Smart Managers Say “Bottoms Up!” When They Recruit
October 18th, 2012 | Posted in by Alexander Stobe
Some managers just seem to ‘get’ talent selection. They naturally design efficient hiring processes that build great teams. Their people mesh together in ways that make it fun to get the job done. They create cultures that shine within their organizations and ultimately lead to stronger client and community relationships.
They make it seem so simple, because it can be.
Don’t get me wrong. Talent selection and team building aren’t easy. It’s a difficult journey to get to a point where you can make it look natural. Most leaders need to make a lot of mistakes to get there; a few bad hires, managing their teams too much or too little, trying to do everything themselves, etc. Somewhere along the way all the best managers, at least the ones I know, seem to come to the same basic conclusion:
You’re only as good as your people, and they are the best screening tool you have.
It’s consistent in the hiring processes they all instinctively develop. The best leaders I know realize that team building is a team effort. They practice collaborative hiring.
Rather than dictating which recruits will join their teams, these leaders involve several of their team members in talent selection and give up most of their ownership in the hiring decision. They trust their key players to evaluate potential teammates and merely facilitate the process, only really stepping in for the final call.
Their interviews are ‘bottom-up’ rather than ‘top-down’ and their teams grow almost organically.
It’s not easy, but it can be very simple. If you want a great team, use your best people to create one. Collectively, your people are better at recruiting and screening than you alone or any system out there.
In my next couple posts, I’ll go over some best practices to create a collaborative hiring process and the benefits you can expect.