How to hire All-Stars and win in any business

You have great ideas, corporate funding, organizational alignment and the desire to propel your business forward at light speed, but do you have the right people on your team?

Having the right people on the team to drive the vision is the difference between winning and losing – period.

Over my many years in management across industries, I have been lucky enough to find a way to get the right people on the right teams at the right time.  As I look back to find the trends to sourcing, attracting and retaining incredible talent, many patterns emerge.

“Skills” for the job are table stakes. The expectation is that candidates you are interviewing all have great skills,  however in my experience there are key intangible factors that contribute to hiring All-Stars.

Consider the following:

1 – Hire for fit:

Your candidate has the “skills” but are they going to fit your corporate culture? Are they going to be able to work in harmony and complement the other people on your team?  If not, think twice, teams can quickly stall if everyone isn’t headed in the same direction.

2 – Hire for passion:

Do the goals of your company really matter to them? Passion and excitement are critically important.  Is the candidate you are interviewing going to wake up every day and truly be excited to come to work? Or is this simply just another job for them.  The candidates who show passion and true interest in joining your team are the ones that will work hard for you every day, because it matters to them – personally.

 3 – Hire for the “always learning” personality:

Having learners on your team is a giant asset, as technology and business changes so fast. Don’t hire people who rest on what they already know. Even if they haven’t done something specific that you are looking for, people who can constantly learn, figure things out, and use the power of the internet to do things better every day are the kind people who will change the game.

4 –  Hire for the right attitude:

Are they arrogant? Are they nice? Are they humble? Will other people like them and want to work with them? These are all critical questions to ask.  If the candidate doesn’t have the right “attitude” for your culture (whatever that culture may be) the rest of your organization may not want to work with them.  Finding the right attitude to fit your culture, directly influences how long employees stay with you.

5 – Hire people outside of your business industry:

I have tested this theory out time and time again, and it works.  If you find the right skilled people who also fit your culture, it doesn’t matter what their industry background is.  Smart people are smart people. They can use their base skills to learn new industries and bring the rigor and drive you need to be able to propel your business strategies forward – with diverse and valuable perspectives.

6 –  Source talent in multiple ways: 

Internal recruiting, agencies, Linkedin, etc.

Give yourself a strong funnel of the best candidates possible. Candidate searches are very time consuming, not limiting the channels you use to find the right talent is crucial. Regardless of whomever is leading your search, make sure they understand your “skill, fit and culture requirements very clearly” so they drive and attract the right candidates to you.

The above 6 strategies have worked for me, leave your comments below and let me know how they work for you and what other tips you have in hiring and retaining game changing All-Star talent.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada
Humza Teherany
Humza Teheranyhttp://about.me/humzateherany
Humza is Chief Executive Officer of Compass Digital Labs and Chief Innovation officer at Compass Group Canada. Compass is the world’s largest hospitality, retail and support services company. He is responsible for technology, innovation, digital marketing and consumer experience strategy, across industry verticals such as; Retail, Sports, Entertainment, Business and Industry, Healthcare, Education, Oil and Gas among others. Humza is also a member of the Board of Directors @ the CIO Association of Canada.

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