Business chief offers hints on how companies can ensure they have the right staff for the job
"IF you fail to get the right people on the bus in the right seats you will fail to achieve your business goals and objectives," says Richard Bosworth, who runs three of the ten Yorkshire Vistage business groups with 30 plus MDs and CEOs.
He believes strongly that finding the right people and making sure they are in the roles that are best suited to their strengths is essential for any business, whatever its size.
“The most effective way to take your company from good to great is to select and hire top-performing employees before pointing your bus in the right direction,” he explains.
Focussing on SMEs he insists it’s important to think carefully before making key personnel decisions.
“As a small business owner and entrepreneur, hire on attitude – and always remember to hire slowly and fire quickly.
“Some of the worst hiring decisions are made in the first 30 seconds of the interview – with the interviewer spending the remaining time justifying that this candidate is the right choice.”
Richard says bosses are often plagued with people management problems which disrupt the team and can impact on the bottom line.
“Before embarking on the recruitment process, begin with the end in mind and firm up some meaningful criteria against which you can evaluate your candidate,” he explains.
Richard’s top hiring tips are:
l Define Deliverables – Describe the results you want people to achieve – not what you want them to do.
Spelling out your expectations up front leaves the candidate in no doubt of what they need to deliver.
l Describe Superior Performance – Write down the behaviours and achievements which you believe constitute outstanding performance in the role.
Then dig deep during the interview to ensure they have delivered against requirements in their previous roles – find out what challenges they faced and how they overcame them.
l Draw up the Expectations Time Line – State what you expect the person to achieve in 30 days, three months, six months and a year. At every milestone, ensure that the achievements match the SMART criteria and are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.
l During the interview ask the ‘3 W’ questions –
“What was your finest moment either at work or in your personal life?”, “Why was that?” and “What special knowledge and or skills did you use to achieve your success?”
Repeat the questions about their 2nd and 3rd finest moment and you will see a trend emerging of what they are particularly good at and why.
Then ask yourself if this matches your required deliverables.
l Hire people smarter than you – Seek out candidates who excel at the elements of the business you can’t do well, and who will add their own special magic to free you up to achieve what only you can do as the leader.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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