The World Cup is upon us and I have a confession to make: I probably won’t be watching or tweeting much about it, apart from when England are playing.
I am commonly known as a fair weather fan. So if the badge fits…..
Roy Hodgson has spent weeks and months putting his dream squad together. He will presumably have looked at the competition in other teams and then assessed which players are available to him and then what their assets are as individuals. He will have then devised a strategy of how he brings together each silo player to ensure the whole is in synergy and can play harmoniously.
If the theory works, then hopefully England play to their best abilities and we all celebrate on the 13th July – come on Eng-er-land!
How can the World Cup help recruiters?
This really got me thinking about how strategic directors and owner/managers of boutiques hire and attract people as on-the-spot hires and can visualise incorporating new individuals into their existing teams.
What is the best way to suss out whether someone WILL fit in culturally? Someone may have the right experience and/or skills but are they the right PERSON for the TEAM.
Occasionally, we meet business owners who actually ask us to hire people who may come in and “rock the boat”.
It troubles me as I always see beyond that, to draw the conclusion that, actually, there are people in your current team you must want to lose then. Bringing in a maverick or “cat amongst…” will mean you don’t have to manage them out – eventually they will resign.
What’s the best way to create a dream team?
I think the best way to ensure you create a dream team is to follow the process of:
- First interview: In the first interview, ask the potential employee about their current team – their reporting lines; who do they get on with? What issues have they had with anyone and who instigated it? How was it dealt with? Watch the body language for how defensive the person is. Probe until you have dealt with each example to ensure you don’t have a psycho in your midst.
- Third party: If you are interviewing someone through a third party – recruiter or internal recommendation – ask them for their viewpoint on how other people have reacted to them. What do you know about them? What is their provenance?
- Endorsements: Read their LinkedIn endorsements – do they have a fair 360 reflection of them (including peers and managers in their current role)? If not, why not?
- Meet the team: Allow the potential employee a chance to meet the team BEFORE you offer. This gives them the chance to ask questions away from you, as the interviewer, about the reality of the job, the “warts n all” approach. It also allows your existing team to a) feel valued as you are involving them in the hiring process, b) the chance to probe in areas that maybe you didn’t think to and most importantly c) to ensure there is “the click” there between them.
- Doubts: If there is any doubt from a current team member, iron this issue out before offer. Is it a niggle or have they uncovered something major?
- Profiling: Utilise psychometric profiling. Interview your current team so you have an infographic/composed list, of what their profiles are like. Are you trying to replicate/clone this or actually do you want a slightly different focus? Obviously this will be dependent on the role too.
- Don’t hire: I advocate that if you are in huge doubt over team fit, please DON’T hire the person. If you have done all of the above and you are unsure, then something is not right and it would be wrong to bring someone in to wing it. Trust your own instinct.
So if you are trying to create a Moore, Greaves, Charlton, Ball et all team squad, you need to use some science, design and ultimately your instinct to see how the magic can be there.
Conclusion:
How successful have you been in building and recruiting into teams? Have you used a different methodology to my suggestion? What horror stories would you like to share? What has worked especially well? Have you ever hired a whole team in one go?
I would love to know your thoughts.
And I hope, regardless of your nationality, that you enjoy the ceremony of the World Cup, the camaraderie it creates and no doubt the beer you will consume whilst watching it…
