Mistakes are common.
- Mistake experience for capability. Time spent may not mean much
- Mistake arrogance or conceit for capability
- Mistake capability for execution
- Great skills but lone ranger unable to work with anyone else
Mistakes cost. Recruitment costs anywhere between 3-6 months of pay. A wrong hire costs an equal amount. Its hard to measure the value of sales or profit lost because you hired the wrong person.
There is one secret to recruitment that the best leaders know. Do not hire for skill, experience, credentials or resume.
Hire the Motivated.
The Motivated candidate is one
- Who has made something out of nothing
- Comes from a humble background and has risen from the bottom
- Talks plainly and simply – limited to no use of jargon
- Has a small or non existent ego
- Cherishes the value of hard work
- Is deeply grateful to others for their success
So how do you find out if they are motivated.
Start by understanding the level of motivation of the individual concerned
- Tell me your story…where did you start, what have you done ?
- Tell me examples of where you started something ?
- Tell me examples of where you faced opposition and challenges ? what did u do
- Why did you leave job x or y or z
Test 1 : Why do you want to come to us – we are searching here for root motivation – what motivates this person
- What motivates you ? why do you want to join us ?
- If the money was parity would you be interested ? why ? why not ?
- If the grade / level was parity would you be interested ? why ? why not ?
Test 2 : Remove the trappings of ego – put the candidate in the work mode – here our goal is to remove all trappings of the job and get them to focus on the work itself
- If this was a sole operator role ( no team) would you be interested ..why ? why not ?
- Can you please help make a short presentation for me on topic x / y related to the work and share in a week’s time
- Can you help analyse this data and tell me your conclusions ?
Test 3 : IYW – open a sheet of paper and make 3 columns – make sure the candidate does not see this. Put on top of the 3 columns I, Y and W respectively. I for I, Y for You and W for We. Now each time the candidate says I, put a mark in column 1, each time they use WE or US or TEAM put a mark in Column 3. Each time they mention you ( the interviewer) put a mark in column 2.
- If your first column is full the candidate has a high EGO and Self Centre. Drop them.
- The best candidates will have a lot of ticks in column 3 and 2 and fewer in 1
After doing this the key questions to ask yourself are
- Do they have something to prove ?
- Are they willing to get their hands dirty and do work themselves ?
- Are they motivated more by the WORK or by the trappings ( Money, Title, Team)
The motivated candidate who wants to do the work, has no ego, focusses on the outcome is the best candidate there can be. This candidate can be groomed for the long term for a career and will commit for a long duration. They will be willing to learn and grow and be coached and groomed.
Don’t recruit for skills or experience or degrees.
Hire the Motivated. The Motivated will move mountains for you.