Strategies for getting a great hire
In a conference last week I took some notes in a session and I want to write them up here.
First: dream the idea outcome. In Strategic Coach terminology this would look like naming success. In EOS terminology this would look like naming what the objectives and key results would be for the job.
Second: Create a budget. What do I offer? Put another way, how much is this position worth to me? If I'm being capitalist this might mean "how little can I get away with paying", but if I'm being more abundant this would mean "what weath will result that I can share in what proportion?" Also, this has to do with "would any sane person want to work here?"
Third: Create the job description and post it. Upwork for short-term gigs, Indeed if longer-term.
Fourth: screen. Do they meet the job requirements? In EOS terms, do they get it, want it and have the capicity to do it? Vet them: is their website feedback thoughtful and insightful and valuable? Am I impressed by the example? Was it easy to book an interview with them? Ask them: have you ever experienced a moment when you didn't know what to do, and if so, how did you navigate it? What would you want to know about us before working for us?
Fifth: Prepare an offer letter. Call to offer it verbally. Send it by email. Send replies to the other applicants.
See, easy!
(I chose the Mrs. Beasley picture because I followed basically NONE of these steps when I hired the person I called Mrs. Beasley in my blog. Ooof. I've got a lot of trauma around this entire subject.)
Short anecdote: last week-end I realized I was going to need some outside help in my yard on the island. I saw a person advertising to do odd jobs on NextDoor. I knew here a little bit, I texted her on Monday and asked if she wanted the job (yes) and what her availability was (9 to Noon Tuesday-Friday) and what her rate was (I could handle it.) I hired her, hurray, 12 hours of help! Just what I needed! I had so much we could do, and I was available every day from 9 to 11 to work with her (I had a conference starting at 11 each day.) However, Tuesday, the next morning, she didn't show up. On Wednesday she showed up two hours late, at 11, and then came back and did another two hours later in the day. On Thursday she didn't show up at all, but texted often saying she was running late but still coming. I went out and worked for hours in the dark Thursday night because I had a shit-ton to do that I now realized was going to be on me to get done. (Had I known that, I would have done things differently earlier in the week; I was actually worse off thinking I had help when I didn't versus knowing I didn't have help.) On Friday she showed up at 11 and worked an hour because that was how/when she'd get paid. I paid her for 4+ hours, a third of what I'd hoped to get, and worked maybe four hours myself and another third simply didn't get done and I'll just be okay with that. I was extremely pleasant to her at all times, as she knows a bunch of people I know and she'd badmouth me if I didn't treat her like a princess at all times. (We call this "being respectful of others, so that's not a bad rule, but it still stinks that I couldn't be straight with her about being peeved about her unreliability.) I told two people we know in common that I was hiring her, though, and both said, "Oh, I'd never hire HER." One said outright that she was unreliable (before she showed up the first time), the other said she was uncomfortable with her (after the engagement ended and I didn't ask why.)
THAT is my normal employee. That's what I'm used to, that's what I get, that's the pattern I am going to change.
First: dream the idea outcome. In Strategic Coach terminology this would look like naming success. In EOS terminology this would look like naming what the objectives and key results would be for the job.
Second: Create a budget. What do I offer? Put another way, how much is this position worth to me? If I'm being capitalist this might mean "how little can I get away with paying", but if I'm being more abundant this would mean "what weath will result that I can share in what proportion?" Also, this has to do with "would any sane person want to work here?"
Third: Create the job description and post it. Upwork for short-term gigs, Indeed if longer-term.
Fourth: screen. Do they meet the job requirements? In EOS terms, do they get it, want it and have the capicity to do it? Vet them: is their website feedback thoughtful and insightful and valuable? Am I impressed by the example? Was it easy to book an interview with them? Ask them: have you ever experienced a moment when you didn't know what to do, and if so, how did you navigate it? What would you want to know about us before working for us?
Fifth: Prepare an offer letter. Call to offer it verbally. Send it by email. Send replies to the other applicants.
See, easy!
(I chose the Mrs. Beasley picture because I followed basically NONE of these steps when I hired the person I called Mrs. Beasley in my blog. Ooof. I've got a lot of trauma around this entire subject.)
Short anecdote: last week-end I realized I was going to need some outside help in my yard on the island. I saw a person advertising to do odd jobs on NextDoor. I knew here a little bit, I texted her on Monday and asked if she wanted the job (yes) and what her availability was (9 to Noon Tuesday-Friday) and what her rate was (I could handle it.) I hired her, hurray, 12 hours of help! Just what I needed! I had so much we could do, and I was available every day from 9 to 11 to work with her (I had a conference starting at 11 each day.) However, Tuesday, the next morning, she didn't show up. On Wednesday she showed up two hours late, at 11, and then came back and did another two hours later in the day. On Thursday she didn't show up at all, but texted often saying she was running late but still coming. I went out and worked for hours in the dark Thursday night because I had a shit-ton to do that I now realized was going to be on me to get done. (Had I known that, I would have done things differently earlier in the week; I was actually worse off thinking I had help when I didn't versus knowing I didn't have help.) On Friday she showed up at 11 and worked an hour because that was how/when she'd get paid. I paid her for 4+ hours, a third of what I'd hoped to get, and worked maybe four hours myself and another third simply didn't get done and I'll just be okay with that. I was extremely pleasant to her at all times, as she knows a bunch of people I know and she'd badmouth me if I didn't treat her like a princess at all times. (We call this "being respectful of others, so that's not a bad rule, but it still stinks that I couldn't be straight with her about being peeved about her unreliability.) I told two people we know in common that I was hiring her, though, and both said, "Oh, I'd never hire HER." One said outright that she was unreliable (before she showed up the first time), the other said she was uncomfortable with her (after the engagement ended and I didn't ask why.)
THAT is my normal employee. That's what I'm used to, that's what I get, that's the pattern I am going to change.