Tweet

The Three Rules for Hiring A Players

Written by: Bryan Feller

Article Overview: It is very hard for people to admit that they are not good judges of character. In fact, just about everyone I know thinks he or she is a superb judges of people. But is this true? Are people generally good at assessing the qualities and evaluating the talents of others? The good news is that the research on this question consistently points to the same answer. The bad news is the answer is a resounding no — people are not particularly good judges of character.

The Three Rules for Hiring A Players

By Gordon Curphy, Ph.D.

When a doctor makes a mistake, the patient dies and the doctor doesn’t have to worry about it anymore. When a lawyer makes a mistake, the client goes to jail and the lawyer doesn’t have to worry about it anymore. When a hiring manager makes a mistake, he says, ‘Good Morning’ to it every day."

Pete Ramstad, Personnel Decisions International

It is very hard for people to admit that they are not good judges of character. In fact, just about everyone I know thinks he or she is a superb judges of people. But is this true? Are people generally good at assessing the qualities and evaluating the talents of others? The good news is that the research on this question consistently points to the same answer. The bad news is the answer is a resounding no — people are not particularly good judges of character. This is especially true when people spend a limited amount of time with an individual, such as in an interview. Interviews usually last 30-60 minutes, but more often than not interviewers make hiring decisions within the first five minutes of the session. What is ironic is that most interviewers believe they are good judges of talent and feel comfortable making hiring decisions in less than five minutes, yet virtually all of them have been through a divorce or a break up with a significant other. If he or she cannot successfully pick a life partner after what is usually an extended courtship, then how can he or she be expected to make good hiring decisions based on five minutes of conversation with an applicant?

Peter Drucker, a famous management consultant, once wrote that only a third of all hiring decisions are successful. Drucker’s breakdown of results fits with my experience working with first-line supervisors through CEOs across corporate America. Most managers are lousy judges of talent, but you would never know this by talking to them. Part of the problem here is selective memory. Many managers vividly remember the handful of hiring decisions they got right, but somehow overlook all those times they got it wrong.

Another part of the problem is time. Many managers feel they are so busy that they don’t have time to breathe, much less interview properly. But those managers who can’t find two hours to prepare for and conduct a proper interview always seem able to find the 80+ hours they need to rectify hiring mistakes. In many ways a hiring decision is the biggest decision any manager makes, as each one has the potential to be a $1,000,000 decision (i.e., the wages and benefits of a long-term employee). If managers spent the same amount of time hiring as they do making $1,000,000 equipment or software decisions, then they may be more likely to hire A players.

Selective memory and time are important but not the only issues. What managers do to prepare and conduct hiring interviews is equally important. Hiring managers need to abide by three critical rules in order improve the odds of hiring top talent:

Rule 1: If you don’t know what you are looking for, you are not likely to find it.

The likelihood of getting lost when you don’t know the final destination is pretty high. This also holds true for managers — many have only vague ideas on what they want out of prospective employees. They usually resort to a sort of general wish list of qualities, such as a "team player" or "self-starter." Managers are much better off if they spend 30-60 minutes clearly defining what they want in terms of specific knowledge, skills, and other attributes. A more specific example for a sales representative might include "five years of consultative selling experience with senior executives in the restaurant industry".

Rule 2: If you don’t know how to find it, then you are not likely to find it.

Even if you know the final destination, the likelihood of getting lost is pretty high if you don’t have a map, compass, or GPS. Industrial psychologists employ a variety of well-researched selection techniques, such as biographical forms, personality inventories, values assessments, mental abilities tests, work simulations, and structured interviews in order to determine how well different candidates stack up against clearly defined job requirements. Unfortunately, most hiring managers are not qualified to use most of these techniques. But they can learn how to properly review and rate applications or resumes and create structured interview protocols for evaluating candidates. These two techniques alone can significantly increase the odds of hiring A players.

Rule 3: The best predictor of past behavior is previous behavior in similar circumstances.

