Are your recruitment processes setting you up to fail?

If you want to build a high performing organisation – you’ve got to start by getting the ‘right people’. I don’t think that there are many businesses out there that would disagree with that statement. The success of an organisation in the long-term is dependent upon the ability to attract and retain talented individuals. We all know this.

But how do we define who the ‘right people’ are? What do they look like and how do we select them?

Well, we want people who are going to be able to handle the challenges of the future. So I think the first thing to do is to make some broad assumptions about what your industry will look like in ten years time. These don’t have to be perfect; they just need to be broadly correct. The reason for this is that we want to choose people who will be effective in the long-term.

Let me explain with a few broad assumptions.

I think that it is fair to say that the world is going to become more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA). Most of these factors will be driven by ‘big data’ and increasing levels connection and competition.

Ultimately, change is going to be the only constant.

So we want to recruit people who have the basics – a willingness to listen and work hard, to take feedback and use it to improve.

But we also need people who are going to be able to change and to adapt to the challenges of the future.

In order to do this, they need to be resilient and intrinsically motivated. They need to be able to think on their feet, handle pressure with grace and build strong relationships that benefit the organisation.

If you can recruit people with these attributes – they will be able to handle change, it is simply a question of moulding and developing them in line with your standards and expectations.

Most job descriptions and graduate recruitment processes miss these important factors.

They recruit for skills and experience rather than character and attitude.

But it is character and attitude that are the foundations for a world class culture or a high performing team.

Let me bring this to life with a couple of examples.

I have written about Netflix before. They are a great example of an organisation with a clear understanding of the type of person that they are looking for. Their jobs page makes it clear from the outset – they define it as ‘the responsible person’.

The Military does not recruit anyone who knows how to fly a plane, drive a ship or lead a Troop attack.

Skills can be taught.

Attitude cannot – therefore attitude is more valuable.

If we look at the other end of the spectrum and chose a sporting example – Aston Villa were relegated last week after a disastrous season. Following nine losses in a row, this once great club will be relegated to the second division of English football.

The warning lights have been on at Aston Villa for years yet this hasn’t stopped the rot. You can blame poor leadership at the top and to some extent a lack of resources – although that argument seems a bit thin given Leicester’s success this season!

I think that the attitude and character of the players is largely responsible for their poor performance.

Their Captain, the on-field leader of the team, Gabby Agbonlahor has been forced to undergo a two week fitness programme in the middle of the season. He’s a professional footballer earning around £50k per week – he literally has one job – to be fit and he can’t seem to do that. When Villa were relegated, it was reported that he was drinking and taking laughing gas at a hotel in London.

Joleon Lescott tweeted a picture of £120k car after they were beaten 6-0 at home by Liverpool. Something he claimed to have done from his pocket. I don’t believe this for a second. When the team were relegated, he described it as a ‘weight of the shoulders’.

They might be (or have been) good players but attitude and character are what matters when faced with a challenge.

Leaders lead by example and the behaviour of these two doesn’t give me the impression that they care about the future of the team or the club.

So how do you select people for attitude and character?

Some companies will believe that it is too expensive to run assessment centres and have detailed selection procedures. Perhaps. But if you believe that the future success of your organisation is dependent upon recruiting and retaining talent – then you will consider this an investment rather than a cost.

I recently did some work with Fieri Leadership where we designed and delivered a 1.5 day assessment to select a group of graduates for a leading Financial Services Organisation.

We had to develop a process which would allow the company to select 15 candidates for their graduate programme out of a pool of 40.

The selection process included the following…

Discussion Exercise – the candidates were given a topic to discuss for ten minutes. We wanted to see how they listened and spoke to each other so we got them to talk about a wide range of subjects such as the ‘challenges facing the UK economy’ or the ‘use of torture’ on terrorist suspects.

Lecture – we gave the candidates 10mins to prepare a short lecture which they then had to deliver over the course of 8mins. This is tough – getting someone to stand and talk about something without any prior planning sees how well they can think on their feet and communicate with a limited amount of preparation time.

We also gave them a leaderless task and a planning exercise to see how well they could put together a plan and more importantly, how they responded to some challenging questions. We wanted to see how they handled pressure, how they communicated and interacted with their peers.

At the end of the process we interviewed each of them to get a feel for their life experience and the sort of challenges that they had faced – and more importantly how they’d overcome them.

The candidates reported that it was the most challenging process that they’d been though but that they thoroughly enjoyed it. The majority of them had done well at school and were bright but for many this was the first time they’d been really pushed and given some frank feedback on their performance – most of them seemed to really appreciate it.

Organisations that look to recruit people with character and the right attitude are setting themselves up for success in the future.

The Military have been doing it for years. It is a lesson that we’ve learnt in blood and a core principle for our success. Netflix are a good example of a business who have taken this approach and are now reaping the rewards. Aston Villa are an example of what happens when poor characters are faced with a challenge – they capitulate.

There is no such thing as the perfect selection process but there doesn’t have to be. You just need to be better than your competitors at selecting and retaining talented people. As word starts to get out that you’re a tough organisation to get into – you’ll attract people looking to join the best – those who are seeking out a challenge.

No one wants to get into the nightclub that accepts everyone – businesses are the same.

An easy recruitment process sets the bar low for the type of person you recruit.

Where have you set the bar and how easy is it to get into your organisation?

If you want some free advice on how to raise ‘your bar’ – please get in touch with Me or Tony Harris of Fieri Leadership.