I spend a good deal of my time working with executives in developing their teams. But I firmly believe that we I do there applies to teams of agents who are aligned to the brokerage but still independent contractors. Not only that, I can make the same case for all volunteer organizations.
In this current environment it is an employee’s market, volunteers market, or agent's market. Help wanted signs are everywhere. There are shortages of supplies and services because employers can’t get help. Or can they? The important objective is finding the right people for the right jobs.
Finding the right person begins with a process to define what deliverables or actions lead to success. How do you do that?
But you must know who you are and what you stand for first. What is your vision, values, and mission? You should only select people with your shared values. This is where many organizations fail. They look for specific things that they believe are important, but they fail to see the big picture. For example, an employee leaves and the knee jerk reaction is to fill the open spot.
The hiring manager searches for candidates that have the same skill sets as the person who left or was fired. The manager limits the search to the specific industry. In doing so many other qualified candidates are missed. The company hires the next person and the process repeats itself. This costly turnover creates poor performance and poor customer service. Poor customer service costs the company customers and reputation.
It is certainly important to look at skill requirements when searching for candidates. But what is missing here? What happens if the next person you hire has great skills and experience? This, you feel, is the perfect candidate, and you have great expectations of super performance. Several months pass and performance does not turn out as expected. Before long the person resigns or is asked to leave.
The person knew what to do and how to do it. But that alone does not guarantee success.
While skills and experience are important, attitudes and behaviors are far more important and are a far better indicator of success. It is far more important to find out whether a prospective candidate has shared values, fits the culture of the organization, and will behave and execute in a manner consistent with the organization’s culture. Do you know a business owner or hiring manager that struggles with this? There is a better way to hire and develop people.
Hiring the candidate with the right attitudes and behaviors is more important than the skills. Managers can be taught how to interview and ask the right questions using a process known as behavior-based interviewing. Such a process brings out the candidate’s attitude toward a problem and will also indicate his behavior and past habits.
Secondly, training and development should focus not only on knowing the core skills but also on the development of human potential and human relationships.
This is best illustrated by the K.A.S.H. Box below.
In working with my clients, I focus on the right side of the box. Concentrating hiring, training, and development on this side has proven to produce breakthrough performance. Remember, skills can be taught but the candidate must have the shared values and fit the culture. For a similar post on our website see YOU DON'T NEED EMPLOYEES! YOU NEED THE RIGHT EMPLOYEES.
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