Who Should You Hire?

In 2008, orga­ni­za­tions were in survival mode. Many survived through cut-backs, layoffs, and pay-cuts. With less staff, the remaining employees took more respon­si­bil­i­ties, and wore a lot of hats. It’s now 2011, and things have improved for most. Many are building staff to previous levels. My question is — whom do you hire?

How Important is Expe­ri­ence and Knowledge?

I believe expe­ri­ence and knowledge are useless, if not destruc­tive, without character. Hiring for character takes a tremen­dous amount of work. It’s so much easier to hire for expe­ri­ence because it reduces the need for training. Consider whether some of your best employees are people who came to you with little or no expe­ri­ence. Have you worked with expe­ri­enced and knowl­edge­able people who caused problems due to poor character? Heaven forbid you have an employee who is good at their job, but mal­con­tent. They are toxic and poisonous to others, and they’re often listened to because they do have work skills. So… what should you look for–experience, knowledge, or character?

If You Want Valuable, Pro­duc­tive Employees, Hire For Character

If you want to build an out­stand­ing orga­ni­za­tion, hire for character. Hiring for character is hard work because it doesn’t begin with the interview. It starts with devel­op­ing a training system. If you don’t have to depend on expe­ri­ence and you can teach the job, you can con­cen­trate on hiring good people. Training is hard work; devel­op­ing the system may be harder.

My friend, Bob, competed in martial arts as a young man. He was able to stand on either foot indef­i­nitely, and with the other foot, kick higher, harder, and faster than most con­tes­tants. He was often asked what his secret was, and he would politely share how he got up early every morning, before his job, and practiced. He practiced during lunch. He went to the gym every night. He worked out every weekend. A normal response to this was, “No really, how do you do it?” Bob is now a very suc­cess­ful busi­ness­man. There is no easy way to be out­stand­ing. It’s hard work to hire for character first.

Are You Convinced?

Do you know of skilled employees who’ve stirred up trouble? How about knowl­edge­able people who broke policies? Have you dealt with expe­ri­enced workers who were lazy, negative, selfish, or irre­spon­si­ble? Have some of your best teammates been those who came to you green? Are you convinced yet? Okay, how do you interview for character? Well… that’s another post, but for now, check out a great resource, characterfirst.com.

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