Among the multitude of important business activities that we all engage in, recruiting a new member to our team is extraordinarily high on the list. The positive effects on productivity, quality, customer satisfaction, profitability, and so on, coupled with the sheer joy of working with a great new employee makes all the resume sifting and painstaking interviews worth the effort. Conversely, when we bungle a selection, the pain is akin to a rotting tooth with the same inevitable outcome—extraction. While relevant to every industry and profession, the technology sector seems to be predisposed to this dilemma a bit more than most others.
When we make a great hire, the comments are all but cliché. “How’s the new person working out?” “Oh…she/he is terrific!” “Productive out of the gate; never need to follow-up; focused; a real pleasure to work with, etc., etc.” We call these people “A-grade”. They are granted increases in pay, bonus compensation, and put on-track for promotion. I need not provide much detail when the converse is the reality. Suffice it to say one of two outcomes will occur: termination (recommended) or retention with a harmful drag on morale over time.
So then, what constitutes a great hire? We all know it when we see it. It is called PASSION—a naturally occurring phenomenon in certain people that grace us with their presence. They wake up each morning wanting to exceed expectations regardless of title, pay, or other features bestowed by their employer. Of course, they want (and need) to be recognized, but that is not what drives them. These people are motivated by the personal satisfaction derived from doing a great job. It’s in their DNA.
Most organizations have the interview process turned completely upside-down. Candidates are qualified based on a review of the (sometimes, enhanced and sanitized) skills and experiences cataloged on a resume and then interviewed in a futile attempt to further the understanding of such litany. We spend precious little (if any) time focused on why this soon-to-be-hired-person acquired those skills in the first place; whether they will be truly capable of applying such skills effectively in our organization, and what might drive them to do so.
Why? Probably because we are simply too afraid to ask. Most of us develop our passions during our formative years spent with our caregivers and peers. Our passions are further developed in us through education, achievements, military experience, activities, clubs, sports and other personal experiences and challenges. If these accomplishments and personal experiences are so indicative, why do we view the discussion of someone’s upbringing as forbidden territory? In an age when personal lives are splayed all over Facebook, it is ironic that we feel discussing a candidate’s rearing is somehow an invasion of privacy. And so, an important position can end up being filled with a candidate who may possess the skills called for by a job description, but may simply not have the passion to do a great job.
The IT sector is famous for hiring predominantly for skill, in part because the expertise sought is so complex, convoluted and ever-changing. Today, IT subject matter domain expertise is isolated not by general area (e.g., database), not by product (e.g., Oracle), but down to the version level (e.g., 10g vs. 11g). This drives an inordinate amount of focus in the direction of technical skill and away from the personal factors that will ultimately dictate the quality and the effort that a candidate is capable of providing.
Here is the greater irony—passionate people will always drive themselves to acquire the skills needed for them to be great at their jobs.
Consultants. Skills, aptitude, and personality testing. Have we become too sophisticated for our own good? Are we over-engineering the process? Are we missing the point of what really forms the magic between an employee and a company? Workforce Talent Acquisition has become a huge industry fueled, in part, by our need to hire better. Are we just inserting experts into the process because we have confused the living-daylights out of ourselves when it comes to the fundamental act of hiring good people?
One would think that in this age of matured thinking, sophisticated HR technology, and Internet social networking that we would be able to improve our batting average. Some quick research on the web will show you that, for U.S. corporations, the success rate for filling open positions with the right people the first time around is about 33%. That is a losing record by any standard. One could argue that we’ve actually regressed over time.
There is a surplus of books written on the topic of hiring and motivating employees. Many of them contain pearls of wisdom buried within extensive methodologies that may hold the answer for you. On the other hand, I’m not sure we need an instruction manual to help us separate passionate people from the rest. We need to trust our instincts and get personal in the interview process. An unconventional look at seeing things for “how they are” was provided through a non-HR book called Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. He encourages the reader to trust his or her initial impressions and judgment when it comes to making decisions. I whole-heartedly agree.
Hire for passion, train for skill!
