The Know-How of Filtering the Right Talent
There are several criteria that go into hiring the right talent. Written tests, interviews, and psychometric analysis, all together promise to tell recruiters enough to make a long-term decision about a potential candidate. From a vast talent pool, all carrying with them the requisite qualifications, it becomes a tedious task to filter the right talent.
With multiple people who have decision-making powers in the process, different sensibilities compound the difficulty of making this subjective choice. There are, however, a few things to keep in mind about the hiring process and the modifications it needs.
Conduct Effective Interviews
Professional interviews often become a series of questions and answers that are extremely generic in nature. The more generic the questions, the more cliché answers. The pattern this creates is that interviewers are not interested in the person as an individual, but rather ask a set of questions that they already have preconceived notions about and expect set answers for. The interviewee, on the other hand, prepares only to impress, providing canned answers to the questions, thereby giving absolutely no insight to the interviewer about their potential place in the organization. There must be increased focus on allowing the person to be at ease and challenging them to think before they give answers. What gets ignored often is that candidates are individuals and their personalities will either add value to or negatively affect the organization. Understand the candidate better, let them understand you, and visualize the kind of fit they would be for the company, both qualifications wise and culturally.
Be Transparent about Challenges
At the outset, your potential candidate knows only what the organization allows to be perceived on the outside. This is normal. However, for someone you actually intend to hire, stay transparent about all the organizational challenges, the limitations of the role, and the areas for improvement in the company, especially for a role that might require change-making and innovation in existing processes. Be sure to discuss the culture of the workplace as well, and let the candidate determine whether they would be comfortable working in said environment. Show them around the office, right down to where they might sit and who they will have to deal with on an every-day basis. Take them through the amenities and facilities, and maybe even let them sit in on a meeting if possible. This will give them a good idea of the kind of discussions, briefs and interpersonal interactions that happen on a daily basis. There is currently too much emphasis on hiring the right talent, rather than allowing the talent to make the right decisions.
Stay Clear to Steer Clear of Ambiguity
Candidates need clarity on what is expected of them, and recruiters need clarity on whether the potential candidate is desirable and has the competence to fulfill these expectations. Outline the candidates KPIs with utmost lucidity, and ask them what they think of these indicators – whether they feel confident about living up to them, and whether they find them reasonable. In the case of new managers, they must always be allowed to meet and interact with their future team. This will enable them to better understand the challenges that lie ahead. Managers also need to know about the kind of support system that is being provided to them in the form of their team, while also being empowered to drive change and optimise the team after joining.
There is no dearth of talent and qualifications, but recruiting new employees needs to go a step beyond that to actually predict on the basis of insightful interviews, whether an employee is an appropriate fit or not.
This article first appeared on Entrepreneur India.
When Learning is a Priority, There's Always Time
Being a Consistent Learner Helps Ace Mentorship Skills
The hierarchical ladder may end, but the learning never stops
A crucial part of human development is working to improve oneself throughout life. A long-term process that needs to be sustained over time, self-development gradually builds confidence to tackle new tasks, set higher benchmarks, learn new skills and ultimately touch new heights. When moving up the hierarchical ladder, many executives become absorbed in their set roles, and in problem-solving and damage control tasks. In such a context one often forgets that every task, role and designation – right from an intern’s to a leader’s – needs continuous sharpening.
From making major organization-level decisions and acting as the single point of communication between the board of directors and corporate operations, to managing overall operations and essentially being the brand ambassador of the company – leaders have various complex tasks at hand on a daily basis. This is when learning takes a back seat. The key here is to incorporate learning into the daily or weekly routine. The options are numerous. One could listen to audio books while driving to and from work, catch up on some reading during lunch, incorporate a short training video into the schedule every day, or even arrange a small discussion with the team to present a new idea or concept each week or month. There are many top executives who take out a few hours on the weekend to catch up with other senior leaders from the industry and have an insightful discussion on trends and new developments. Often trying to learn individually can become challenging especially when it involves putting aside time. With a group of people, all encouraging, uplifting and teaching each other, there is higher motivation to ensure that learning takes place.
For a leader to be successful and ace mentorship skills, a culture of learning needs to be instilled within the organization as well as in the personal life. One should constantly be aware of the signs of complacency. The driving forces to avoid stagnant leadership are to set new benchmarks every step of the way. Every time an executive begins to feel that work is going into auto-pilot, she or he should expand the role, learn a new skill, or even mentor another apprentice. One important aspect to consider here is that each person learns differently from another. Some read, some listen, and some absorb from others, while some learn in short spurts and others prefer long-term learning programmes. When stuck in a rut, it is best for leaders to opt for a concept of subject they are most interested in. There may be certain skills or concepts that one needs to learn simply to set a base and create awareness. However, these may not trigger enough interest to help a person out of the void of complacency. On the other hand, a topic of absolute interest and passion to the person will draw them out of the rut and enable them to start on the learning path, so they can eventually learn anything from what they are passionate about to what they only have to learn as part of the industry.
