LPHR Magazine (March 2013) | Page 64

PRACTICES Leaders and HR Professionals are the gatekeepers to any organization and it’s a shared responsibility to get the right people on the bus. Too often, managers do not run help wanted ads until there is an open position. Then, due to workload and the daily demands of running a business, the position is filled quickly with the best available candidate. While these new hires may be good, solid performers, more often than not, they are usually not great performers. This puts your business at a greater risk and a greater loss in the long run. Work with your leadership team to always be looking for great people to maintain efficiency in building a pipeline of strong fit candidates to back fill positions throughout the organization. team.” The right people will always help spread the right behaviors throughout their departments and the organization. LPHR 3/13 Leaders who take pride in getting the right people on the bus want to contribute to the hiring process however they can. Some leadership teams practice a self-assessment tool as a guideline to determine how likely it is that candidates will be successful. Areas for leaders to inspect include: technical proficiency, leadership skills (ability to motivate others), interpersonal skills (ability to build successful working relationships), team skills (ability to work interdependently), conflict management (diplomatic skills), self-motivation (drive for results), fitting into the orgaIn the book “Good to Great”, nizational culture, catalyzing Jim Collins explains why some positive changes (driving for companies make the leap and CQI), representing the organiothers don’t: “The right people zation well to external entities, are self motivated and are inand going beyond formal job trinsically driven to succeed. descriptions to contribute outThese employees do not need side of one’s own role. to be tightly managed, but instead are leaders and set the At the end of each assessment, example for others on your candidates will be found to be one of two types of people: A giver or a taker. Givers focus on themselves and their own personal improvement. They build others up through commitment, communication, competency, enthusiasm, dependability, self-improvement and selfless behaviors. Givers make you feel good to be around them. It’s as if they give you “wing beneath your wings”. On the other hand, takers look for someone to blame when something is said or a change is made. They seek out ways to pin wrongdoings on anyone except themselves. Takers typically focus on and talk about others. They blame others or make excuses for everything. Most takers tend to build walls between people, creating divisions. Leaders end up spending all their time managing takers, their wants and endless needs. Unfortunately, this undermines your organization’s progress with shared goals, shared knowledge and mutual respect. If you surround yourself with takers, you will fail. MARCH 2013 | LPRH.CO