5.1 Recruiting & Hiring Talent

Recruit and Hire Good Talent

The task of recruiting and hiring for your PSS is one of the most important things you can do to ensure a successful program. Having the right individuals on your staff allows you to keep your focus on leading the team, rather than constantly having to step-­‐in and be the team or clean up messes from the team.

Plan Your Bench

The recruiting and hiring process is not a single event that takes place when seeking a new employee. Only looking for qualified candidates when you “need” a Performance Coach often leads to desperate hiring – and desperate hiring leads to unqualified candidates and/or ineffective staff. It becomes a vicious cycle – so you need to focus on becoming proactive, not reactive.

Like any good coach who plans the bench in anticipation of the star player getting injured, always have a back-­‐up plan for replacing your Performance Coaches “just in case.” This plan involves always being on the lookout for good talent, both inside and outside your facility. Just because you don’t have a position open at the moment does not mean you can’t talk to someone who impresses you about a future with your PSS.

Use the PSS Recruiting and Hiring Workbook

Recruiting and hiring any employee is a process. Proactive Program Directors who want to ensure they are getting the absolute best staff available do not “shoot from the hip,” but rather follow a well-­‐thought-­‐out and practical process.

Essentially, the process starts with recruitment and ends once the new employee is onboard and productive. The PSS Recruiting and Hiring Process is outlined in the “Recruiting and Hiring Workbook” that you will be assigned to read as part of this program. This workbook provides you with the “how to” to start your own successful recruiting and hiring process for your staff.

The real takeaway here is that a good, talented staff is a must for success. Your commitment to recruit and hire good staff makes the program more successful and your life, as a Program Director, better!

“A company should limit its growth based on its ability to attract enough of the right people.”

― Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t

Structure Your Staff

Have you ever sat down and really thought about all of the daily jobs or “tasks” that need to be done to make your PSS successful? If not, you really should! As a leader, understanding what makes your PSS successful in terms of the “work” done by your staff is important. It also helps you allocate assignments amongst your employees and monitor the work being done on a daily basis.

The best approach to this important effort is to try to list about 80% of all of the critical tasks that make your PSS successful. You will never be able to list ALL of the tasks, so don’t waste your time trying to do so. Once you have your list, estimate the amount of time each task should take on a monthly basis. This list will become the foundation for effectively structuring your staff.

Capitalize on Employee Strengths

Next, think about the members of your staff. Staff members who use their strengths and talents “on-­‐the-­‐job” are much more successful and engaged than those who do not. These employees not only stay with an organization longer but are also more productive and produce much higher quality work. Therefore, understanding your employees’ strengths and motivations – then incorporating this information into how you structure your staff – is the only way to achieve success!

Think about the individuals on your team. Identify each employee’s personality characteristics and what this individual “does well” or “is a natural at,” as well as areas of potential challenges or limitations. For example, is the team member outgoing and good with meeting new people, or more reserved and cautious? Is he or she detailed and meticulous, or better able to adapt and change on a moment’s notice?

In addition, think about what motivates the employee. What inner force triggers this individual to aspire to peak performance? Is it monetary rewards, career advancement, or stability? Does this person value industry impact or personal satisfaction from a “job well done?”

Allocate Staff Assignments

As soon as you gain an understanding of each employee’s strengths and motivations, you can start assigning the tasks on your list based on the results of your thinking. Remember that as a Program Director, you play a critical role in providing the opportunity for your staff to do what they do best on a daily basis. Take the time to discover each team member’s strengths and motivations, then position them in the roles that allow them to use these assets.

The results of this effort will be a structuring of staff responsibilities that allow you to hold individuals accountable for their performance. It will also provide you with a list of what needs to be done, by whom and when, so that daily management becomes as easy as checking off the boxes.

NOTE: Parisi has a template of job descriptions on the Online Resource Center that includes many of the tasks you will need to identify as part of your analysis. Save time by using these job descriptions to start with and modifying them as needed.