Here is the second excerpt from our recent article on 3 Ways to Derail Team Formation.
In Part 1 of this post I talked about the first mistake that derails team formation – Ambiguity of team purpose and vision for the future.
Here’s Mistake #2…
Hiring a warm body instead of the right person
Your team’s moving a hundred miles per hour. You’re trying to meet corporate demands, customer concerns, and employee needs. Your team has so much work on its plate that it can’t wait any longer to fill that “open rec.”
The challenge on many teams is that they don’t have an effective process for bringing the right people on board. Interviews are 30 minutes long and a candidate has 8 in a row; candidates are evaluated based on technical skills alone without regard for cultural fit; hiring decisions are made based on gut feel instead of an intentional approach.
And the end result…you end up with a warm body.
The longer-term end result…the person leaves within 18 months.
An even worse end result…the person sticks around and joins the majority of the disengaged and you continue to pay their salary.
Organizations that are most successful focus on their people first, and that starts with the hiring process. They make sure they get the right people on the bus and in the right seats (see Jim Collins’ Good to Great). And, they wait until they have the right person instead of taking a warm body.
These successful organizations are clear about the values that drive their success (see Mistake #1); they are clear about the competencies that they need in new hires – knowledge competencies, skills competencies, and personal trait competencies; they have a consistent hiring process that allows for in-depth interviews to happen; they have an objective method of evaluating candidates.
Having the right people on your team is critical to your long-term success.
How is your team doing?
- Are values clear and aligned with the hiring process?
- Do you understand the knowledge, skill, and personal trait competencies your candidates should possess?
- Does the hiring process allow you to experience candidates in different environments?
- Are people trained to conduct behavioral based interviews?
- Are candidates evaluated based on clear objectives?
Stay tuned for Part 3 later on Thursday.