How good Are You At Hiring?
Before we get into hiring, I have a different question for you. How much empathy do you have for yourself and your team? Do they feel seen, heard, and valued, or are they there solely to drive success for the organization? I hear awful stories about how people are treated, especially when businesses are strained. One client lost over half of her team of twelve and was told she could not hire a new FTE, even as her five remaining employees were incredibly stressed out. When she approached her boss, she was told unequivocally that she could not add to her staff.
How are you taking care of your talent? Are you empathetic to their situation? This article from HBR addresses three key things leaders should remember to prevent their own empathy burnout: Take care of yourself first, learn to adjust your empathy based on the situation, and remember that empathy is a skill. Even if you have to tell your team lead that she cannot hire an FTE, there is a way to do it with empathy, and there’s always a workaround, IMHO.
Worth the share
This book caught my attention. Written by an economist and a venture capitalist, Talent – How to Identify Energizers Creatives and Winners Around the World elevates the importance of interviewing to uncover the best people for your team.
Here are some key insights from the book:
- Talent is the critical asset in modern economies. The authors state that in the US, adding women and minorities to the talent pool has exponentially impacted growth since t 960, increasing it by about 20 to 40%.
- To find the best talent, you have to be connected to the world in the right way.
Instead of chasing talent, have talent come to you and your company through connections and creating a great place to work. - When conducting an interview, get into conversational mode as quickly as possible. Having a conversation allows you to dig deeper, asking things that the candidate might not have prepped for in advance. You will learn more about their personality and intellect and their ability to relate to others and explain things.
- When talking with a candidate, focus on what that candidate actually does. The authors suggest digging into how candidates spend their time on weekends or how they specifically focus on their growth and development to uncover this information.
- Intelligence is overrated, especially by smart people. I found this quote illuminating: “You need candidates who take the smarts, the hard work, the conscientiousness, the high energy level, and the ability to work well with others, and direct it toward the appropriate level of social organization-to get ahead for themselves and to add more value to your project.”
Hiring good talent can make or break a company. The more focused effort you put into finding the best talent for your company, the greater the payoff.
To find out more, read the book!
#wisewords
When you show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That’s when you can get more creative in solving problems. Stephen Covey
And Finally...
This is a crazy time of year. I popped into a charming candle-making shop in a busy area the other night at about 7 PM. An employee welcomed me as I entered, and I replied, “Thank you. I’m happy to be here.” She replied, “You are the first person to respond to me all day.”
As you go through the next weeks, what are you doing to enjoy the season? What can you do to let go of all the Holiday stress that many of us experience? How can you stay present, engaged, and kind? Be joyful; there is much to be grateful for.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families.
Have a great week,
Mary Jo