How To Select Strong Performers

by Debra Wheatman

Everything is PERFECT in the interview and subsequent conversations. Since you are making the decision, you decide to move ahead. The relationship is long distance, so the person will work remotely and the two of you will have plenty of email and phone contact.

Here begins the story of Sally Newhire:

Work commences and Sally begins to take assignments. A highly deadline driven environment, you clearly outline when projects are due explaining (once again, having done so during the interview process) that timeliness is extremely important as is documents that are error free. The clients expect perfection. After reviewing other work, this does not appear to be an issue.

During the first week, things come back on time and they are error free. There are no issues and the newest team member seems to be a smart hiring decision. As the second week comes around the corner a promised deadline is missed, technical difficulties offered as the reason for the delay. Understanding this, you ask for an estimated delivery. A definitive time is expressed, so you are sure that the issue is being resolved and the documents will be sent to the client in short order. Time passes and a litany of email and phone updates ensues. Where are the documents? It is unclear. In the meantime, other deadlines are missed and communication lapses. Delivery promises are made and broken. You have an epiphany in the realization that this might not have been a good hiring decision at all. Clients begin to contact you; some of the work issued is not what they expected. What is going on here? You quickly launch a triage plan – working on correcting issues and problems to get things back on track. Your own work is put on the back burner momentarily as you clean up ‘the mess’.

How desperate are you to ramp up your team? Even if you are feeling the pinch now, is making a quick hiring decision based on gut feeling better than interviewing a few additional candidates a smart choice? Clearly not in this case. After all, making a hurried decision can create more problems than doing with less for a bit longer.

Unfortunately, the consequences of making a poor hiring selection only become obvious once the person is in the role. Hurried decisions result in poor decisions.

Here are some tips to selecting appropriate candidates:

Selection Criteria:
Write down the selection criteria so you can review expectations and place them in order of priority. Obtain samples of work when appropriate to ensure that the candidate has proof to back up claims. Spend time asking questions regarding other situations to ensure you are comfortable with the way the candidate presents himself. Obtain references AND CHECK THEM to ensure that former supervisors were happy with the candidate’s performance.

Interview Clues:
Spend time assessing the candidate. Look for things that might indicate that there could be potential issues down the road. Does the candidate cut you off while you are speaking? Appear to be disorganized? Display an unusually high amount of nervous energy? While these things might not be telltale signs, if you compare this person to another, you might find that a different personality might suit the organization and your needs overall.

Expectations:
Ask solid questions. Engage the candidate to open up about past employment experiences. Present situations and obtain feedback regarding how previous things were handled and the outcomes. This will give you a better sense of how things will be handled for you. Look for signs during their answers that tell you about ability to work independently (if that is required) responsibility, initiative, and communication.

Interview a few candidates. Don’t make quick decisions or become seduced by what appears to be a ‘perfect’ match.  You will be better served by taking more time to identify and hire the appropriate candidate to ensure success for you both.

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Filed under Employee Evaluation and posted on 08 June 2009