Your organization’s ability to achieve its goals depends on your people. So, as a leader one of your most important responsibilities is to hire great people. And now that the job market is opening up a bit, remember, when you have the luxury of recruiting a new hire first impressions count.

How does your approach to recruiting stack up? Use these questions as a checklist to determine if your recruiting practices help or hurt your efforts to attract top talent. Continue the practices where you excel. Improve others. Not sure how well you are doing? Ask your most recent new hires.

Know what you want. Have you articulated the job opening in terms of expected outcomes, daily responsibilities, projects and the knowledge, know-how, abilities and skills to be successful?

Know what styles work best in your organization. With whom will the new hire work? What leadership and interpersonal styles work best with them? Consider approaches to decision making, conflict resolution and change management.

Get everyone onto the same page. Do your interviewers have similar expectations of the job? 

Prepare. Have you crafted behavioral interview questions for use with all candidates so that you can methodically assess the above? Are roles and responsibilities in the recruiting process clear?

Market your employee value proposition. Do you understand the compelling reasons why people choose to join and stay with your firm so you can speak to them in the interview?

Tip: The best and brightest are looking for opportunities where leaders know what they want, responsibilities are challenging yet realistic, co-workers are talented and highly motivated, tools are kept current, the environment is conducive to getting good work done, people are respected and rewarded for their contributions and professional development supported. Astute job seekers pick up on all these factors through your recruiting process. They are evaluating you just as you are evaluating them!

Are your firm’s touch points with candidates professional, friendly, effective and timely?

Consider all inputs used in screening for the most qualified candidates when making your hiring decision. Decrease the risk of making a hiring mistake by reviewing all data points such as: resume screen, phone screen, interviews, demonstrations, testing, reference checks, background checks, etc.

True, the repeatable, evidence based approach I advocate requires a fair amount of upfront planning. The payoff is it yields better hiring decisions. Still skeptical? Try it out. Besides, wouldn’t you rather spend a little more time planning so that you hire the right person than having to manage the exit of a hiring mistake?

Have you ever taken a step back to think about early life experiences that influenced your expedition in leadership development? For me a pivotal event that comes to mind occurred in 5^th grade while living in Virginia. My best friend Rhonda and I pitched the idea of hosting a talent show first to our friends, who gave the idea a thumbs up then to our teachers. We conducted tryouts, sequenced the performances, orchestrated invitations and jointly MCd the event. A good time was had by all. We were entertained by singers, dancers, musicians, magicians, comics (aspiring comics), poetry readers and yes even a baton twirler.

Back then our motive was plain and simple – Rhonda and I thought we had a great idea for having fun and pursued it. We were not thinking about taking initiative & risk, grass roots influence, strengthening our showmanship skills or creating a forum for kids to display their talents in front of their peers.

Now, reflect on what you’ve probably been doing for years as a parent. From early childhood at least through high school your kids try out lots of activities: sports, performing arts and hobbies. You essentially orchestrate an discovery process so that your kids have opportunity to explore interests, build confidence and develop their natural talents. Many kids’ activities later (not to mention the chauffeuring, expense, candy bar sales and car washes) your kids emerge as people with talents, no longer hidden, where interest, capabilities and strengths overlap.

And isn’t that a fundamental responsibility of leaders? To provide employees “talent show tryouts” and help them discover their hidden strengths and talents? Then making the most of those strengths by putting them in jobs where they really shine and contribute in valuable ways to the organization? This very effective approach to employee development requires leaders and employees to get comfortable with risk taking, special job assignments, coaching and tolerance for making mistakes and learning and adapting from them.

Flashback: everyone who tried out for our talent show back in 5^th grade got a call back and yes they all got in. Hey, we were 5^th graders. Rhonda and I didn’t have the heart to cut anyone regardless how good or bad their performance. It was their courage to perform in front of peers that mattered.

True, in business there may be extreme situations like turnarounds when a company’s survival hangs in the balance and you have to have a proven expert in place to blaze the trail. But more often than not business leaders have plenty of opportunity to work with diamonds in the rough. And it’s a great feeling when you make the time to help others be all that they can be. 

