Don’t hire turkeys to do a squirrels job

Do you hire turkeys or squirrels?

I mean, if you are a tree trimmer by trade which one would probably be the best hire overall based on their experience? 

Hey-- I love turkey, but in my opinion, they are best served on Thanksgiving, rather than running through my front yard every day(pictured above). However, when it comes to hiring, I’d rather hire the person whose job expectations were easily filled by them naturally. Allowing me to free up time to take on new initiatives and increase my capacity to take on new projects that I perform well at. Win-Win.

"How," you ask? Simple. Take the time to ensure that the role I have in mind fits the person well. I also look to see if their responsibilities will fulfill some sort of purpose within them. Letting their passion and what they do best, shine bright like a diamond.

Here's one way to look at it. If the turkey were to change their role in society, would they be as important of a bird to us? Probably not. Listen, we all have our own track to run on. The things that make us special are the talents, experiences, and skills that are different from each other. You can’t change the turkey and expect it to be a squirrel. Business leaders wakeup! You need to understand the difference between a turkey and a squirrel, especially if you are trying to get them to climb trees.

Here are some hiring tips that can help you :

• Hire and empower people to do what they do best.
• Set goals that are achievable and challenging. Stay away from goals that appear more like walls than hurdles.
• Focus on alignment of your organization's goals with the innate passion of the person.

My dad used to say. “I can teach a turkey to climb a tree but a squirrel will do it faster.”

The moral to the story: Don’t hire turkeys to do a squirrels job.