When I first started I used to be very “willy nilly” about hiring people, I pretty much met them and if they were being referred by someone I knew, that was good enough for me! Obviously after getting burned a few times, I learned and learned and still continue to learn (but am much better now).

Lots of companies and CEOs are good about having long drawn out interview and selection processes and that’s good. Personally, I make sure that all current hires are interviewed at least 3 times by 3 different executives in our company - each submits their own thoughts and ideas after the interview. Some companies are even crazier with longer interviews, live case studies (like Google) and even more. I used to think they were crazy, now I think they are brilliant.

But, this post is not about checking for someone’s competency level - nope. This post is all about seeing if someone “fits” your company.

Just because someone is good at what they do does NOT mean they are a good hire for you.

The #1 mistake I see when “great talents” are hired is that there is no attention paid to how that person will fit the corporate culture! What is the atmosphere in your office? Is that an atmosphere that this new hire can work in?

If your entire office is a very competitive sales driven environment, then a “laid back” easy going person is probably not the right fit for you (even if they are good at selling) - just the stress from the environment will make them wig out.

In my company, the opposite is true - we are ALL very laid back, even down right goofy - we like to have fun. Someone who’s too serious is a bad fit, I recently had to let go of a lady who was so damn serious that she scared all of us!

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STORY TIME - Why I Didn’t Even Interview The Best Salesman In Our Industry

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I recently was at a table and had a chance to kick into an interview with one of the best salesman in our entire industry. His Rolodex is ridiculous, everyone knows him and everyone is already used to buying from him.

Well, when we sat down to start talking, I quickly realized that this gentleman was just NOT a good fit into our company. I felt that he would make all the team calls more tense, the office more tense and just make everyone feel more reserved (including myself) and that is NOT our corporate culture.

I actually just finished the chat without EVER going into the interview at all simply because one great salesman is not worth ruining the dynamics of the rest of the team.

So, the next time you look to hire someone, personality is key - think “how would they get along with my team…do they fit?” — You’d be surprised what your answers are sometimes…

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Tags: corporate culture, culture, Hiring, hr, human resources, talent

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 11:30 am and is filed under Hiring. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.