How do you recruit for “Values” and so-called “soft-skills”?  If you listen to recruiters or your HR team, (or Workwise) they will talk about recruiting someone who is the right “fit” for your team. If the answer is still eluding you, then maybe today is the day that the penny drops!
 
To be right up front – you first need to at least identify what your values are.  What attributes do you value? 
How can you recruit the right values into your team if haven’t the foggiest idea of what values or attributes you want to bring in?  If you’ve never spent a good hour or two in your business life to take the time and work it out, then do yourself a favour and schedule time into your calendar as soon as you have read this blog. Even better still, if you need help in identifying the attributes you value, then Workwise has ways to help you with this – see the details at the end.
 
Secondly, you need to be committed to incorporating those values, soft-skills or personality traits into every recruitment and introduce consistency by ensuring that every potential new recruit is reviewed in the same way.
 
It’s a no-brainer that the majority of people dislike confrontation in the workplace.
It is so much more stressful, un-productive and morale-defeating to have to try and work with someone who seems to be a square peg trying to fit into a round hole.  The question is why?  Why is this person not fitting in as well as you thought they would? What happened to all that promise you saw in them at the interview? Why is it that three or six months down the track (yes after the probation period has been and gone!), they are not working out?
 
The best thing you can do if this situation arises is ask yourself those “why” questions and then seek the answers with an open mind. How committed are you to finding the answers?
 
The answer possibly lies within any or all of the following:

  • The Job Role Description
  • The recruitment process
  • The on-boarding process
  • The existing workplace culture (values, unwritten ground rules, communication styles etc)
  • The talent management processes (other than recruitment and onboarding)

 
Have you given your recruit the best possible start up to their new life in your team?
 
NOTE:  If you haven’t got the patience or commitment to finding the answers then stop reading here.
 
….if you are still with us, then you are obviously interested. Congratulations!
 
The first step on your path to enlightenment can be found in the words of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,  (Habit Number 5) – “Seek first to understand, then be understood.”
 
 
THE DETAILS AT THE END
Finding out why some people drive you crazy or what specifically is ‘your comfort zone’, is a first step to investigating your own values and beliefs.
 
Then, finding out what options are available to you to begin introducing your new found knowledge into how you might better bring new people into your team(s) is the next step.
 
There is no magic bullet here – both of these steps require time, effort, commitment, some degree of trial & error and perhaps even a leap of faith!
 
Here are some things you might like to pursue:

  1.  Find out more about your own personality.
  2. Find yourself a Personal Coach.
  3. Seek help to review your procedures, processes or systems that are used in recruitment, team development and retention and looks for the gaps or ways to improve these.
  4. Investigate options then plan steps to introduce measures that address the gaps or improvement opportunities from Step 3.
  5. Find yourself a Business Coach to keep you moving forward and on the right track.

 
If any of this has made sense to you, or even if it hasn’t made any sense and you want clarification, call Workwise Advisory Services and in case you need reminding:

(08) 9792 4451.

 

The information contained in this article does not constitute and should not be relied upon as ‘legal advice’. Workwise recommends that legal advice be sought from a suitably qualified legal practitioner prior to any action being taken. Such advice may be accessed via Workwise.