| Achieve Greater Success: Hire Those with a Passion for the Position
By Megan Martin
“Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.” So says Enlightenment writer Denis Diderot. The trick may be the same for elevating companies to greatness.
Take a moment to think back on your career. Imagine the colleagues you’ve worked with over the years. How many of them can you say truly had a great passion for their job?
It’s likely that not many names and faces spring to mind. Studies across the board show that fewer than half of Americans consider themselves to be “satisfied” with their job, much less passionate about it.
While the mantra “Love What You Do” sounds great in theory, is an office bustling with passionate, motivated employees actually feasible in this day and age? Maybe you think passionate employees don’t exist, or that they aren’t a necessity at your company. But as you know, poor or even mediocre hiring decisions can lead to high turnover, excess expenses, morale problems, and a lack of confidence in management. The truth is that too many organizations find their companies overwrought with employees who do what’s necessary, but lack any true sense of connection to the organization.
“A lot of people don’t think about whether they’re hiring passionate people, but that’s a mistake,” says John Folkestad, co-founder of SALO, who says there’s no doubt that hiring people who love what they do will advance your company.
Folkestad also understands that a lack of love for the job can be a lifelong problem among employees and job-seekers alike. “I speak with people all the time who are 55-65 years old. Most have been successful professionally, but never loved what they did,” he says. “They were good at it, and they could do it, but it never fed them. And these are often people who are extremely talented.”
So, if these people are out there, how can you go about locating not just good employees who get the job done, but those special, fire-in-the-belly go-getters? Here are some tips:
Step 1: Enthusiasm…or Passion?
You might be wondering, “What’s the difference?” In actuality, the difference is huge. Anyone can enter a job interview and appear enthusiastic about a position, but how can you detect whether there’s electricity running under a candidate’s skin?
Folkestad says that a candidate with passion will likely “be certain that they want the position, and go after it like a bulldog. It can be easy to spot.” But he also admits that passion may be difficult to sense on the surface.
To make sure you’re getting a complete sense of the candidate, Folkestad recommends engaging in a process of topgrading.
“Topgrading is extremely powerful,” says Folkestad. “You spend time getting to know the candidate, ask thorough questions, and get to the core of what drives someone.”
Topgrading is intense. It involves a 3-4 hour interview in which you dig deeply into a candidate’s work history, looking carefully at each position the candidate has held, what she has achieved, whether and why she advanced in her previous positions, which tasks she loved and which she hated.
“This will give you a very strong sense of where that person’s strengths lie and whether or not their likes and dislikes, strengths and skills, line up with the position at hand,” says Folkestad.
Also keep your ears open during the interview for traits that characterize passionate people, who are often born risk-takers, fully engaged with other aspects of their life outside of the workplace, and upfront about their beliefs and opinions—even if they differ from yours as an interviewer and potential boss. Often times, someone who is truly excited about a position will express curiosity, ask you questions, take the wheel, and steer the conversation into deeper terrain, rather than waiting to present the next bland, prepared answer to a question.
Step 2: Match the Candidate to the Position
Just because someone does an excellent job in their current position doesn’t mean they are the best choice for this one—especially if it requires a different skill set, personality, or schedule. Someone with a passion for sales might not be the best fit for a behind-the-scenes management job. Someone who highly values individualism and coming up with her own solutions may not thrive in a team-based environment.
After taking an inventory of the candidate’s history, consider whether his particular talents apply to the position at hand. Make sure what you learned about the candidate in the interview truly fits the skills, talents, and demands of the position.
“A huge mistake companies make all too often is hiring excellent employees—but assigning them to the wrong positions,” says Folkestad. Placing a great employee in a position she’s less than thrilled about benefits neither yourself nor the employee.
No matter what the position, Folkestad advises: “Make sure you’ve got someone who fits with your long-term strategies, someone who’s invested in what’s driving the company. Also, consider performance. Unlike the stock market, prior work performance is an indicator of future success.”
Folkestad also adds that too often, companies and recruiters are not willing to hire outside of their own industry. “Too many companies aren’t open to transition,” he says. “But sometimes you have to look beyond the person’s history into what they should be doing, rather than what they could be doing based on past experience.”
Correcting a Mistake
What if you find that you’ve hired someone fabulous, but placed them in a position they aren’t particularly excited about?
“Some people just aren’t passionate,” says Folkestad. “But you can ask yourself: Is there a role where you can use someone like that? If you’ve made a mistake and have a great person in the wrong role, you can create a role for them, or move them into a different role that suits them.”
But if that isn’t the case, you have to be honest—with yourself and with the employee.
“I’ve never heard an employer say, after realizing they had the wrong person, ‘I wish I’d waited another month before I fired that person,’” says Folkestad.
So, if you want your organization to not only survive, but thrive, it’s time to begin your quest for the candidates who can truly deliver.
|
