I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, the second longest running off-Broadway musical ever, is about love and relationships. But the title could also easily be applied to the process most companies use to bring on new employees.
How often do we hire the perfect candidate and immediately begin asking them to change? We ask them to solve problems the way the manager solves problems or to do the job the way the previous employee did the job. Or to spend their time filling out reporting forms when they thought they were hired to sell. Or to sell when they thought they were behind the scenes in operations.
Moreover, sometimes we hire a person for their creative problem solving abilities and then insist they follow a strict set of predetermined protocols to do their job. If those pre-established methods don’t fit their modus operandi (MO), stress and tension will rise dramatically and productivity and innovation will all but disappear.
The worst part is that when the new hire doesn’t readily change to our way of doing things, we blame the employee! We hired the person for her skills and then when she tries to use those very same skills and instincts, we fault her for not conforming!
How do we overcome this? Here are five tips for helping your organization take advantage of each person’s skills and talents.
- Recognize the problem. Accept the fact that not everyone solves problems in the same way. Emphasize the need to allow talent to flourish within your organization and train managers to accept and encourage differing approaches.
- Hire the right candidates. Become aware of the skills, talents, and instincts various job candidates bring to the company, and select individuals whose MOs match the position’s requirements.
- Foster employees’ strengths. Avoid the temptation to “fix” your employees’ “weaknesses”—it likely can’t be done. Instead, focus on enhancing and utilizing their skills, talents, and innate strengths and watch them thrive and produce.
- Focus on outcomes not processes. Too often managers focus on process—the way things are done—rather than on the outcome—what actually gets done. Nurturing an environment which rewards results rather than methodologies will lead employees to focus on the right areas.
- Build teams for productivity and performance. Remember that teams are much more than the sum of the individuals. Teams with the proper mix of skills and talents will be significantly more productive than teams who are composed of individuals who were simply “available” or who are skilled but too like-minded.
Remember: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Don’t Change.
Tags: conative, employee change, focus on strengths, I Love You, interview process, interviewing, Kolbe, performance, problem solving, process
Judi Cogen's Blog 
February 24, 2010 at 9:12 pm |
This is a great post!
It is a curious thing really. We hire people so they might make a difference and then we spend inordinate amounts of time trying to make them conform to a culture that WE are comfortable with but that countermands our original intent! Go figure.
Your suggestions as to how to address this are very solid and practical. I particularly like the notion of focusing on outcomes rather than processes.
Some time ago, I wrote a post called “In Praise of Peacocks, Nerds, Dorks & Dweebs”. It is about diversity and speaks, I think at least a little, to what you are talking about here. If you are interested, here it is. http://tiny.cc/ZuC08
Thanks for a good read
Gwyn
February 24, 2010 at 9:15 pm |
Gwyn–
So glad you liked the post. It’s amazing how this happens over and over and across so many companies.
Looking forward to reading your post–thanks for sharing!
j
February 24, 2010 at 10:07 pm |
I whole heartily agree with your post. I myself have been subject to this, and it does not feel good! I specifically concur with #4. Thank you for speaking up.
February 25, 2010 at 1:41 am |
Hi, I took the Kolbe training and have not begun to give the Kolbe program. Do you have any suggestions?
February 25, 2010 at 6:27 am |
Hi Gloria–
Offering the insight of the Kolbe Indexes is so important–I find the best way to help people is to sit down and demonstrate the power of understanding your own talents, skills, and innate strengths.
Good Luck!
February 25, 2010 at 6:17 am |
Ginny–
So often we suffer from the managerial disease of “my way is best” syndrome, but studies have shown over and over that teams and organizations benefit from having a variety of different kinds of thinkers participate in problem solving. Perhaps there is an entire blog just on #4–thanks for the inspiration!
I’m so sorry you were a victim of this. I’m sorry to say that you aren’t alone…
February 25, 2010 at 8:33 am |
In my experience hiring managers want to hire quickly to relieve the pain of having an open position, and they don’t always think about what this will be like over the long term (see my article here: http://www.anchoradvisors.com/pages/article_view/22.php?aid=29)
I invented something called the Australia test: Would you be willing to ride next to this person on a trip to Australia? If not, working with them is going to be VERY difficult.
February 25, 2010 at 8:38 am |
I’ve been astonished at how poorly written more job descriptions seem to be, not to mention that interview processes seem to be increasingly prolonged and “stop-n-go,” as if the employer can’t figure out what it is they really want to do. Having come from the SF Bay Area, I don’t know whether this is a regional issue, a reflection of the HR function having too many responsibilities on its plate nowadays, or something altogether different (and perhaps nothing that can be generalized).
Early in my career as a manager I was told that I could hire anybody any time I wanted–as long as I could show exactly what that hire would produce and at what net value to the company. Setting aside the current economic conditions, I wonder whether YPs and more veteran workers alike are leaving the Cincinnati area because the hiring process has come to seem so murky and ill-defined from a business standpoint.
February 25, 2010 at 4:44 pm |
Great post.
One thing I learned years ago is that teams are made up of PEOPLE not skills and talents. We all have personalities that affect how we use our skills and talents.
For many years, I have used the Wonderlic Comprehensive Personality Profile (http://www.wonderlic.com) to give me a handle on how well my prospective employee would fit with the tasks at hand AND the other team members. That type of information has helped me greatly.
February 25, 2010 at 7:29 pm |
Wonderlic is a wonderful Cognitive test. Did you know his daughter, the amazing Kathy Kolbe, developed the Kolbe Index to measure conation–what people will actually DO? It is a fantastic predictor of success.