Hiring Based on Leading Indicators

Lagging indicators are not always indicative of future performance, especially when it comes to employees. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are fantastic pieces of the puzzle in regards to analytics, and can be useful to find industry trends, track marketing campaigns, and present the case for sound business acumen (being successfully employed). The problem with KPIs as most experts, realize is that they are often based on lagging indicators. EXAMPLE: Sales performance over the past year is used to project what sales performance should be over the next year. The problem with using the previous years sales projections is they don't always take into account changes in the market place due to unforeseen circumstances, such as; extreme weather events, government regulations/oversight, mergers and acquisitions. All of the items in this list can drastically affect your sales projections in either a large positive gain or a major loss.

I have never had any HR training, but I have been through a number of interviews over my career and I have a large amount of recruiters that I speak with on a regular basis. No, this does not make me an expert on anything other than job searches, social selling, networking, resumes, and LinkedIn, but I do, however, have a different perspective on the hiring process than most HR professionals might. Have you ever thought about looking at a candidate without considering putting them in a pigeon hole for what they are, but rather as an advancement position for what they could become? Many larger organizations I have interviewed with are typically just trying to fill a hole or they know where they want to put me, but they don't actually have a position available. While I appreciate the forward thinking of the latter role it seems to be following the concept of lagging indicators. It seems very arrogant of me to think that I am that much of an exception. Are you familiar with the "what if" strategy employed by Southwest Airlines? The executives at Southwest Airline have developed strategies based on what they would do in case an opportunity became available. EXAMPLE: If a terminal which Southwest Airlines had not been in previously became available and other conditions were favorable they have previously established plans that would allow them to move into the terminal or move on from the opportunity.

As an HR professional or business owner, how can you find and place candidates based on what they will be and not what they currently are? First, let’s start with the interview process. There is a standard list of questions that are commonly asked during interviews depending on the role that is being filled. Those of us who have become proficient at interviews know these and we have prepared canned responses (just as predictable as your question(s)). What is your greatest strength? Tell me about a time when...? What is your greatest weakness? Why did you leave your past organization? Let's really think this through.

Suggestion 1: Asking better questions: The intent should not be to catch candidates off guard, but to give you a real meaningful answer and truly show you the candidate’s thought process. Present the candidate with a unique problem that may be relevant to your current organization and see what solution they come up with.

Suggestion 2: Focus on the leadership ability of the candidate or the potential for leadership. How "teachable" is the candidate? How successful would the candidate be at training others in the future (once they have been properly trained)? How does the candidate further his/her professional education (excluding continuing education credits to maintain license(s)/certification(s))? What do they read? How involved are they at networking functions?

Suggestion 3: Is the candidate truly a "fit" for the culture of your organization?  How well do you understand your organization’s culture? Just trying to fill a gap can be very damaging to the health of the culture in your organization, or it could create dramatic improvement if the right person is brought in and equipped to do the right job.

Suggestion 4: How does the candidate impact the community outside of your organization? This is often a great indication of where he/she are going to spend his/her time when they are not at work or involved with family. We should all want people who take initiative to help improve the lives of others and this is a great indication he/she will do the same for your organization.

Please feel free to add your thoughts and comments as we explore this topic further. We can make a huge positive impact if we can help more people get into the right places at the right time.