Business man coaching soccer
Start with understanding the characteristics of your team that work really well. Often, they are the characteristics that distinguish you in the marketplace. Finding the right people doesn’t have to be difficult.
I wrote a piece last February on high turnover and a company’s selection process. One of the key things I said was, “Know really well the job you are hiring for (requirements and expectations ranked in order of importance), the key attributes and skills you are looking for, consistent with your culture, and why and how people are successful in the job, in the department, and in the company.” This is a cornerstone, no matter what level you are hiring for.
When I’m hiring for my ‘’A-Team’’ I want to also focus on the character, values, and leadership style. What I’m after is ‘chemistry.’ What do I need from a particular person that will compliment who is already there?
We can look at the ‘objective’ pieces of what makes high performing people and teams. We can study and know what individual and team characteristics are most important to effective teams. What is harder to document, because it is often different in each team, is chemistry. It is the combined energy, talent, skills, and common goal(s) that place these individuals and teams at a higher, more effective level. Hiring for ‘it’ requires an understanding of what ‘it’ is in your unique environment. The more understanding and agreement of what you want (values, behaviors, attributes, skills) will help you define, and then know, ‘it’ when you see it.
Once we have done these things, and these are things that can take weeks, months, or longer to emerge, we are ready to go out and find it. Articulating the ‘who’ in your “A-Team” is as valuable as your ability to articulate the purpose, direction, and vision for your organization.
- Start with who you know – clients, colleagues, classmates, volunteers. This can be a great resource, particularly if they know you well and you are able to articulate well what/who it is you are looking for. This includes not just the ‘position’ you are hiring for, but also the type of person.
- Check other people’s recommended resources – where they found key people.
- Have an on-line presence – posting on-line and leveraging your on-line network can be an important part of your search. It broadens the field of candidates and improves your chances of finding that key person(s). I would stick with sites like LinkedIn that is business related.
- Post at non-traditional places like Craigslist – one of the more underutilized places to find people.
- Contact trade associations for the position (i.e., SHRM for HR professionals) – the local chapters can be invaluable as a resource. Again, your ability to articulate the ‘what’ and the ‘who’ of your search, the better the resource will be able to help you.
Finding your “A-Team” requires a lot of internal awareness of who you are as an organization and what you want. Just as growing your capacity as an individual, the ‘internal work’ for organizations is hard, disciplined work. The level of success is often related to the level of investment you make in the ‘foundational’ blocks for yourself and your organization.
What part of finding your “A-Team” could stand improvement?