The most valuable asset of any organization is its workforce.
Given this dynamic, it stands to reason that if you want to grow the value of your company, finding good team members is a high priority.
There is a massive industry built around helping companies find good employees and if you are an employer, it can be a bit overwhelming. It can also make you think that it requires magical methods and herculean effort to find good team members, but this could be further from the truth.
An additional dynamic you may be facing is a shortage of labor. All around the country we are facing the reality of an economy at “full employment.” Companies and having difficulty finding employees. If you are the business owner, you are likely thinking, “I’m not gonna be able to grow the value my business because I can’t find that right person is a fit.”
It’s very true that there are some positions that are “pay-to-play” and require a distinct skill set, but many professional roles are not and receive most of their subject matter experience on the job. This means that you have a wider field to hire from than you may think, but you still need a filter.
Here is our filter. To quickly find employees who will add to the value of your business, you need to hire for 3 dynamics: Value, Will, & Skill
Hiring for “Value”
Does this candidate align with the values of your organization? Now, this requires that you know what the values of the organization are. If you don’t know the core values of your company, it’s going to be hard to find people who match those values. In fact, if you are having a consistent unhealthy conflict with a current team member, it is likely the result of a values mismatch. So, for example, if a core value of your company is creativity and you have team members who will stop when facing a constraint because they are unwilling to consider new ways to approach the problem, then that values mismatch is going to diminish the overall value of your business in lost productivity.
Hiring for “Will”
The will in this equation is a willingness to do the job, a willingness to take on responsibility, a willingness to show up and add value to the organization. This is not the type of person who just wants to punch the clock, this is the person who wants to contribute and be rewarded for that. We’ve encountered team members (often in bureaucracy) who literally pull out their job descriptions when asked to contribute and they refuse to take on responsibility because it is outside their scope. This is not the type of person who is going to add value to the organization. Now, it’s completely fair to have a conversation about margin and load, but if the place they start is an unwillingness, then they will hinder the long term value of the company or organization.
Hiring for “Skill”
The last dynamic is “skill.” You may think of this as the resume or skills that they have, but it means, skillable. Can this person be trained? can this person be taught? Since in most organizations, there is going to be some retraining regardless of what prior experience was had it’s more helpful and beneficial to the long term value of the company if they are skillable. If the answer is yes and they can take on new tasks or take on responsibilities or learn new dynamics, then you’ve got the trifecta.
To be fair, there is great research and resources available to companies on hiring science aimed at helping team members find value and by extension, provide value to the company. We believe there is value to be found in understanding these techniques and approaches and putting them into play in your companies.
However, when you are in a pinch or in a period of rapid growth and you need a goto approach to quickly adding team members that will add value to your company, hire for values, will, and skill.