Whether it is picking up new languages, keeping up to date with the newest of softwares and tools, or undergoing periodic leadership training and executive coaching, there is a plethora of learning options for those at the top.
The importance of learning is not restricted to those starting their careers. It is a process that every individual must embrace. Perhaps understandably, as long as there is a higher role or designation to reach, professionals are motivated to continue learning. However, on reaching the top, a common misconception is that the learning is complete and no longer necessary. Leading a team is as much of a skill as carrying out operational functions or administrative functions, and just like these processes, leadership needs consistent sharpening and honing. Education is ultimately the means to human development, and the culture of continuous learning when embraced by leaders will have a wonderfully impactful trickle-down effect on the rest of the organization.
This article first appeared on Entrepreneur India.
Channeling Procrastination into Productivity
Highlight the importance of little details of the brief, and pinpoint the fact that without questions ordinarily, such finer details would not be clear.
Monday Blues – a buzzword, a phenomenon, an integral part of the workweek. Considering that the dull start of a week and the overwhelming procrastination it leads to are becoming such widespread concerns for professionals, the solution is long overdue. Everyone has their own little ways of coping with a period where all you really want to do is postpone work and worry about it in the process, thereby effectively getting no respite whatsoever. As a leader, it can often become a challenge to help employees fight such a phase efficaciously and empathetically.
Once we actually acknowledge how often this can happen to us, we can find ways to help others combat procrastination and channel their energies in the direction of productivity. Every working individual faces days, weeks and sometimes even months of such phases, but they do not have to last so long or happen so frequently if we only narrow down the problem to the root cause and attempt to eliminate it.
Firstly, it is imperative to start planning Monday from Sunday evening onwards. This way, Sunday evening passes smoothly and without a sense of dread for the next day because you and your team already have it mapped out. Additionally, planning ahead will ensure that Monday starts off on a note that is organized and well sorted out, thereby setting the tone for the rest of the week.
The next step is to identify what is causing the procrastination in a certain case, and then to solve that very problem. While Mondays come along every week, procrastination can occur repeatedly for several different reasons. To understand why procrastination is affecting your team, observation is the first step. If you do see signs of postponement and lethargy in the team, you can then approach individual team members and talk to them about their role, their every-day work, and even the task for that particular day or week. Dive deep and discuss the problems they are facing, and then proceed to understand the underlying cause.
There are a few common factors that cause all of us to experience this phenomenon. Procrastination could happen because of an individual from your team:
Doesn’t like the task at hand
Doesn’t understand the task
Doesn’t possess the requisite skill set to fulfil the task
Finds the task dauntingly complex, and cannot figure out where to start
Doesn’t Like the Task at Hand
While delegating work, along with assessing someone’s experience, qualifications and skill set, it is also essential to determine whether they actually enjoy the work or not. Apart from the required abilities, nothing gets a task done more effectively and efficiently than genuine enjoyment. Someone who feels enough interest in the task will invest all their efforts and carry it out with conviction, rather than only running mechanical actions and doing an average job of it. Assigning tasks according to interest and liking, at least most of the time, also keep employee motivation and enthusiasm consistently high, sidesteps boredom and stagnation, and of course, keeps procrastination habits at bay.
Doesn’t Understand the Task
When assigning a task, the brief should be detailed, yet precise. Encourage your team to ask questions at every point, and do not express annoyance or trivialise their doubts. This will only lead them to stop asking questions which in turn will result in half-baked understanding and clueless execution. Instilling the habit of questioning is a long-term practice and will not result in a fully receptive team overnight. So, at the outset, it is a good idea to provide clarifications and explanations even if there isn’t too much questioning. Highlight the importance of little details of the brief, and pinpoint the fact that without questions ordinarily, such finer details would not be clear. After explaining the task, ask the person to paraphrase the brief to get a better idea of their understanding, and only then proceed to get the task accomplished.
Doesn’t Possess the Requisite Skillset
As mentioned before, leaders should ideally delegate tasks according to individual interest and ability. However, sometimes there is no choice because tasks just have to be finished. In such cases, go into details not just about the brief itself but about the processes required to complete the task. One can provide pointers, user tutorials and even a demonstration of the processes require the use of certain technologies and software. For the long run, however, it is crucial to ensure that the entire team is up to speed with work tools, technological procedures and equipment usage. A learning and development program with regular workshops and training sessions should be put in place at the outset so that the eventuality of last-minute teaching becomes rare. The more the team understands and knows, the more ownership they have over their roles and the higher their accountability to the organization. All of this together reduces the chances of frequent procrastination and a mechanical approach to work.
