Finding the right employee for your team can be like searching for a hard-to-find puzzle piece. With thousands to choose from, the task can be overwhelming. Choose wrong, and your new team member won’t be the right fit for your job opening, your team, or your company. A problem far more frustrating than a missing puzzle piece, hiring an employee who doesn’t complement your team can result in lost time and productivity, turnover, and endless hours of headaches for you and your staff. Choose correctly, and a new hire could be the perfect way to take your team – and maybe your business – to new heights.
With all this pressure when you’re adding to your team, it’s easy to loose sight of the big picture. Employers often fall into the bad habit of always hiring employees with similar strengths and backgrounds instead of balancing their team with a variety of different skill sets and experience levels.
Sometimes, you have to look outside the box for the ideal addition who will strengthen, balance, and build your team. If your office is filled with employees cut from the same pattern, you may need to break the mold and hire the employee who changes things up.
Team Needs
The first step to finding the right employee is to examine the needs of your current team. Don’t just look at the qualifications and job descriptions you have on paper to determine your requirements. With the size of the current job pool and low employee engagement levels, it’s a great time to hire employees whose skills and strengths go beyond your basic qualifications and find the employees who will bolster achievement and strengthen your company.
Consider your team’s strengths and weaknesses in areas like experience and personality. For example, if your team is made up of creative thinkers who get lost in their extravagant ideas, consider hiring a more decisive, analytical thinker who can add balance, give input, and help keep everyone on track. Once you’ve established your ideal applicant, evaluate and interview potential candidates who meet the team’s needs with their experience, personality, and strengths.
Experience
If you have a habit of hiring inexperienced employees whose development you can shape, don’t dismiss an applicant seasoned with experience. Adding experience to the team can generate efficiency and productivity, provide the necessary insight others lack, and help streamline processes. And, you won’t have to spend as much time training an experienced worker who knows the ropes.
If your team is made up of experienced employees, consider hiring an inexperienced candidate who can bring fresh ideas to the table. Workers who need experience can add passion and flexibility to the team. Eager to prove themselves, individuals new to the workforce will work hard to achieve goals and reach new heights. Whether you hire an individual who is looking for or offering knowledge, having different levels of experience on your team will diversify and fortify your company.
Personality
Personality can play a big role in the dynamics of a team. The wrong personality can affect the way a team operates. Be careful to choose employees who work well with others, especially when staff members work in close quarters, like a cubicle. Hire employees who will harmonize with your team. If your employees can be somewhat high strung, consider hiring someone who’ll help mellow the team’s dynamic to eliminate or minimize office drama and increase productivity. Not sure what your team wants? Consider opening a portion of your interview up to team members so they can test the dynamics of potential co-workers.
Also, keep in mind how each person’s personality relates to their specific job description. If they have as much personality as a fish, for example, they may not make the best salesperson. Someone who doesn’t appear approachable won’t make the friendliest receptionist.
Strengths
The success and achievement of your team’s depends upon each person’s strengths and abilities. So, hire employees who add to your team’s current strengths. If your team’s strengths are heavy in ideas and input, consider adding someone who excels at arranging and activating to help develop and organize those ideas. Hiring to add new strengths will benefit each member’s unique abilities and skills. Combining the right employees together will create an unstoppable team.
It may take a little time to find the missing puzzle piece for your dream team, but taking the time to hire the right fit will help your team achieve its highest potential.
This article is published courtesy of Express Employment Professionals. The Burnaby office,is located at 405-5050 Kingsway. For more information, stop by the office, call 604-433-0353 or visit the Express Web site at www.expresspros.com
Related to Break Bad Hiring Habits:
- Work productivity killers – a cure for work productivity killers
- 5 Tips for Boosting Employee Engagement
- Peer interviewing: how to involve peers in interviewing
