July 23, 2015- ISSN# 1545-2646
If doctors only used one test
I was speaking with a client the other day about an opportunity to help them better understand the demands of a particular role in their business. As they have used some of our tools in the past, they were familiar enough to ask some specific questions about how to identify certain characteristic which would lend themselves to performance in the job role.
I first had to step back and help them remove some of the perception and bias they were bring into the discussion. As humans we all have some level of bias we bring into conversations. When it comes to selection of talent for your business there tends to be the thought that if I find this exact person I have in my mind everything will work out perfect. The challenge with that person in the mind is that they never exist in the real world. Additionally the person many times has a great number of the characteristic of the person who is doing the hiring for the role. This is especially true if a person is the incumbent and is hiring their replacement.
To get the best talent in a job role you need to not think about how you might do the job but what the job demands and what are the characteristics which lend themselves to higher performance in the role. When doing this, put yourself into the shoes of a doctor who is trying to diagnose what may be causing their patient health challenges. If they send the patient for a single test, say an xray of the chest, they get one view of certain parts of the body. Yes the tool of the xray is great for bone related items such as fractures but that tool is not very effective at looking at the details of tissue, organs etc. There are other test which can be run to gather those details.
When looking at candidates, you can’t just look at them through a single view. They might interview extremely well and behave in a professional manner. The challenge to the interviewer is which lens are they looking through and is the picture complete.
There are many good tools in the marketplace to help in better understanding the various component of candidates. How will they behave in situations, what motivates them, how do they approach things, what is the basis of their natural thought track etc. These tools much like tests the doctors can have run on their patient all help in asking more effective questions of the situation. Things like xrays don’t come right out and tell the doctor the bone is broken unless it is a compound break and at that point it is overly obvious. Tools which help in placing the best candidates into the best roles which will allow them to excel are a critical part of the hiring process.
This week, assess if your business has an effective candidate intake process. How do you go about evaluating the potential fit of a candidate for a particular role with in your company. Just because they did a similar role at another organization doesn’t mean they will just plug into your company and have success. You need to understand what your company and role offer to enable the person. Additionally, what will they require in order to replicate prior success patterns.
If you are still taking an aspirin and calling in the morning, it is time to take control of your candidate intake process and make some progress.
Wondering if your candidate process is being effective? Give JKL Associates a call at (313) 527-7945 to set up a review of your candidate intake process.
Questions or comments – email us at partners@jklassociates.com or call our Office at (313) 527-7945
Copyright – JKL Associates 2015
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