Latest / Enhance.training / How to Hire a Successful Team

Transcript

How to Hire a Successful Team · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: How to hire a successful team is a critical task for every entrepreneur and leader with a growing business.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: As a manager of a team, your performance is closely linked to the performance of your team.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: So hiring the right team members can make or break a team.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: In this podcast, I share my seven best tips to hire the right people for your team to help you deliver a great team performance.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the podcast, I share a hiring method which works even better than the traditional interview process to hire great team members.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles and I've led and managed teams for over 25 years in corporates and household names through to SMEs.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: I've had to hire teams in companies experiencing periods of really high growth as well as turning around failing businesses, and have also won best team prizes at national magazine and at company level.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you're new to this podcast, enhanced.training provides online business courses to help professionals, managers and business owners improve their performance.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: And if you like this podcast, please share it with friends and colleagues and visit us at enhanced.training.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start by looking at how the leader of the team impacts the hiring quality of the team members.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Hiring the right team members can boost a team's performance, and hiring the wrong team members can wreck the team.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about hiring the right team members and why it's a critical job for any leader.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Looking at statistics, having the wrong business partner or team member is one of the top three reasons for new business failures.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And if you think larger businesses can escape poor hires, think again.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: The quality of the team impacts decisions at all levels.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: The more senior the decision maker, the larger the impact of those decisions.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And plenty of large businesses fail because of poor decisions.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: So hiring the right team is a critical job of any leader of a team.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: When you get the hiring right, getting everything else right becomes a lot easier.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Hire the wrong people, and the hill just becomes a mountain.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you listen to interviews or talks with the likes of Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, or in fact any leader from a growing business, one of the first things they talk about is how they go about hiring the right staff to create a successful team.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: It is amazing how much time leaders of successful companies personally put into the hiring process.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: It is amazing how much time leaders of successful companies personally put into the hiring process.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Of course there's the design and how the hiring process happens, but it's also doing the actual interviews, of course, their direct reports, but also people outside of their direct reports hired into the business.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: I was at Innocent Drinks when it had over 200 employees, and one of the three founders still interviewed everyone before an offer was made.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: That is how important they viewed the hiring of their staff.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: So as a leader of a team, we need to put enough time and effort into ensuring that the hires we make are the right hires and lift the team up in terms of team culture and team performance.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: I personally don't think the leader of a team has a more critical job than hiring the staff that are going to work in that team.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about how we can improve our chances of hiring the right people to improve the success of the team.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: So on to tip two.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: So do you hire for cultural fit and attitude or do you hire for skills?
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Which is more important?
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: So let me ask you a question.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Which is easier to teach, skills or attitude?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: In my experience, teaching skills is a lot easier, hands down, and I think you can influence attitude, but I don't think you can really teach it as such.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, getting the right attitudes in the people we hire is a lot more important than getting the right skills.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine your job as a manager with a team of self-starters, you know, those willing to make decisions and take action.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Compared to a team who needs you to make every decision.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: I know having a team of self-starters is a lot more fun as a manager, and as a team you deliver a lot more in terms of output.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: So build into your recruitment process a focus on discovering the candidate's attitude and approach as well as checking on their skills.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: The key message is to hire for attitude and cultural fit before hiring for skills.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: The third tip we're going to talk about is to understand what values and behaviours you want to hire for.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: A company that has not taken the time to identify its own collective values and then detail out the behaviours that are represented by these values will really struggle to hire the right team members to continue building the company culture.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: If you've not done so already and before you write the job advert, sit down and write down the company values.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: If the company's already done work around its values and it understands these well, then revisit them.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you've not done this work, then we absolutely suggest that you do so before really embarking on a hiring process.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: And for most, company values remain a little bit abstract.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: To overcome this, agree and write down the behaviors that you're looking for in people that have the values of the company.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Behaviors are much more tangible and it's easier to describe and train others on what to look for.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: You can test for and observe behaviors during the hiring process.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: By being clear on team or company values and behaviours, you set yourself up and your team up for hiring people with the right cultural fit and attitude.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Hiring the right team members gives you strong foundations for success.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Research has proven that people with a similar cultural fit or values to the wider team are firstly a lot happier, they're more effective working with colleagues, they do a better job, they're much more likely to be promoted quicker.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: All these are valuable to firstly the individual of course, but also to you, the manager of the team, and to the team itself, and of course the company.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: So recruit for behaviours and values first, everyone will be better off as a result.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that brings us on to the fourth area we're going to talk about, which is understanding exactly what problems you need to solve.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: A key step in the hiring process is to work out exactly what problems the new person will have to solve and therefore what skills that you will need them to have to be able to do this well.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: A surprising number of companies don't do that well at this step in the hiring process.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: According to Glassdoor, 61% of employees say that the realities of their new job differ from the expectations set during the interview process.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, company and team requirements change as the business grows and adapts to new situations, new markets, new competitors, etc.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: But the requirements should not change that much in, say, maybe the three months between writing the job advert and the person starting.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really important that you take the time to work out exactly what you're hiring this person for, the problems that you need to solve, and therefore the skills and experience that they will need to have to solve those problems.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Future proof you're hiring as much as possible by looking out for people who enjoy learning and have skills that you would expect to need in the near future.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: This reduces the number of hires you'll need to make over time, gives you a route to promote from within, and it also helps build a successful team more quickly.