Finds the Task too Complex
This is one of the most common root causes of procrastination. There is a degree of slowness that takes over when one has to begin a task that one cannot understand or isn’t equipped to handle. Often, even if employees are well-versed in the skills themselves, the task is many-layered and a mixture of various processes or involves coordination with several other teams. Here the important step to take is to break the task down into smaller instalments for the team. These segregated, sequential problems become easier to handle and overcome before moving onto the next one, and ultimately completing the larger assignment systematically.
Monday blues happen to everyone, and every one of us, from intern to CEO, has at some point been frustrated with our tendency to put off work and accomplish nothing. However, instead of accepting these phenomena as they are and assuming that this is just how it is if we wake up to combative methods, then Mondays would feel as enjoyable as Fridays and productivity would peak. When leaders themselves start implementing these practices, they can truly lead from the front and gradually eliminate the culture of frequent procrastination.
This article first appeared on Entrepreneur India.
Engaging the Senior Management for Effective Results
It is a widely known fact that as you move up the corporate ladder, things tend to get lonely. Managers and the C-level of every organization are consistently instilled with the importance of employee engagement, more so today than ever before. But these leaders themselves often go unacknowledged in the process of making sure that employees are happy. Being a leader is tough and what many organizations do not fully understand is that effective engagement needs to start at the top to achieve maximum results. So, how can an organization ensure that the senior management stays engaged?
Motivate Your Leaders too!
Everyone gets stuck in a rut, feels like giving up on problems, or simply gets saturated with work. It is the team’s job to uplift leaders to rise out of the funk. Employees and the HR team together can initiate such processes by first identifying both the triggers that motivate leaders, and those that cause excessive stress. You know your leader best, you know what makes them tick and what ticks them off. Getting together with the entire team and pro-actively finding solutions to problems that are exhausting your leader’s patience and time, can be a massive show of support to someone who already has a lot on their plate.
Additionally, just as all employees rightfully expect appreciation and credit where it is due, this must be carried over to leaders, no matter how senior. Appreciate what they do for you and the organization in a committed and sincere manner. This does not always have to be through a grand ceremony or gesture – it can also be in the seemingly small yet meaningful ways. For instance, after the completion of a big project where you know your leader has worked tirelessly, the HR team can prescribe a day off, or even employ someone to do a professional spa treatment or a meditation session – anything that could help to unwind, while also filling your leader with a sense of acknowledgement and motivation.
Humanize Them
Perhaps the most straightforward approach, and one where the HR team’s involvement is imperative, is to include members of the senior management in various engagement activities that are conducted in the organization. Leaders are often reluctant to participate in such events because they either do not have the time or because they are hesitant to intrude upon what is perceived as “employee time”. This can be changed in gradual steps. You could organize a leaders’ retreat or offsite where for once the C-level members of the organization do not have to think of managing others or of giving presentations and making decisions.
Apart from such gestures, the HR team can also practice more long-term approaches, like putting in place a system for periodic days off, occasional days to spend with the family or even alone time spent in the individual’s choice of recreation or relaxation. Such strategies will help your leaders achieve a work-life balance, thereby creating a healthy work culture in the entire organization.
Focus on Intrinsic Motivation
Leaders are so bogged down by the bigger picture and growth of the company that they often don’t get recognized as people – For who they are, what they bring to the table, and how they contribute to building up the company every day. Also, what motivates them might be different from what motivates managers. For instance, exclusivity is a priority for a C-Suite member while for a manager, engagement is of topmost priority. Often the senior management channels their personal missions through the activities of the organization. This could be through inclusive hiring policies, CSR initiatives, and even sensitisation programmes and workshops for the company. Here it is important for employees to understand and thus align with the ideology of the senior leadership to better support them in their endeavours.
Ask your senior leaders what their mission is, and possibly how you can as a team help to achieve it. Once you know this, it is possible to create a plan tailor made to the mission and execute it, thereby helping your leader move one step closer to the goal. Just like every other individual in the organization, members of the senior leadership want to experience personal growth and require encouragement to achieve the same.
Executives attempt to lead the way in every aspect, from ownership and accountability to time management and commitment. In the process, their understanding of their own needs in terms of personal development, work enhancement and continuous learning can take a back seat. C-level employees need to introspect on where they stand in such aspects, and prioritize their own growth just as much as their employees’ growth. In this, the HR team has a huge role to play – for they are the ones who can bring these elements to the attention of the leaders.
This article first appeared on Entrepreneur India.