Recruitment - Do You Know What Youre Looking For?

The time will come when you'll need to interview someone tojoin your business or your existing team. If you work in alarge organisation then this could be someone from insidethe company. You might even be the owner of a small businessand about to start your first employee. Whatever thesituation, you're going to have to make a decision aboutwhether this person is suitable for the job or not.

I'm aware that in some organisations a middle manager mayhave a new team member picked for them. The applicant iseither hired by the Human Resources department or the seniormanager.

If you're in this situation then you must fight against itby communicating with your manager. You must assert yourselfin this situation and give feedback to your manager. I appreciate the difficulty of this situation (I've beenthere). You'll find out how to do it in my e-book - "How toget more Sales by Motivating your Team"

It'll be extremely difficult to be a successful managerunless you decide who'll be on your team. You need to havetotal faith and belief in every member of your team and theyneed to know that.

It may be the case that you work for an organisation withsophisticated selection systems. Or you might own or workfor a small company where you write the job advertisement,do all interviewing and make the coffee.Whatever the situation, there comes a time when you'll beeyeball to eyeball with a potential team member.

Before you can ask a question or conduct an interview, youneed to be very clear in your own mind - you need to knowexactly what you're looking for.Now you might jump in here and say - "I know what I'mlooking for - a new receptionist or a maintenance engineer,or a sales agent and I want a good one." But what do youmean by a good one?

What you're looking for is someone:

*Who can deliver the outcomes you need

*Who'll fit with the company structure

*Who'll fit with the existing team

*Who'll respond to your style of managing

*Who'll be happy in the job

Let's look at each of these points in turn.

Deliver the Outcomes

The outcomes (you might call them goals, targets orobjectives) for your business could be varied but I'm surethey'd be along the lines of - Finding new customers -holding onto the ones you have and getting them to buy moreof your products or services. However for an individual teammember the outcomes you need from them are probably morespecific. These could be outcomes such as:

*More orders (You'd want this from a sales person)

*More happy customers who come back and also tell theirfriends (from someone in a customer service position)*Fast maintenance turnaround (if the person is an engineeror technician)

*Well presented and delicious food (from a cook or chef)

*A well run and efficient office (from an admin person)

Outcomes are what you and your team are judged on. So youneed to be clear in your own mind what outcomes you wantfrom the person you interview.

Fit with the Company Structure

You also need to think about whether the person youinterview will be happy in your company and your culture.Some people who move from a large company to a much smallerone often find it hard to adjust and vice versa.

You must ensure that the person you employ will be happyworking within your structure. That's why good interviewingtechniques are vital.

Fit with the team

Will the job applicant fit well with the existing team?Maybe your team are a group of loners who don't communicatewith each other but it's unlikely. They probably allcommunicate with each other have breaks together andgenerally chat amongst themselves. You can't pick people who're all the same - who wants a setof clones in the team? However you need to pick someone whois on the same wave-length as the rest of the team. Perhaps you could involve a team member at a secondinterview, they might have a better feel for whether theperson would fit or not.

Respond to your style

How will the person respond to you, will they be able towork with your style of management?

I've had applicants at an interview complain about theirexisting boss - "Do you know that he expects me to do suchand such." And I've thought to myself, "That's exactly whatI'd be expecting also."

You've must have a good connection with the person you bringinto your team. That doesn't mean that you're going to bebest buddies but you'll need to be able to work together.

Consider if you're the kind of manager who likes to workclosely with your team and regularly check their progress.If so, you'll need an individual who wants structure anddetail and is comfortable with close monitoring.If on the other hand, you're the kind of manager who setsoutcomes and leaves the team to get on with it without muchhelp from you. Then you're going to need someone who ishappy to work with minimum supervision.

They need to be happy

Job applicants don't know what they're getting into whenthey start a new job. They might think they know but how canthey when they've never worked in your team or your companybefore. Just as it's a risk for you when you start someonenew, it's also a risk for them. You'll never totallyeliminate the risk but it's your job minimise the risk forboth you and the applicant.

Discover how you can interview and recruit the best peoplefor your team!

Alan Fairweather is the author of "How to get More Salesby Picking the Best Team" This book is packed withpractical things that you can do to - make your life easier and achieve your business goals. Click here now:http://www.howtogetmoresales.comhttp://www.alanfairweather.com