Hiring the Right People for the Right Roles

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Hiring the Right People for the Right Roles (download transcript)

Brought to you by Assemble You.

Rob recently became the sales manager of a software company. Just a month into the job, he realised the organisation had a serious challenge hiring the right talent.

Rob’s concern is a common one. According to Peter Capelli in a Harvard Business Review article, 'Hiring talent remains the number one concern of CEOs’. PwC's 2017 CEO survey reports that chief executives view the unavailability of talent and skills as the biggest threat to their business.

‘Hiring the right people to join your team is one of the toughest challenges business owners may face’ according to a recent Forbes Expert panel editorial. It goes beyond hiring someone who believes in your mission, you also need someone who fits into your company culture and has the necessary skills to succeed.  

Hiring the right employee has many implications for your business, from growth and profitability to customer satisfaction and quality, underlining that hiring the right people for the right roles is crucial for the survival of any organisation.

So what should Rob do?

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This lesson will identify and explain practical steps that Rob–or anyone in his position– can take to hire right. It will examine strategic ways of hiring the right talent for the right roles in an organisation, explore how to determine that they are a good fit, touch on how to approach recruitment interviews and underline the importance of hiring the right candidate. At the end of this lesson, you will have practical knowledge of how best to go about hiring to ensure you get the right talent to fit the right roles in your organisation.

The Roman philosopher Seneca once said that if a man knows not which port he sails, no wind is favourable. In hiring the best hands for your organisation, it is crucial to define the overall mission and goals of the team you want to hire into. Even if your team or organisation has defined this, review them again when preparing to hire. It should be clearly articulated what your team is trying to accomplish and why.

This will help you to identify and update the specific needs and gaps in your team by assessing your team's current strengths and weaknesses. Plus, it will help you to identify the specific skills and qualities you require in the person you are hiring.

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Next, you should design the requirements of the job. It is important to figure out what the requirements of a job should be and the corresponding attributes candidates must have.

This means re-evaluating previous requirements of the job in the light of present realities. For example, you might find out that a job that once required a candidate with five years' experience can now do with a candidate with two years' experience considering technological advances, innovation, and on-the-job training opportunities. This will not only help to attract the right candidates in terms of expertise, it will also increase the number of relevant candidates in your application pool. A practical tip is to identify the top four or five duties or responsibilities of the role.  

‘Value plus skills equals success in hiring’, as stated in a Forbes article on hiring and recruitment. It is important to be clear on the expectations of the role and the values of the person you want to hire.  A Financial Times article on the hiring process notes that hiring talented people is only half the battle. They must be found jobs where they can be truly effective. This is because if they are given the wrong responsibilities, with the wrong things to do, they will be square pegs in round holes no matter how much potential talent they have.

It is of utmost importance to clearly identify the skills, experience, and mindset of the person you want in the role. Imagine a football club hiring a skilful footballer who always gets into fights with both opponents and teammates and ends up being repeatedly sent off. This footballer will not be of much use to the club. So even if someone has the skills, if their values aren't aligned with those of your organisation, you run the risk of a bad hire.

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So you have defined the role that needs to be filled by a new hire, and you have also set clear expectations and responsibilities. Now it is time to select candidates from the application pool for interview. According to an Eaton Business School insight on the hiring process, selecting the candidates, evaluating the candidates, and ensuring that the hired candidate aligns with the organisation's culture is the heart of the hiring process. Whether you are using your in-house teams for the hiring process or engaging external recruitment agencies, it is important to promote and market the open position to attract the right candidates into the application pool.

***

Now that you have selected specific candidates for the interview, here are some important tips to employ during the interview to get the best candidates for the relevant position.

In addition to the standardised recruitment questions, it is helpful to ask personalised interview questions. Ask them questions about their experience, their goals for the future, and what they're looking for in a company. Tonika Bruce, the CEO of Lead Nicely, suggests developing a scoring system that measures candidates against set criteria based on specific sets of skills and qualities essential for the role.

This, she advises, can be done by ranking each criterion on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the highest score, then assigning points to each rating. For example, if communication is rated as nine out of 10, then the candidate would receive nine points for those skills.

Furthermore, Brian Hancock, in a McKinsey article on the recruitment process, suggests asking the potential hire to speak about an instance where they demonstrated a particular skill and allowing them to tell a story about when they used the skills in a practical situation. Depending on your outlook, the role, and the industry, you may want to find candidates who demonstrate skills that prepare them for the future, such as curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking. This could be a more sustainable and enlightening approach than selecting candidates based on their education or past job experience.

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Regardless of your ethos, it is useful in some capacity to evaluate whether a candidate's previous experiences have prepared them for this role, whether through formal training, the capacity to acquire new skills, or an ability to be adaptable. This will help you know if the candidate has a track record of positivity, problem-solving, and growth when facing new challenges. Also, someone who develops themselves and the people around them has the potential to be a good hire.

As the lesson comes to a close, let’s summarise the key advice.

Define the overall mission and goals of the team you want to hire into.

Design the specific requirements of the job and be clear on the expectations of the role and the qualities of the person you want to hire.

In addition to the standardised recruitment questions, it is helpful to ask personalised interview questions.

Plan for the future. Determine what traits, experience, and skills might be helpful for greater resilience, adaptability and growth.

Failing to have an effective recruitment system will affect your organisation’s effectiveness and competitiveness and could result in a waste of resources, time, and money.

If you are facing the same recruitment situation as sales manager Rob, start by evaluating what challenges you’ve encountered in the past and how a new strategy might set your organisation up for success.

• Think about a recent or upcoming hiring decision in your organisation. How can you ensure that the candidate’s values align with your company’s culture and goals?
• During an interview, beyond technical skills, what key qualities or behaviours would you look for in a candidate to determine if they are a good long-term fit for your team? Why?

Hiring the Right People for the Right Roles

Define the mission and goals - Ensure the team's objectives are clearly articulated. Understanding what the team needs to accomplish helps identify gaps and the specific skills required of new hires.

Design clear job requirements – Re-evaluate job descriptions to align with present realities, considering changes in industry standards, technological advancements, and company needs.

Clearly define key responsibilities, skills, and values required for success in the role.

Go beyond standard interview questions by incorporating personalised questions about a candidate’s experiences, goals, and values.

Plan for the future – Look for candidates with skills that promote adaptability, creativity, and problem-solving. Hiring for potential ensures long-term success rather than just filling immediate needs.

Continuously assess past hiring challenges and refine recruitment strategies to build a stronger, more resilient team.

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