Have you ever hired on hope? We really like this person and hope that they’ll get what’s involved with the role we’re hiring her for. Or worse, we’re hiring this person without a clearly defined role so we really don’t know if they get it! When looking at your Business System as a human body, it starts with the People component (BST #2). Within the People component, the three key elements are Aptitude, Attitude, and Altitude. Aptitude is the focus of this blog.
Aptitude is defined as “capability; ability; innate or acquired capacity for something; talent.”
Your Baseline for Hiring
Would a football team hire a person for the quarterback position when that individual is skilled as a defensive linebacker? Probably not! Then why do we hire people for a specific role that doesn’t possess the skills and talents required for that role? That new hire only lasts 3 months and we wonder what happened. I understand Attitude is important and it is key to function as a cohesive team, but your hiring decision should have a baseline for Aptitude . . . it should start there.
Aptitude = Your Uniquely Designed Talents
Too many times we hire based on Attitude, and hope that the Aptitude is developed through training, mentoring, and eventual experience. If you’re not wired for sales, you’ll do everything else to avoid making a sales call. If you’re not wired for accounting, you’ll do a very poor job of keeping up with the books. These are obvious but sometimes we overlook the obvious just because somebody interviewed well or we need to fill a key function and we think Joe can do it since he’s been with the company so long and we really want to promote him. Wow! Did you just hear your rationalization?
As humans, we’re made up of cells. Our bodies are made up of over 200 types of specialized cells. Each cell is designed to function in the way our bodies need it to. Specialized cells group together to form tissues. Tissues then form organs such as your heart, stomach, skin, muscles, etc. Muscle cells are very different from skin cells. Cells make up the Aptitude of that organ so it functions as it should in our body. The Aptitude of your employees (or your potential hire) is what they are innately wired or designed to do. Your employees are the organs of your company. They all have a specific function.
What happens when a cell in an organ splits and is not designed as the other cells for that specific organ? That’s the beginning of cancer. Same goes for your organization. You put employees in a function that don’t have the Aptitude that you need for that function, you’ll develop a cancer in your business body.
Healthy Businesses Are Thriving Businesses!
Imagine that your business body has all your cells perfectly designed for each function you need to operate at peak performance. All your organs are functioning well because each cell is uniquely coded for roles of that organ. Imagine all of your employees have the Aptitude to effectively function in the roles you’ve placed them. What kind of impact would that make to the clients you serve? How healthy would your company be? Healthy businesses are thriving businesses!
So ask yourself, “Am I hiring based on Aptitude first?” Do you evaluate your hires and your existing employees on what they’re uniquely designed to do? Do you have people in the right seats? Are you forcing an employee or a new hire to become a stomach but they’re designed to be a heart? Stop rationalizing your new hires, promotions, or the status quo when you know you have a cancer developing!
It’s never fun to make hard People decisions. But for the greater good of the organization and for the long-term health of the company, you must address these issues or your business will experience a slow death (or a quick one if it’s been neglected for so long).
Take the Organizational Checkup to gauge the health of your company! For more information on creating a healthy business lifestyle, read about the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS).
My next blog will be about the second element in People – Attitude. Attitude defines your core values as a company!
To Your Business Health!