The figure skating events at the winter Olympics included both technical and artistic components. The technical components included a set list of jumps, spins, and footwork that every competitor had to perform. The same holds true when it comes to interviewing. The only way you can really make apples to apples comparisons between candidates is to ask them the same set of questions. These questions need to focus on the candidate’s past experiences that are relevant to the position in question. For example, in our sales representative example described earlier, one question that could be asked of all candidates might be, "Describe the most complex sale you ever made. Who were the players, what made the sale so complicated, what you specifically did to win the deal, and what happened as a result of your efforts?" Notice that these questions get the candidate to describe the Situation, their Behavior, and the Impact of their behavior on others or the organization. The most effective interviewers are those that create a set of Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) questions related to the demands of the position, and then ask all candidates to answer the same set of questions.

In conclusion, hiring managers can greatly improve the odds of hiring A players by using people professionally trained in validated selection techniques, such as industrial psychologists, to help screen potential applicants. In most cases the benefits of using an industrial psychologist in the selection process far outweighs the additional cost of this service. Companies not having access to or wanting to use industrial psychologists must abide by the three rules if they want to improve the chances of hiring A players. But it is important to remember that no selection process yields perfectly accurate results — all a hiring manager can ever do is improve the odds of hiring a winner.

Related Articles
  The Bozo Explosion
  Management's Guide to the Top 10 Differences Between Sales Winners and Losers
  Hiring is tough!
  Hiring Salespeople is Like Baseball Expansion
  “People”…The Secret Ingredient to Success

Article Tags: 60 minutes, amount of time, bad news, ceos, corporate america, courtship, first five minutes, handful, hiring manager, interviewers, lawyer, life partner, line supervisors, management consultant, mistake, personnel decisions, peter drucker, ramstad, selective memory, talents



Related Forum Posts
Re: looking for experienced affiliate feedback - Hi Nancy, Hiring an experienced firm to market and sell your products is certainly a viable option. It all depends on whether you want to spend more of your time or money. Hiring a firm is going to cost a good bit I imagine. On the flip side, to do most of the work yourself and attract affiliates to sell your products for you will require much less money but a lot more time and effort. Do you have a budget to work within? Or perhaps maybe you have a loan to get things moving?
Re: Search Engine Optimization - Hi Thomas, So what would you recommend? Hiring an SEO expert or simply trying your hand at doing it yourself?
Trump and Stewart - I really enjoyed Trump: The Art of the Deal and The Martha Rules. I think the best advice you can get is from people who have made it and not just consultants who haven't been there. Evan's site is great because of all the famous entrepreneurs and their advice directly from them. Donald Trump and Martha Stewart are 2 great examples of successful entrepreneurs and the books are written in their own words which I find extremely valuable and motivational.
Re: Search Engine Optimization - [quote="Kevin":18cbigeg]Hi Thomas, So what would you recommend? Hiring an SEO expert or simply trying your hand at doing it yourself?[/quote:18cbigeg] I would suggest learning it on your own. The internet is evolving daily but can you guarantee a hired SEO expert is. The more you learn, the more creative ideas you have when optimizing your sites. An SEO expert might specialize in one aspect, where you have a chance to take SEO to the next level when you dig deep within yourself and branch out to all aspects. But if you do hire someone make sure you get a credible resource on your side.
Dropping out of school - I remember Dave Thomas, a man who dropped out of high school to found Wendys and turned into a millionaire, saying to people who pointed to this fact.... "Just think what I'd've been able to do if I HAD gone to college." In other words he was thinking he could've been even better if he'd gotten that extra education. Although in this day and age where young guys - and gals - with computer smarts can provide an invaluable service at a young age... they might not need to go to college to learn how to do what they already [i:ckavbg5w]know [/i:ckavbg5w]how to do... but do they have the business knowledge to run the [i:ckavbg5w]business [/i:ckavbg5w]end of their business? Hiring people, doing accounting, making sure your accountant isn't diddling you, etc. etc. Although it's not necessary to go to college to get those skills - a votech will do.... some education in those areas is necessary, I would think.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Resistance to Change and How to Deal With It

Earn More Money - Easy Home Business Ideas

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.