Who should do the hiring?
“Who should do the hiring?” It’s today’s Myatt on Monday’s question from a tech CEO. Admittedly, this particular CEO hasn’t had the best hiring record, and at the same time, he’s also not completely comfortable with handing over the process to HR. The main difference between the CEO who posed today’s question and many other CEOs is that he acknowledges his flaws (acknowledgment is the first step on the road to recovery). He never ceases to amaze me how many recruiters have absolutely no recruiting skills. In today’s blog post, I’ll share my philosophy on the best way to hire top-tier talent.
All things being equal, the one with the best talent wins… The problem is that very few people have talent when it comes to identifying talent. Identifying and recruiting talent is much more than evaluating a resume and having a set of standard interview questions. There are cultural, personal, and compensatory issues, among others, that need to be addressed in the hiring process. Just because someone has been successful in the past doesn’t mean they will be successful for your company. Likewise, just because someone has failed in a previous role doesn’t mean they can’t end up being one of the best for your company. Evaluating talent is, in fact, a talent itself. To further complicate matters, not everyone who is capable of identifying the talent is capable of recruiting the talent by closing the deal.
While not every CEO should be in charge of hiring, I also believe that if HR. H H. handles only hiring efforts for senior management and executive level positions, you will have a very weak management and leadership team. Unless your company is a large enough organization to have a Chief Talent Officer, I don’t think HR is a recruiting function (other than administrative positions), but rather a compliance and risk management function. HR’s role is to make sure processes are put in place and followed, but having a mid-level manager trying to identify or recruit top-tier senior talent is a recipe for disaster.
The following comment came from Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, when asked about his philosophy on hiring:
“I did all the hiring myself for a long time. No one joined Microsoft without me interviewing and liking them. I made all the offers, decided how much to pay them, and closed the deals. I can’t do that anymore, but I still invest a significant amount of time to ensure we’re recruiting the best people. You may have a technology or product that gives you an edge, but your people determine whether you develop the next winning technology or product.”
I tend to be similar in positioning to Steve in that I think one of the best and best uses of time is making sure we attract talent to our company and our client companies that provide a strong competitive advantage. I have been directly or indirectly involved in the recruitment of over a thousand people in my career. I can “sniff out” talent a mile away, and over the years have developed a strong reputation for being able to attract people who were often considered “unhireable.” Also, I can spot professional interviewers and posers and remove them from the process early on. Again I must reiterate that most people do not have this level of experience or skill and to ensure that you make the best hiring decisions, I strongly recommend that you follow the practices listed below:
1.Definition: Make sure you know exactly what you’re looking for both in terms of the job description and the profile of the person most likely to succeed in that position. If you can’t define what you’re looking for, you shouldn’t be looking.
2.Time: There is wisdom in the old axiom “hire slow, fire fast.” He doesn’t freak out and end up making a pitiful rental out of perceived desperation. Give yourself plenty of opportunity, as you’ll be much better off taking your time and making a good hire rather than using the ready, shoot, aim methodology and end up firing the new hire before their probationary period eclipses.
3.ABH: Always be hiring… Never let your organization fall behind 8-ball talent, as great talent is rarely available at any given time. In the world of professional sports, the search for talent often begins during the high school years, long before the potential talent scouts are looking for has matured. Your organization should always be on the lookout for great talent, whether that talent is still in graduate school, in the military, working for the competition, or working outside of the industry. Some of the best hires I’ve made over the years were executives with whom I spent months and in some cases years building relationships.
4. Identify your headhunter: Find and identify the person within your organization who has the best nose for talent. Regardless of the position this person holds, involve them in the process. If you don’t have a natural headhunter internally, seek outside help in the form of a consultant.
5. Team-Based Hiring: Although I’m not generally in favor of committee management, hiring based on a team approach works very well. A team made up of your hiring manager (compliance), your internal or external headhunter (the gut check), the direct supervisor of the position you are hiring for (match), and the senior executive who is best at selling your organization (the fence). Hiring is a team-based fad that eliminates many of the typical mistakes that can be made in the hiring process.
6. Constantly improve: I am always looking to improve the bottom 20% of my workforce. This can be done through leadership development or through new hires, but at the end of the day I’m not just looking for the next superstar, I’m also looking to weed out underachievers.
Recruitment is a mixture of art and science and the reality is that those organizations that identify, hire, implement, develop and retain the best talent will be the companies that will thrive in the market. For those of you who would like to read more on this topic, I would recommend a previous blog post titled: “How to Win the War for Talent.”