I have read many books and articles on the topic of leadership. Most of them discuss how to lead staff to the achievement of outstanding results or the qualities of great leaders. Most of these writings seem to be making the assumption that the staff that they lead are all competent and fit in very nicely with the culture of the workplace needing only inspired leadership to achieve great results. The other day I was reading another list of leadership qualities that would create outstanding results and a thought occurred to me; What if some employees are not competent or don’t fit into the workplace culture, what happens to the results leaders are seeking? The easy answer is that the results will suffer and the obvious solution of terminating these employees is very expensive in both money and time. Correcting hiring errors are time consuming and prevent an organization from getting into a work flow that is productive. Inspired leadership will do little to overcome bad hires. This realization reminded me of what I have known for years that hiring the right people that fit your organization is the most important action to take along with sound leadership to achieve success. How do we determine what the right person looks like?
Following are some important factors to consider:
• Do you have a strategy for growing your business and does it include the skills and experience you are going to need?
• Is your organizational structure efficient and effective especially the reporting relationships?
• Are your job descriptions up to date?
• In addition to education, skills and experience have you identified the personal qualities that an individual must possess to succeed in your organization?
This will ensure a proper fit in the organization. Hiring the right person in today’s workforce environment requires great care to determine the skills, abilities and the qualities required for the individual to succeed. It takes time up front to complete the task but in my opinion it is worth it because the right person in a well organized enterprise is the necessary foundation for successful leadership.
At Pesce & Associates we have the skills and experience to assist you in developing proper hiring processes and strategies.
Angelo Pesce, Founding Partner
