Why Scaling Up Your Interviewing Skills Helps to Hire Better People
I’ve written before about how critical it is to hire the right people if you want to scale up your business and grow. Obviously, the interview process plays a big role in hiring the kind of “A-List” people you want. If you’re not satisfied with the results you’re getting when you hire, you may need to transform the way you interview. Let’s look at how to scale up your interviewing skills to hire better people and experience dramatic growth.
Do You Know What You’re Looking For?
There’s a tendency to hire people by matching the functions of a job with the skills that candidates bring to the table. But if you’re looking to take things to the next level, that kind of matchmaking probably isn’t enough—especially if you’re hiring for key positions. If you want to keep getting the same results you can keep hiring the same kinds of people. That might even result in some incremental growth. But is that what you want?
Start With the Job Description
Make sure the job description truly reflects what you want from potential candidates. If your job descriptions haven’t been updated in a while they are probably not in sync with changes you have in mind. I’m not suggesting that you spend countless hours coming up with the perfect wording. But you do need to make sure that the description describes essential capabilities. Think beyond basic functionality. How do you want this person to think and interact with others?
Improve Your Interviewing Skills
Too many leaders play head games with potential employees. It’s almost as if they are trying to trick them and uncover weaknesses. That’s not the point. Yes, you want to make sure that your candidate has certain basic skills. You need to go beyond that and ask questions that reveal more about the way the candidate thinks and solves problems. A while back I wrote an article entitled Are You Asking the Right Questions? The idea is to ask the kinds of questions that reveal someone’s critical thinking skills and teamwork skills.
Here’s Help for Improving Your Interviewing Skills
If you’re looking for help in hiring the right kind of people, I’d recommend Eric Herronkohl’s book, How to Hire A-Players. This book explores where and how to find A-player employees who will help keep quality high and growth and profits strong. You’ll find a brief description of this book and other helpful titles on our Resources page.
Here’s One Way to Know if You Even Need to Hire
Before hiring new people to move your company forward, it’s a good idea to have an accurate picture of the capabilities and attitudes of your existing team. By clicking on the “Assess Your People” button below, you can do a quick evaluation (it only takes about 2 minutes) of your current staff. While this isn’t a full-blown analysis of your team, it can help you to spot some general trends—and help you choose the right new hires.
Need help growing your business? With over 35 years of experience and thousands of companies assisted, Chuck Kocher and The Transformation Company can help you scale your business into a truly exceptional business capable of high growth strategies. Businesses are always changing, don’t let yours be left behind. Stand out with our business and executive leadership programs – designed to challenge and improve your business. Your business will thank you for it. Contact me today for a free consultation! 719-339-9505