goals….in the name of efficiency and cost savings? And, what can you do to continue pleasing your customers or to regain their trust if it, indeed, has been lost.

I hope that you enjoyed this article. At ECI Learning Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity and profitability by creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of training and personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments allow us to create a development plan tailored for your success.


Until next time….

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ECILearning.com

Is Democracy The Word Of The Day?

In our last blog, I shared an article on “healthy” debate that Dave and I wrote and posted on the ECI website a couple of years ago. This idea of encouraging open and honest debate within your organization is obviously not new. Many leadership experts will tell you how important it is to creativity, follow-through, ongoing innovation, and, ultimately, your organization’s bottom-line.

In fact, one of my favorite leadership authors, Patrick Lencioni, describes healthy conflict as a key component of gaining buy-in, commitment, and accountability in his book, “The Five Disfunctions of a Team”. Lencioni explains that, without trust in the organization and each other, employees will avoid sharing and discussing ideas for fear of creating conflict. Instead, they create an environment of artificial harmony; where everyone appears to agree with the decisions and actions, but most walk away without feeling heard and without truly committing to the plan.

Last week I read about a local Colorado company, Namasté Solar, which has been named a finalist in Inc. Magazine’s “2011 Top Small Company Workplaces”. It seems that Namasté Solar truly takes the idea of open debate – allowing everyone to be heard and gaining buy-in at all levels – to heart.

The company was founded in 2004 by CEO Blake Jones, Wes Kennedy, and Ray Tuomey. The company was founded on the principals of democracy. As Inc. Magazine shares, “Namasté Solar would be flat, employee owned, transparent, and democratically managed."

The company encourages open debate on any issue or decision that needs to be made, including a recent business/life changing decision regarding a potential buy-out. Because of the company’s business model of “one person, one vote”, employees leave meetings feeling heard, well-informed, and empowered. Even if the vote does not go in their “favor”, employees are willing to buy-in and commit to the decisions made because they know that their concerns and ideas have been considered.

Now, you might be thinking that this kind of democratic business model sounds intriguing but entirely too cumbersome to use in business, especially a very large business. And you may be right. But Namasté Solar has found a way to scale their democratic culture with the growth of their company. Decision-making that started out as consensus from all employees when the company was small, evolved to operating by consent as the company grew. And, now, Namasté Solar has created committees, which any employee can join, to vote on simple day-to-day decisions. Larger decisions that affect all employees are made at bi-monthly company-wide meetings.

This type of democratic business model and culture might not be appropriate for every organization. But Namasté Solar has certainly shown that it can be successful in the right environment, if implemented correctly and diligently. And, their nomination as a finalist in Inc. Magazine’s “2011 Top Small Company Workplaces” illustrates that employees get engaged when they can be involved in the decision making process. With a little healthy debate, they feel heard and informed and can feel good about buying-in to the organization’s plan.

Take a look around your organization. Where do you involve your employees in decision making? Can you do more? Do you encourage a little healthy debate to both engaged your employees and foster creativity? Have you created an environment where your employees are well-informed, engaged in the process, and committed to your plans?

At ECI Learning Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity and profitability by creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of training and personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments allow us to create a development plan tailored for your success.

Until next time….

Laurie Valaer

ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ECILearning.com