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: The fifth area we're going to talk about is communicating value and behaviours to the hiring managers.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Once you know what type of person you want and the skills needed to overcome the problem you face, you are halfway to hiring a person who's going to make your team much more successful.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: If you're in a larger business with at least one extra management layer, you must make sure you communicate that to all the hiring managers that will be involved in the process the value and behaviour requirements that all candidates should demonstrate.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: What steps are you going to put in place to get hiring consistency across your business?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Some ideas include you know write down the values and behaviours and then create a training session that all hiring managers must attend before they undertake interviews.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: You could create a values and behavior based interview undertaken by a small group of say senior managers at the end of the interview process.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Or you could build a specific personality assessment or other tests into your hiring process to test for behaviours and for values.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever you choose to do, don't take for granted the importance of training all hiring managers about what is needed and why it is needed.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Put in place training to cement these requirements into the hiring process, and this will drive consistency across your company of hiring the right people for your business.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Area six is to get team members involved in the hiring process.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: I've always found it useful to get team members involved in the recruiting process for several reasons.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, getting team members' views helps.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, to give me a different point of view which might confirm or challenge my thinking on a given candidate.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, to spot behaviours or points that I might have missed or the candidate kept from me during the interview itself.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, to get the team's input into the hiring decision and therefore create better buy-in for the person being hired within the team.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: After all, the team has to work with the new joiner too.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Candidates can often be a lot more off guard in an informal setting when they're meeting their future colleagues rather than their future boss.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: So creating this setting can reveal quite a lot about each candidate, which is very useful in the hiring process.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Use the feedback you receive from your team members.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: I usually do this in a group setting so that everyone involved in the process can give feedback and then you can make a decision to hire or not in the meeting or following the meeting.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Involving multiple people in the hiring process helps get a balanced view of each candidate, and I generally think this leads to firstly better hiring decisions and a better team buy-in overall for the people being hired, and this results in a better, more effective team.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: And lastly, while the traditional interview is time efficient for the hiring company, once a candidate develops strong interview skills, it can be much harder to work out if that person will work out well in practice.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I have an alternative approach to put forward which is a lot harder to gain.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: So the seventh area we're going to talk about today is auditioning rather than interviewing.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: During an interview process, you are asking the candidate to describe how they would approach a given situation or solve a given problem.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: They can provide real examples or they can make them up.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, 85% of people apparently lie on their CV, and this is per high rights and study they did.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously one assumes answers given in an interview are not always accurate, and the interviewer will only pick up on so many of the inaccurate answers.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: So rather than getting the person to tell you what they've done, get them to show you or demonstrate how they use their skills.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: This approach is a much much harder to game and it gives you a better assessment of their skills and ability to solve your problems.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Hence audition rather than interview.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: We suggest trying to build the audition around maybe a mini project that the person can do in your offices over a period of say half a day or so.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Let me give you an example of how to set these exercises up.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, invite the candidate into your offices and explain that you'd like them to undertake a mini project while at your offices.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Tell them that they can speak to anyone in the office and they can ask any questions they want to and ask for any information they think they need.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, if there's anything confidential that you don't want to share, make sure that's put aside.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: The outputs could be a presentation or it could be a discussion outlining their findings and their conclusions from the mini project.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: This can be really useful.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: The project itself could be, you know, for instance, creating an outline marketing campaign via email, social media, etc.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: And you might include indications or even go into the detail on what type of content, the timing of the content and the audience and their testing process, etc.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Or it could be restructuring a team to respond to changing needs of the business.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Or it could be creating an analysis on a set of customers with recommendations on how to proceed to increase sales or increase profit of the customer group.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: Create a project with an output that would help you solve or start to solve a live problem or solve a recent problem which is not in the public domain.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: This gives you a real insight into how the candidates actually approach their work, their problem-solving skills within your team environment, and how they interact with your team, you know, their working style, their ability to form productive relationships, their likability, etc.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: How they work under pressure, and the quality of their output versus other candidates.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a whole host of other benefits.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: It also gives the candidate the ability to actually work in the offices and meet a lot of the people they might be working with and then get a feel for the style of how the company operates.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: This really improves retention rates after offer.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: The downside of auditioning is that it usually requires more time from the candidate and your team overall.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Auditioning provides a lot more insights into the person and their abilities than interviews.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Setting up the mini project carefully is important, and freeing up team members to help the candidate on the day are also important.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Think about how you could use this approach, auditioning rather than interviewing, in your hiring process.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: So there we have seven key areas to think about.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: So in summary, the people that you hire into your business will help make or break your business.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Your team are incredibly important to get right, whether you are four people in the business or four hundred or four thousand.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Attract and keep great staff members and your business will have a huge advantage over those companies that are not able to separate the great people from the okay people.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: We know that many managers and companies do an amazing job of hiring their staff.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: There are many more companies that do not do as good a job because they've not taken the right steps to set themselves up for the success.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Hiring the right people into your business or team is a critical activity for any growing business.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure you spend enough time setting up how you're going to hire really, really well.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: And if you like this podcast, please share it with friends and colleagues and visit us at enhance.training and take a look at the courses and resources to help you manage your team more effectively.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks very much for listening, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.