The 9 C’s For Successful Recruiting.

Recruiting the right person to your team can be a challenging task. Successful recruiting is vital if you are to build a strong team and brand. Having recrited and interviewed many people for over 25 years, I fully understand the importance of getting this right.

The hiring of people to join your team, can have a huge impact upon the company one way or the other. Therefore, the interview procedure must be carefully planned out. Strategic coaching questions should be crafted in advance to ensure you get inside the heart and mind of the person you are interviewing.

These 9 C’s will provide a solid process that will empower you for greater success when hiring people to your team.

This is a process I have used and added to over the years. As a business growth consultant, I have observed that the process for selecting the initial interviews, the questions asked in the interview and the process to the appointment can be weak and needs to be addressed – urgently.

It has often been recognised that if you want to develop a company, you need to develop the team – however for this to be successful you must have the right team members on board.

So be honest with yourself as you answer the following question;

  • On a scale of 1-10 how effective would you describe your recruitment process?

Which areas need to be up levelled in order to attract the very best to your company and to ensure you are saving on continuous recruitment fees?

It can often be said that when someone joins your team, they are one day closer to leaving! 

However, the aim and intention are that you attract the very best in the marketplace and that you both enjoy a long term and very successful business relationship.

What should you be looking out for when recruiting someone to join your company? This is a key question that must be given great consideration before the interviews start.

So, where do you make a start?

Always have an agreed established process in place to ensure that you are making a wise judgement when offering someone an opportunity to join your team. Therefore don’t rush this allow yourself time to think into this well. What will your process look like? Plan it out.

As I have previously mentioned the interview process for some companies and teams may not be as robust as they could be which can lead to the wrong person being offered a job as well as costing the company a large amount of time and money.

Too much money is being wasted when it comes to recruiting, however successful recruiting allows you to reinvest in your own business. 

Making the wrong choice when it comes to increasing your team, can have huge financial implications for the company. 

For small companies with less than 10 people, this can even lead to the company failing. Don’t let this happen to you – the pain is far too great and not needed.

So, first, recognise that hiring the best staff is an art. It takes time and wisdom as you seek to determine who could be the best candidate to fill a function or role you have available.

Good employers ask great questions – at the interview stage, great crafted well thought questions will help to determine the quality of answer that you are looking for. Never rush this process, consider in advance the questions you want to be asking.

Be Prepared for the Interview

Don’t just think of questions during the interview. If there is a panel interview, decide in advance which questions each of you will be asking. Therefore don’t put yourself in the position that you say after the interview has finished thinking – I forgot to ask an important question. Prepare in advance for the interviewing process.

Always use a personality profile approach, this will help to reveal the strengths and limitations of an individual but will also reveal how they will respond in being part of a team.

To understand how a personality profile can be used to help you make the right appointment click HERE.

As a Business Growth Consultant, I would highly recommend for you The 9 C’s For Successful Recruiting, this can lead to building a very successful organisation.

1.    Culture

Culture is so important. Every business is building a culture. Leadership and teams build culture. Therefore, it is very important when recruiting people to your team that you consider way beyond are they nice and capable etc, to asking some deeper strategic questions.

Would they fit into our culture? Will they help to build our culture further as we move forward as a company? Would their behaviour be in alignment with our culture? How would they describe culture? What do they understand our culture to be? How could they add to our culture? Does this candidate values, beliefs and behaviour fit into our company’s culture?

Good crafted strategic questions in this area will empower you to recruit people who will be aligned to the culture of your organisation.

Therefore don’t allow other areas of their strength to supersede this important aspect. Ultimately the culture you build internally will impact you externally as well as in the long term – don’t be tempted to short circuit this fundamental area.

2.    Character

A member of staff with a good attitude, able to learn and with skills that can be developed will have huge positive effect on your team, productivity and profitability. Character is often described as what are we like when no one is watching.

Good character will ensure you have someone working not just for you but with you, honest with you, the customer and themselves. They will not be compromised. Good character builds trust – you know that you could trust them, as you seek to build your business.

