Finding the right person to fill a position is an issue for anyone who has to hire people.  All too often we are so anxious to fill job openings that we start changing our perspective of what is needed in the job to fit what a candidate has rather than matching the candidates skills and experiences with what we need.  Needless to say, the end result is a poor match between the individual and the requirements of the position.  That leads to the job not being done well and requires performance management to kick into gear, which we have already discussed as being one of the most poorly performed of management tasks.  It is better to take the time to select the right candidate.

This problem starts with a lack of clarity and confidence about what tasks must be performed in the job, and what skills it takes to perform those tasks.  First, recognize the vacancy as an opportunity to improve your business.  Do you really need to replace this position?  Can you change the description of the position to be more or something different than it was before?  Can you absorb the responsibilities of this position into those of another existing position and give that position a raise or promotion?

Never hire an individual if you have any doubt that they can meet every expectation you have of them.  If you do, you will be frustrated forever. 

The quickest way to get these answers is to flow chart the activity of your operation and clarify what is needed in the position.  By doing so you reassess the steps to deliver the product or service you provide, and you clarify the processes and activities to deliver them.  The result is a better idea about what is needed from each individual involved in the process, confidence about your need to fill the position, and clarity about what you need to fill it with.

The next problem stems from the belief that the “right person” for your position does not exist.  There are a couple of reasons why this doubt creeps into your mind.  You are uncertain that your expectations are realistic; you do not know how to define what you are looking for; or you do not know how to go about finding the “right person” for the job.  This uncertainty and lack of clarity is exascerbated by a sense of urgency to fill the position and handle the problems which occur everyday that the position remains unfilled.

If you have established clarity about what is needed in the position to support your processes, then the challenge becomes finding the person who has the skills to deliver on those needs.  First, this means identifying the skills needed to do the job.  If you do not know them yourself talk to people, interview the people who interact with that position, discuss the position with others in similar positions.  Clarify the skills needed. 

Next, create a set of interview questions which enable you to determine if your candidates have those skills.  Use probing open-ended questions in which the candidates can tell you what they have done which demonstrates their skills in those areas.  This is referred to as behavioral interviewing…interviewing in which you are probing for information about observable behaviors in the candidate.

Finally, take the time to select the right person who can do the whole job…don’t settle for whatever is available at the time.    It will be a source of endless frustration for you…and them.

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen organization structures built around individual incompetence or inadequate processes.  It seems like people spend a lot of time looking for different ways to conduct their business to correct problems rather than going right to the source of the problem for resolution. 

Let’s take the first part of that statement…individual incompetence. 

Periodically, we find that an employee is not capable of doing the entire job the way we need it done.  They may not be a total disaster in the role, in fact, they may actually be good at some parts of the job, but they are consistently failing to meet all of the desired goals.   Now, for the sake of this example, let’s assume that we have managed their performance as per the post on “Managing Performance”, and we are still not seeing improvement in those key areas in which we need it.

Organization structure must be a function of process, not individual performance.  Would you build a soccer team with two goalies because one is not getting the job done?

In these situations a manager/supervisor will often decide that he/she needs to create another position and add a person to accomplish these functions.  Of course, what they are doing is hiring another person to pick up the slack in the area in which the incumbent is underperforming.  They are failing to address the core issue that the employee is not performing to expectations.  They seem to feel that they have set the wrong expectations.  They are starting a process of restructuring to split out responsibilties and assign them to other people.  They are starting to add positions into the structure to improve the performance on those desired tasks.  The effects are that:

• They are changing processes to fit an individuals capabilities.  Those processes may be very good just as they are.  By changing them you may be making them less efficient, thereby bringing down the productivity of ALL individuals who are part of that process. 
• They are changing structures to make up for an individuals inabilities.  They are adding positions and people to do the job that you expect the other individual to do. 

Both of these actions cost the organization money. 

Structure must be a function of process.  Determine the process needed to produce your product or service.  Identify the roles required to deliver at each step of the process.  Fill the roles with people capable of performing all the tasks.  Manage their performance.  Eliminate incompetence.