The three key ingredients to a good hire - Part 2
Ryan Clear
Helping leaders make their organisations more effective and their employees more engaged and fulfilled at work!
Last week, we saw that culture is one of the three essential ingredients to a good hire. The culture you build depends largely on your core values and how you use them to hire effectively, for your sake and that of the candidate!
So, if last week we spoke about how to get the right people on the bus, this week we will focus on how to get those people in the right seats.
Again, it's not just about competency
Unfortunately, there are many people in jobs they don't enjoy. It's not about the company culture but the actual day-to-day tasks.?
Part of the problem is that we can get very good at work we hate doing, and those become the skills we put on our CVs, and then we get stuck in a loop of doing work we don't enjoy.
Why is that a problem? When we have jobs where we spend a lot of time doing work we don't enjoy, we become sad and unproductive. And it's even worse when you are on a good salary and feel forced to stay in a job you hate - you might feel you can't afford to take a pay cut.
On the other hand, when we are in jobs where we enjoy most of the tasks, we are much happier and more productive. That is a good thing for both the company and the employee.
Enter?The Six Types of Working Genius
In 2020, Patrick Lencioni, founder of the Table Group, a management consulting firm dedicated to organisational health, had just got off a call with a client. He was ecstatic, as he had really enjoyed the time with the client. Then, he had to speak with some staff about an issue they were having internally, and his mood took a nosedive. His colleague, genuinely curious, said to him, "Pat, why are you like that?" Lencioni, who also noticed that his mood had changed so quickly, replied, "I don't know, but I want to find out!"
They spent the next few hours at the whiteboard together and, as he reflected, he discovered that throughout his life, there were certain things he enjoyed doing, others he didn't mind doing every once in a while, and others he hated. He grouped them into categories and came up with an easy-to-understand model that resonated with his colleague as well. At a certain point, one of the Table Group consultants came into the room and asked what was happening. Lencioni called him over and explained the model, which also struck him as being true. The next day, that same consultant was with a CEO who, at the time, was going through a particular issue in his company. The consultant shared the model with him, and almost emotional at the weight that came off his shoulders as the consultant explained, he said to the consultant that he was sure that the model would solve his problem! Over the next few months, Lencioni and his team made an assessment based on the model and, after testing it with over 2000 people, they put it onto the market.
领英推荐
When I was training in all things organisational health under Lencioni and his team from late 2020 through late 2021, I was so grateful to be one of the first in the world to take and become a certified facilitator of the Six Types of Working Genius assessment. Personally, it has been life-changing, as it has given me a language to understand why I love doing certain types of things and don't enjoy doing others.
The model
So, what did Lencioni come up with? There are six steps we need to go through whenever we need to get something done:
The assessment asks you questions about your preferences for getting things done and. On the back of that, it helps you identify the two you like doing the most - your "Geniuses"; the two you don't mind doing, but shouldn't do too much, otherwise you will burn out - your "Competencies"; and the two you should spend as little time as possible in - your "Frustrations".
These remain fixed over time - I know that even if I get better at?Tenacity?things, I will be skilling up, but since?Tenacity?is one of my frustrations, it has always drained me and always will.
The application
So let's see how this applies to hiring. You have the job opening. Next you need to ask yourself what type of work you want your new employee to do. Let's say you own an accounting firm. If you are looking for an accountant to do repetitive work, it would be a good idea that the person you hire has the genius of Tenacity. If they only have it as a competency, they will eventually become drained and burned out. If they have it as a frustration (like myself), they will become burned out very quickly, and they will be neither happy nor productive.
Or let's say you are looking for an accountant who, as a big part of their duties, will need to chase clients for their receipts and bank statements. It would be a good idea that they have the genius of Galvanising - that way, they will enjoy mobilising people to act.
So when you draw up that job description for your next hire, try to understand the type of work you want them to do most of the time. You can then have your top candidates take the assessment and use that as part of your hiring process to ensure you hire people with the geniuses you are looking for. Oh, and don't forget to hire for values, too!