During the Great Recession, hiring was not much of a problem because most companies weren\u2019t doing any of it.\u00a0 Some imposed a hiring freeze, others laid people off.\u00a0 Now we have the opposite problem: companies want to hire but can\u2019t find the people they want.\u00a0 Best-selling business author Jim Collins uses the analogy of a bus.\u00a0 First, he advises, you need to get the right people on the bus, the bus being your company\u2019s culture.\u00a0 That is, you want to find people who hold the values, and practice the behaviors, that will make them a good \u201cfit\u201d for your culture.\u00a0 Then, once the right people are on the bus, you need to put them in the right seats (jobs that are a good match for their skills and interests).\u00a0 So, culture first, skills second.\u00a0 However, in a tough labor market, when highly skilled people are hard to find, some companies may be tempted to turn Collins\u2019 advice around . . . skills first, culture if we\u2019re lucky.\u00a0 That\u2019s a bad idea.\u00a0 To learn why, please continue reading below.<\/p>\n
Be the gatekeeper of your company\u2019s culture.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>If you have a strong and vibrant culture . . . one that is built around your company\u2019s values, norms, and practices . . . it needs to be protected.\u00a0 Even a strong and vibrant culture can be infected by poor hiring standards. The time-honored axiom, \u201cA few bad apples can spoil the whole barrel,\u201d applies here.\u00a0 If you get a few people in your midst whose behaviors and belief systems are at odds with the rest of the company, you may find your strong culture has suddenly become very fragile.<\/p>\n See if this sounds familiar.\u00a0 You desperately need a senior programmer who is skilled in the XYZ programming language, but such people are very scarce.\u00a0 You\u2019ve looked everywhere and come up empty.\u00a0 Then, when you were just about at your wits end, in walks a guy to apply for the job.\u00a0 You check him out.\u00a0 He\u2019s held all the right jobs at all the right places and can demonstrate mastery of the XYZ programming language.\u00a0 He\u2019s the real deal.\u00a0 Oh sure, some of his comments and behaviors during the interview process were a bit odd, but they were probably nothing to worry about . . . probably just nerves.\u00a0 The truth is, you were afraid if you drilled down on some of that odd stuff, you might scare him away or find something that would disqualify him.\u00a0 So you convince yourself that it will probably be OK.\u00a0 Besides, you need the guy so damned bad!\u00a0 You pull the trigger and hire him.\u00a0 Ninety days later, you fire him, which was about 89 days too long if you ask his fellow employees.\u00a0 He was a self-absorbed, arrogant jerk that nobody could stand to be around much less work with.<\/p>\n So, if you add up the pluses and minuses of this little adventure, what have you got?<\/p>\n On the plus side, you did get a guy whose skills you so desperately needed, but that\u2019s about all.<\/p>\n On the minus side:<\/p>\n The point here is you, and any of your managers who have hiring authority, hold the keys to the kingdom.\u00a0 You are the gatekeepers and the rest of your organization will hold you accountable to treat that responsibility as a sacred trust.\u00a0 If you make too many hiring mistakes, your people will begin to question your judgement and your leadership.\u00a0 When it comes to hiring the right people, nobody bats a thousand, but you should keep your batting average as high as possible, and when you do make a mistake, own up to it and correct it as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n The key to hiring right is keeping the Jim Collins order of things . . . culture first, skills second.\u00a0 Make a solid commitment to your role as gatekeeper and do whatever you need to do to protect the integrity of your culture.\u00a0 Obviously, that will sometimes be difficult, particularly when a key position or skill is involved.\u00a0 But really, it\u2019s just a management problem.\u00a0 Or more precisely, it\u2019s an exercise in contingency planning.<\/p>\n Consider Tom.\u00a0 For twenty years he\u2019s been the heart, soul, and driving force of our organization<\/p>\n . . . don\u2019t know what we\u2019d do without him.\u00a0 Tom gets hit by a bus.\u00a0 No more Tom.\u00a0 So what do we do?\u00a0 We could close our doors, but that\u2019s not an acceptable option.\u00a0 So we have to figure out some other way to continue on without Tom.\u00a0 Likewise, when we have a critical role to fill, lowering our hiring standards should not be an acceptable option.\u00a0 Instead, we should ask ourselves, \u201cWhat can we do to buy ourselves some time so we don\u2019t feel like we have to hire the first person who walks through our door and can fog a mirror?\u00a0 What can we do to continue operations at an acceptable level while we search for the right candidate to fill a critical spot?\u201d<\/p>\n Your role as gatekeeper is a critical one.\u00a0 Take it seriously and make a commitment to it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" During the Great Recession, hiring was not much of a problem because most companies weren\u2019t doing any of it.\u00a0 Some imposed a hiring freeze, others laid people off.\u00a0 Now we have the opposite problem: companies want to hire but can\u2019t find the people they want.\u00a0 Best-selling business author Jim Collins uses the analogy of a<\/p>\n\n