Ideas for Successful Recruiting

Two keys in talent development are recruiting and selecting a great candidate for the position and then, of course, developing and helping that person do her/his best work, be a great team member, and succeed.

In this article we focus on the first key, i.e., attracting and hiring great candidates.

Attitude, character, and qualities are vitally important. We want a person who has fire in her/his belly, a drive to be successful, and who can be a treasured member of a winning team. Business is competitive, so a person has to “want it,” be willing to work hard, and go the extra mile and make sacrifices at times.

How can we judge attitude? We must rely on our instinct. One of the best hires I made was because I was so impressed with a young man who walked fast, actually very fast, and with a purpose, and when we were seated, he was always leaning in.

We want to be alert to humility coupled with inner-confidence, comfortable eye contact, giving full attention, listening attentively, asking good questions, and being “likeable,” e.g., a genuine smile and seeming comfortable.

We have to rely heavily on our instinct to judge character. We can a sense that a person is honest, has integrity, is caring, is an admirable citizen, and leads a good life.

Let’s think about the qualities we want in the candidate we select. Surely, we want the person to have:

• Humility – Humility is the foundation of growth, and striving for continuous improvement is a path towards success

• Empathy – Whatever the position, the person must have good relationships with her/his teammates and all other colleagues, and be encouraging, helpful, and caring towards them

• A Positive Attitude – Genuinely rooting for colleagues, offering help, and contributing ideas about how we all may be better than before

• Quiet Confidence – To accept responsibility and be accountable. Good people want to be accountable

• Attentive Listening Skills – Listening may be our most important skill in business (and in life), and listening is key to relationships 

• Readiness to Ask Questions  – To learn what is needed, what success looks like, what do others think, and how can we improve

Of course, it is critical to learn a candidate’s knowledge, intelligence and experience as that may likely be one of the driving factors in our selection, depending on the position we are filling. Character and emotional intelligence may well be more important to the person’s success than intellectual intelligence. That is nearly always the case.

It is helpful to envision in our mind what we would want a person successful in the position to look like, likely one who, for example, is:

• A great teammate 

• Has effectual leadership skills

• Is always learning

• Celebrates the successes of others

• Requests and offers timely and helpful feedback

• Develops and maintains productive working relationships with everyone 

• Contributes ideas

• Addresses problems, and 

• Is widely admired for her/his integrity. 

Early in my career, I was counseled to listen to my gut, that if I sense that a person may not be the right selection, that we should not compromise. This is wise advice. Listening to our instincts almost always pays off.

As we recruit, we are not only seeking a great candidate for a position, we are recruiting for a team! We want someone who will ideally strengthen our team, someone who will have a positive influence on others, increasing collaboration, sharing ideas, encouraging teamwork and pride and loyalty to one another and to our company. We want someone who by her/his example, everyone will look to with respect.

In our world today when so much is impersonal due to heavy reliance on the Internet, we want to connect with candidates with a personal touch – with empathy and curiosity. Each candidate is a person and will welcome our treating them with the human dignity we all deserve. 

We want to be engaged ourselves and for our candidates to be engaged and as comfortable as possible under the circumstances, i.e., being interviewed. We should listen with our eyes and well as our ears. Then we are better able to sense a candidate’s character and qualities, which may well be our main objective in selecting and hiring a candidate who will help our team be a true team and will work enthusiastically and collaboratively to achieve or exceed shared goals. 

Our being engaged with a candidate will reflect the culture of our team and company’s culture and will be impressive to the candidate. We want the candidate to want to be a member of our team rather than simply wanting the job.

As leaders, we let’s always keep in mind, we are recruiting for a team, and that happy employees do better work.