Finding, Hiring and Retaining the A
Team
BY
ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D.
I attended a meeting of the local IEEE TEM group the other
night and the speaker’s topic was Hiring the A Team. She was an interesting speaker, but her
entire talk was geared towards hiring practices in general. She never really mentioned the difference
between “A” employees and ordinary ones, nor did she specify in any way how to
find “A” players.
So, I want to talk about finding, hiring and retaining the
“A” employees.
Let’s start with definitions. A stands for All-Star or the best. A players are extra-ordinary, they are
special. So, when we talk about hiring
“A” players at work, we are looking for those that stand out as different – in
a positive way – than most people we would hire.
Therein lies the problem.
Generally speaking, people are afraid of people who are different. Most people hire in their own image. When I conducted my research on managing for
creativity many of the C level executives I interviewed told me that not only
did their managers stifle creativity, but that they made life miserable for
those who had the potential to steal their jobs.
Too, if your corporate idea of “fairness” is to treat
everyone exactly the same way, you are rewarding the mediocre and insulting the
extra-ordinary. You stand a good chance
of losing the best and brightest and maintaining the ordinary who know how to
play it safe.
When we treat everyone exactly the same in our team meetings
(“You spoke for five minutes, not it is his turn to speak”) we are stifling the
ideas of those who are idea people and allowing those who have nothing special
to say equal time.
If your hiring process takes weeks on end, who is left at
the end of the process? Only those who
didn’t get better and quicker offers elsewhere.
If your hiring process is to have a bunch of people each be part of the
interview process and each have a vote as to who is hired and who is rejected,
only the most ordinary will pass the screening and those that are different
will be rejected.
As I write this, I am remembering some interviews that
didn’t go well for me. Let me share them
with you:
·
I was being interviewed to become part of a
major consulting firm. During the second
interview, the hiring manager told me he had shared my resume with other
members of the organization and because of my varied and successful background,
they wouldn’t hire me, because I probably wouldn’t conform – and (in his words)
would be a loose cannon.
·
On another occasion I was also called a loose
cannon. At the end of an interview
process to bring me aboard as a consultant, the decision maker told me all was
in order and I would get the written offer in a week at the most. As he was walking out, he was holding my
marketing materials. He mentioned how attractive
the folder was and asked me where I purchased it. I replied that I had painted it myself (it
was a subtle color wash on a duo-tang folder.)
Horrified, he said, “Oh, you are an artist – we can’t use you, you are
probably a loose cannon.”
Not being called a loose cannon – but not believed:
·
I had been asked to teach the testing/evaluation
courses at a graduate school. During the
hiring process they realized that I didn’t have my doctorate and for
accreditation reasons they needed to hire only Ph.D. professors. Since I had attended to get my doctorate
eventually, I decided to sign up then and there.
During the interview process – conducted by
a group of people including faculty and students, I was asked to describe some
of what I had accomplished in life. As I
started to mention some of what I’d done, one of the women said, “How could you
possibly have accomplished all of that – I certainly couldn’t have done all
that.” I was stunned. How do you answer such a question. Fortunately, one of the deans in the room had
been one of my professors when I was working towards my first master’s
degree. He interrupted the conversation
to say that I had been his teaching assistant and there was no question but
that I had accomplished all I said – and more. I got accepted.
In
her book, “Atlas Shrugged” Ayn Rand tells the story of John Galt and the
Twentieth Century Motor Factory. In this
story she makes clear what happens when need, not merit determines promotions
and compensation. In this story (which I
can’t tell anywhere as well as she did in her book) a motor factory which had
earned its reputation as being the best, was turned over to the adult children
of the original owners. These new owners
wanted the great social experiment and so they decided that compensation would
be according to need. So, if someone had
four children they would be paid much more than someone with no children. Bachelor John Galt, their chief designer quit,
as did all other competent people.
This
was a lot of how to fail to hire and retain the best and the brightest. How do you find them though and give them the
incentive to come with you and stay in your employee?
First
of all you need to clearly define what you are looking for in a candidate. Eliminate all the silly stuff like how many
years of experience, or ability to carry 40 pounds of literature, or
willingness to travel, etc. Get to the
essence. What do you need – and then go
looking for that person.
Now
advertise for those skills, character, personality that are the essence of what
you seek. Advertise in all the
associations, networking events, magazines, etc. that are likely to be read by
and attended by those who are your potential finds.
Eliminate
overly long and cumbersome interviews.
Only those absolutely able to size up candidates and not be threatened
by them should do the interviewing. Be sure that those involved in the decision
are able to size-up people that are different from themselves, or their
expectations.
This
reminds me of another story.
·
I was attending a workshop in ethics, led by
someone other than me. The example given
the audience went something like this:
You have been searching for months for the right candidate for a very
specialized need and cannot find him or her. After months of searching you make
an offer to someone who doesn’t quite meet the elements in your job
description. This person is the “B”
candidate, not the “A” one. You make the
offer and the next day the “A” candidate arrives. What do you do?
Most people said they would keep
the “B” candidate and regrettably let the “A’ candidate go. Some said hire the “A” but then you would be
guilty of a breach of ethics.
I said, I would hire both. I had a responsibility to the “B” candidate
to whom I had made an offer, but I also had a responsibility to my company, the
other employees and the stockholders to hire and retain the best people I could
find.
Once
you find your “A” candidate, compensate him or her well and create stretch
growth opportunities for them. Be sure
to give them the structure and the freedom they need to fulfill their
responsibilities. Have a path to
promotion and to other challenges.
Remember,
the “A” team is the all-star team. Each
person has a role in it, just as each member of a sports team has a different
role. In baseball, the catcher and the
pitcher have different skills and responsibilities, as do the center field and
the short-stop
If
someone is an “A” team player or an “A” team employee they stand out in the
crowed, thus they are noticed by others.
If you don’t let them do their best in your employee – and reward them
accordingly – there are lots of other offers out there..
Labels: A team, hiring practices, retention, the best and brightest
