“Stopping a piece of work just because it’s hard, either emotionally or imaginatively, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it…” – Stephen King, author
Many authors have described writing as a lengthy and arduous process. I myself have been in the process of writing a book for almost seven years now, and it seems I’ve been at it forever! And yet, as I put the final touches on my manuscript to send to the publisher, I am struck by how amazing this process has been (even though there were times when I wanted to pull my hair out). The learning, the soul searching, the patience and persistence have all been incredible lessons.
As I write, rewrite, delete, and continue to revise my vision, I realize that the process of writing a book is much like the process of interviewing for new employees:
Your vision changes as you go along. The book that I thought I was writing when I began this process is not the book that I ended up writing. I envisioned the process of writing a book was similar to the process of reading one – you start at the beginning and write steadily and smoothly until you’ve reached the end. I was unprepared for the amount of revisions, edits, rewrites and rearranging that occurs… and the same thing happens in the process of interviewing candidates for a position. My clients are surprised that midway through the process, we may change the job title, change the scope of the position or change the current department structure because we now have a better idea of what we need. You truly do not know what you are looking for until you begin the search, any more than I knew what book I would be writing until I started to write it.
Never, never, never give up. Wise words uttered from the amazing Winston Churchill. There were SO many times that I wanted to just quit writing. I got stuck, had writer’s block, or just became fed up with the whole process and would exclaim, “That’s it! I give up!” About that time, I would have a breakthrough that gave my book and my vision for it new energy. When you are interviewing for new employees, you will have bad days. You will think, “I am NEVER going to find someone!” Then, suddenly because you kept at it, a person walks in and renews your energy, both in the new employee and in your business.
It’s worth it. Much like completing a book, when you have finished the search, when you have found your Ideal Person and you have completed the hiring process, you feel like you could “leap tall buildings in a single bound!” You forget the times when you got stuck, frustrated, impatient, and the times where you HATED the process. Instead, you feel like you won the lottery!
While you continue the search for A-list employees (and while I complete this final phase of publishing my book), remember: Anything worth having is worth the trouble of making it happen, whether it be writing a book or hiring your next superstar. And stay tuned as my book, “Why Can’t I Hire Good People?” hits the bookshelves this spring!
Last week, I met with a new client who suffers from what I call “the Hiring Hangover”. He had just fired a long time employee and had to hire someone else quickly. The whole experience left a really bad taste in his mouth and he was having a hard time getting over it. He kept trying to change his policies and procedures to make sure that he did not get into the same position with a new employee that he had experienced in the past. In other words, he wanted to punish the new employee for the sins of the old employee. While it is completely understandable, it will not work. When you hire a person while “hungover”, you will make a bad hiring decision. You have to feel good about bringing a new person onboard. You have to be excited.
So, how do you recover from a bad hire?
You take a deep breath. Do not hire too quickly. If you need immediate help, hire a temp. Jumping in to a situation with a new hire when you are not ready sets you both up for failure.
Create your ideal candidate list. Put your head in the clouds and dream BIG. And I mean really big, like roses and rainbows and unicorns. You cannot have what you want unless you know what it is and how to identify it. So until you are ready to write a list of what you want, then you are not ready for a new hire.
Be patient. Do not start the interview process until you feel excited again.
Every manager has had a bad hire. It feels awful and firing someone should never feel good. So give yourself time to recover and breathe. Things will look better tomorrow. And your next amazing employee is right around the corner. I promise.
The end of the year is always a time of reflection for me. I like to look back and see the difference I have made in the lives of others and plan for how I will continue to bring value in the coming year. 2014 should be an exciting year, as my plan to publish a book about interviewing in a new era has taken shape and well on its way to being realized. During this process of publishing a book, I was given the rare opportunity to interview my clients to learn more about how I have assisted them with better hiring practices. Below is one such testimonial I received that brought tears of joy to my eyes. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I….
One of my clients, The Doss Heritage and Culture Center, hired me 2 years ago to find them an Executive Director. “Our Board had a very poor hiring record,” said James May, the Board President at the time of the hire. ”We floundered for a number of years. We would hire folks because they were local, and we’d sit down with them for a chat. This is not the best way to do business.”
“The whole experience with A-list Interviews was so different for us, in that we sat back and observed, and let the expert keep us on track. We made decisions very quickly. We now have a successful operation that runs seamlessly, and we are reaching goals that we never dreamed possible. “
Heather Castagna, the Executive Director, said “How has A-list changed our organization? I now have a cohesive team of people, and our budget has increased by $300,000 in the two years since I got here. Our attendance has doubled, our events have doubled. I now understand the importance of looking past experience and skills- I need to find the right fit and develop them. It has worked out fabulously!”
What a great way to end 2013!
Happy Holidays to all of our clients and here’s to a prosperous 2014!
Sand on the stage, beach balls in the air and Parrot Heads! This was the scene at the Pepsi Center several years ago for a Jimmy Buffett concert I attended. The back-up singers and dancers began rousing the crowd to get into the groove, which reached a feverish frenzy until finally, the man himself stepped out onto the stage to a packed house of screaming fans. If you have never been to a Jimmy Buffett concert, it is hard to describe how the music started, the colors of the lights flashing and just how enamored I was with the entire scene, especially because right before the concert, I was the lucky holder of a backstage pass to meet a legend himself!
Meeting Mr. Buffett was indeed a lifetime experience, and one that I keep living over and over. I relay the story often to my friends, colleagues and now you. However, because you were not there, you probably do not have the same attachment to the story as I do. Shaking his hand, listening to the crowd in the background, and having my photo taken with him was truly amazing. But since you were not there with me, it is not possible for you to have the same relationship with Jimmy that I now have. After all, listening to Margaritaville on your iPod is just not the same.
Now you may be asking how this relates to interviewing for employees. Imagine that you send your very capable team to an interview with a candidate. Then imagine them trying to describe the interaction to you in a manner that encompasses all facets of the interview. It is simply not the same thing as meeting with the candidate face to face. Even when your team takes great notes and really listens to the candidate, they will not be able to fully describe the interview in its entirety. No one can, anymore that you could possibly grasp the full experience of meeting Jimmy Buffett. In order to fully experience a candidate’s interview, you have to be in the room with them. You have to shake their hand and see how they interact with you in order to know if this candidate will be a good fit for your open position. With approximately 2/3 of all hires being mistakes, and the money that those mistakes cost, can you really afford to short change an interview process by not being present?
Many authors have described writing as a lengthy and arduous process. I myself have been in the process of writing a book for almost seven years now, and it seems I’ve been at it forever! And yet, as I put the final touches on my manuscript to send to the publisher, I am struck by how amazing this process has been (even though there were times when I wanted to pull my hair out). The learning, the soul searching, the patience and persistence have all been incredible lessons.
