Choosing the right Silver Pendant can be difficult but not nearly as challenging as making a good hire. Whether you are looking for someone to help assemble jewelry or to organize your office there are a few guidelines that can help steer you toward a successful outcome. In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins offers some excellent advice:
Get the right people on the bus in the right seats.
- If you’re in doubt, don’t hire, keep looking.
- The moment you feel you have to tightly manage someone, you have made a hiring mistake.
- Whether someone is the right person has more to do with character traits and innate capabilities than with specific knowledge, background or skills.
I recently heard a presentation by Kerrie Halmi, who is often consulted by large companies to improve their hiring processes. I think her advice is golden:
1. Cultural Fit – Anyone who is a poor fit won’t last. Reference your company values, does the candidate share them? This does NOT mean, “Are they just like me?” You want variety, different types of people. (At Zappos they have a whole department dedicated to making sure that new hires are a good cultural fit).
2. References – Spend more time on this. There are ways to persuade people to talk even when they say they can’t comment. “Kristin gave you as a reference, can I talk to you for a few minutes about her?” Take the time to draw out the conversation and ask probing questions. “What would be the best way to manage Kristin?” Listen VERY carefully. “Oh, that’s interesting, tell me more.” Ask open ended questions. “Our culture is very focused on initiative, how do you think Kristin will fit in?”
3. Continuously Recruit – Never get to the point where you are desperate to hire. Always be on the look out for new talent. Stay in touch with anyone who might be a good fit.
Halmi pointed out that a bad hire will usually cost you 1-3 years in gross salary if you tally the time, energy and money spent to correct the situation. She strongly recommends taking your time and waiting until you find just the right person. This is the same advice I heard from Lulu Lemon CEO, Chip Wilson, who counsels, ” Interview someone at least three times to see who they REALLY are.” Most people put up a good front on the first interview but by the third character flaws start to show. Wilson made another good point, “If you hire one good person, they will bring three good people with them. If you hire one bad person, they will bring ten people with them.”
In our experience here at Nina Designs, we have learned to trust our instincts. Even a small twinge of uncertainty is usually a sign that a candidate is not a good cultural fit. It is tempting to compromise when you are stressed for time but don’t give in. You WILL find the right person for the job and with the right people on the bus, you can go anywhere!
The Proud Members of the Nina Designs Team
