The Best and the Brightest: Hiring

Hiring people for your team is always a challenge. Generally you know your budget and your headcount – but what are the skills that you need? What are your short term needs? What are you long term needs? What are you skill gaps? Hiring is often more about finding those who fit your near and long terms needs than bringing on the “best and the brightest”.

Inventory

Regardless of what vacancy you have on your team – either through someone leaving or through picking up additional responsibilities, it is important to do an inventory. First list the people on your team. Next list their primary and secondary job responsibilities. After their job responsibilities it is vital to list their functional strengths. Finally, what are the functional areas where you have gaps – such a financial analysis, marketing, technical skills or strategic planning. It may be helpful to fill a matrix with this information so you can see what you have (check it) and what is missing (blank).

Near Term Needs

For the next twelve month what are the skills that are essential for you and your team to be successful. By this we mean to meet and exceed every single objective assigned to you by your leadership. It may be helpful to look at where you met your objectives in the past and where you did not. If you met them, have the key people left creating a void? If you did not meet them was it due to a missing skill or area of expertise? Looking out to the next twelve months what objectives will be the same? Which will be higher or new? What skills will they demand? And how do those skills match with the current team’s skills? Again identify the needs versus the inventory of current team members and their skills.

The Future

Looking out eighteen to twenty-four months based on your team’s or your organization’s strategic plan, what are the major initiatives? How do they differ from those your team is working to achieve today? What same skills do they require? What new or different skills do they require? Focus on the new and different skills? Do you have them within the current team or do you need to acquire them? A matrix to highlight the gaps and voids in skills is an effective tool for looking at the future also.

Bench Strength

Leadership success is much talked about but seldom addressed – until it is too late. If you were promoted tomorrow who would take your place immediately? And who would take that person’s place. You need to think about this for every function in your team and also for every position on level above your team in your organization. You boss wants to know who can take his place when SHE is promoted too. Identify who would move into what roles based on skills, expertise and performance over time. Here is one more area where a matrix to highlight the gaps and voids is helpful.

Conclusion

It is time to submit a requisition to Human Resources. You know your budget. You know your headcount. Now you should know the skills that you need to deliver on your performance objectives this year, in the next two years and when you or members of your team move up or on to greener pastures. While there is nothing wrong with hiring the best and the brightest – the most important thing is to hire people who will make your team successful now and in the future plus make the larger organization successful in the long term.

George F. Franks, III is the President of Franks Consulting Group, a Bethesda, Maryland management consulting and leadership coaching practice. Franks Consulting Group has worked with companies of all sizes, non-profit organizations and individual leaders. George is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants (USA). His web site is:
http://franksconsultinggroup.com
George can be e-mailed at:
gfranks@franksconsultinggroup.com
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