3.    Coachable

Are they coachable or do they think they know everything there is to know? are they open to change? When you employ coachable people on your team, you can be assured that they will have a great attitude. A coachable person will always go far within a team. You can see this in business as well as in sport.

A team member with a very pleasant attitude is a great person to be working with. It will be easier to work with someone with a good coachable attitude than one with a poor one.

4.    Can-do attitude

Do they have a can-do attitude? Do they see the possibilities, or do they just see the problems? A can-do attitude is very contagious – it spreads well within a team. It causes a team to become very courageous. Are they prepared to have a go and take on new responsibility?

This decade I believe is a decade that will offer many opportunities for businesses. However not everyone will step up and take hold of these opportunities. Therefore, it is important to have people on your team with a can-do attitude so that your company can enjoy greater success as you take hold of the great opportunities that this decade has to offer.

When you have a can-do attitude amongst your team, when it becomes part of the team DNA, it inspires everyone to step up.

Ask leading questions to find out if they have this approach and if they do – ask them for a few specific examples and the difference it made.

 5.    Care

Do they really care? It is so important to have team members who care, about the vision, mission, fellow team members and values of the company. Caring team members know how to care for their customers. Caring team members will go the extra mile. They care about the work they do. Ask them to share with you some examples of how they have displayed a caring approach in their work situation and the difference it made. You want to hear their stories about this.

6.    Competent

Do they have the competency to fulfill the position you are offering? Can they do this role today AND are they someone you can develop for a wider role in the future?

Do they have the skills and talents you could develop as you look to grow your business? A good leader will look to develop the talents in each of their team both for now and the future. Therefore, it is important to see if they have the capacity for growth as you grow your business.

With good leadership talent does not come and go – rather it comes and grows.

It is important never to despise a small acorn when it comes to talents. If you want to grow your company grow the talents within your team.

7.    Conscientious

You can always spot conscientious team members; they are often good listeners,  always look out for what is best for the company, team and customers. Also they can often be great thinkers as well. You want these types of people on your team. They won’t be looking to cut corners. They have high standards and will always seek to do their best.

8.    Change

Can this potential employee change with the times? Every healthy business should change over time, you therefore need a team who are agile, that can adapt well in order to stay ahead.

How has this individual managed change in the past? Ask them to provide some examples.

Research suggests that 91% of HR directors think it’s likely that people will be recruited on their ability to deal with change and uncertainty.

Constant change is here to stay as the business world moves ahead at an incredible speed. Therefore, having a team that can adapt well to change is very important.

9.    Chemistry

Can I really work with this person? Can they work with me? Is there a personality clash? Can they work with the team? Are they a good team player? Will they be accountable?

Get this one wrong and it can spoil your entire team.

Just because someone is competent – does not mean they are a right match for your team! 

There have been times where I have not appointed someone to join my team, not because they lacked the competency, in fact they could do the role very well – however they were simply not the right match for the team. The chemistry just did not fit. Team to me is more important than just one person.

You need to be asking tough questions such as – Will this person not just work for me, but will they work with me? Is it all about them or is it about working towards the vision and mission of the company? There is a huge difference between someone just working for you (Pay cheque) and someone working with you (Loyalty).

Don’t be tempted just to take someone on because of their reputation or record achievements alone – you are interested in the future success of your team and company. Get this one right and you are doing your best in building a great team. This is so important – please read this part again! I really want you to succeed with this.

If you like what you have read so far and would like to be kept updated with my leadership and business insights and courses – click HERE.

So, when recruiting consider the The 9 C’s For Successful Recruiting: You may be a manager, in HR or your responsibility is to conduct the interview process. Ensure you have a solid process – plan to stay ahead when it comes to recruiting.

Your ability to recruit well will determine the success of your team and company. These effective recruitment strategies and practices will save you time and money so that you continue to build a successful and sustainable business.

As I conclude, I have two final questions to consider as I complete this article;

1.     How will you upgrade your process for successful recruiting?

2.     What could the impact be on your company, if you don’t upgrade your recruitment process now?