Graphic by Lumaxart
Hiring is an art. Even with an elevated unemployment rate great talent can be an elusive find. Someone from Right Management that I respect a great deal said to me recently:
”You not only have to find a person with the right skill set and right level of experience, your opportunity has to arrive at the right time in their career”.
Once that great team member is identified and all the negotiations are out of the way onboarding is the next critical step. This is where many fall short. This is not the time to sit back and let the chips fall where they may. You should put more time and effort into the onboarding process than you did the entire recruitment cycle. Live with your new hire for the first month to ensure they are set up for success. I received some great advice from a colleague. She said “Tell the story of why we’re here, why clients do business with us.” I love that. We all relate well to stories — why not bring people into the fold by helping them through the “why” and the “who” before we expect productivity.
What if your new hire is a temporary worker brought in for a specific task or project? Take the time to identify the achievements you expect and the timeline allotted. Then step backwards through the work cycle to identify what they need to know, which tools to make available, and who they can access for support.
Pingback: World Spinner
Pingback: Tweets that mention Building strong teams « On leadership and social networking -- Topsy.com