So, take 10 minutes today and reflect on these questions. How did you get to where you are today? Did anyone extend you a big break or a great career development opportunity? Did you have trusted mentors along the way? Did you get everything right the first time or did you make mistakes? Did you learn more from the mistakes or successes? When you blew it, did your mentor throw you out with the bath water or give you another shot?

Happy New Year!

What better way to start the New Year. The AFC Championship is up for grabs by either the New England Patriots or the ah…ah...ah….oh yeah, the Baltimore Ravens.

Naturally, the Pats have laser like focus when it comes to preparing for each game. They study their own performance as well as their opponents. Plays are being designed to capitalize on their strengths and take advantage of Raven vulnerabilities followed by practice, practice, practice. It explains how Brady threw that pigskin down the sidelines at least twice in last week’s game against the Denver Broncos. Each resulting in a touchdown. Do the Pats always get it right? No, but they learn from the past. Under the leadership of Coach Belichick the Pats work to leave nothing to chance. They assess, plan, practice and execute. Further, they treat each game as if it is a one game season. While that’s a lot of pressure it sure does generate that laser like focus that’s fueling the Patriots’ drive.

The excitement is building across Patriot Nation too. Thousands of fans are planning AFC parties as I write this and you read it. This week’s most favored topic at the water cooler? You guessed it. Just pick up a grocery store flyer where football foods graduated to the front page. Need some Patriots paraphernalia? It’s abundantly available. Media coverage? Got that covered too. And on game day the Pats have their fans’ complete and undivided attention which should be no surprise after a season of unwavering support and enthusiasm. We are hopeful for a triumphant albeit nail biting game. And if this one game season leads to another – the Super Bowl – well that is just icing on the cake.

The New Year is a good time to do some assessing of your own:

1. When’s the last time your organization rallied around a common cause?
2. Did your A players use the magic formula? assess, plan, practice and execute?
3. Did the one game season mind set come into play?
4. Did your team have a strong, unwavering fan base rallying behind them?
5. If not, what are you going to do differently this year?

Game on Ravens, Game on!
 

Game info: http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2012012200/2011/POST20/ravens@patriots#menu=gameinfo

After singing an animated round of “Happy Birthday” at a milestone birthday party (my goddaughter hit the big 1 0 or double digit status), I asked the party goers about their favorite cake? The birthday girl was quick to point out we were eating her favorite – homemade chocolate cake with butter cream frosting. Her older brother fancied vanilla cake with butter cream and fresh sweet berries. And the youngest? He echoed his brother’s preference while inhaling his cake (fastest in the east). I asked him “why was it he ate the chocolate cake so quickly when vanilla’s his favorite?” From across the table he looked me square in the eyes and undeniably proclaimed “hey, cake is cake” then gobbled up his last bite.

Such profound clarity out of the mouths of babes! Sure there are many flavors of cake. And there are oodles and oodles of frostings too. Mixing and matching them produces limitless delicious desserts. You couldn’t sample them all in your life time even if you tried (and I am trying). At the end of the day - there is no substitute for cake. Pie is not cake. Pudding is not cake. Cookies and pastries are not cake. Ice cream, a frequent accompaniment of cake, is not cake. Cake is cake.

This phenomenon of passing something else off as cake plays out in the workplace all the time and without much success. For instance, an announcement claiming a “merger of equals” produces cynicism and employees know better. Call it what it is – an acquisition.

Pointing out “areas of improvement” in performance reviews does not constitute development planning. So, either implement true development planning or stop touting your mirage.

Pushing decision making down to the lowest level in the company can improve the speed, agility and critical thinking skills at every level in the organization. When micromanagers, authoritarians or bureaucrats do what they do then employee empowerment is merely a façade.

Knowledge workers are sharp. There is no amount of avoidance, word smithing, fast talking, sugar coating or fancy footwork that will convince folks otherwise. So, when you want to get the most from your employees and yourself, let them eat cake!