Hiring the Right Person for the Right Seat

By Ed Bierschenk, TAB Facilitator and Business Coach

Every business owner has struggled at one time or another to have the right person in the right seat. Authors Jim Collins in “Good to Great” and Gino Wickman in “Traction” both emphasize the importance of investment in human capital to the success of any enterprise. The dilemma….”where do I get the right candidates and which candidate from the pool is the right hire for the current or future role?” This article will focus on the latter challenge of selecting the right person for the right role or seat.

As a business expands the human resource challenge of right people in the right seat gets more complex because the range of skills, experience, and competencies changes as a business evolves. Most of us have seen how the right person is essential to build a company culture and support core values which drives engagement.  We have also likely seen how the wrong choice can adversely impact the company.

Each new person we hire can make or break the bottom line. Experts tell us that one bad hire could conservatively cost a company between $15,000- 17,000, not accounting for the impact from lost productivity or negative impact on morale.  Each investment in human capital can impact customer service, productivity, teamwork and morale which each directly or indirectly impact the bottom-line.

So just how do make hiring decisions with some precision?  My experience in hiring hundreds of managers and front-line workers for various businesses points directly to a rigorous selection process.  If you want to move your company from good to great and generate traction here are seven critical components to create a rigorous selection process to get you closer to identifying the right person for the right seat:

1. Identify the “strategic competencies” needed now and the future to achieve your business goals.
2. Always include core values as key component of your selection criteria for all positions.
3. Write a job description which includes the skills, core values and competencies required.
4. Compile a list of structured interview questions to rate each candidate against the job.
5. Use validated and job-related assessment tools to help you make an objective decision.
6. Train your selection panel on how to ask questions, listen, and assess skill of candidates.
7. Hire with precision and rigor —avoid any short-cut the selection process.

These are proven steps which the author, Ed Bierschenk, has successfully used with organizations during his experience of over 30 years in human resources and business operations. Ed has been a business coach with The Alternative Board for almost 10 years and runs his own executive coaching and training company.

This article has focused on how to select the right person out of your candidate pool.  If you want to learn more about what experts and business owners have to say about the best practices for sourcing right candidates for the right seat just sign up to attend the TAB business owner event “Attracting Talent in a Competitive Labor Market”, February 6^th. (link) This expert panel session is open to TAB Members and their business guests.