Contractor Tip Of The Month: Building an A-team

Damian Lang

• Personality and behavioral style assessments. We use the DISC assessment. There are several other assessment systems out there that can help with your hiring process. Our company’s first step is to determine what the personality profile assessment looks like compared to the best person we currently have in the role. Viable interview candidates must have a similar assessment. For example, I am the CEO, but I would be a terrible estimator as my attention span is very low. In the same token, a good estimator would not likely be a good CEO as their attention to detail may limit them from being a visionary. Once you have established the assessment, trust it. I recall a time when we went against the personality profile assessment on a high-level employee. Later we found everything the assessment tried to tell us was correct, and we had to part ways. That was a painful lesson.
• Screening. During the hiring process we weight our decision based on a four-facet approach:

1. 1. Personality Traits. They can tell us how the candidate may act and feel in various situations. Most often measured in job-related assessments are extraversion and introversion, stress tolerance, proactivity, openness, adaptability, optimism, and emotional stability.
   2. Industry Knowledge. Your goal is to hire an expert in their field. Are they up on the latest trends, or are they still operating on outdated practices?
   3. Talent Assessment. This is an effective means of determining if the candidate can accomplish the duties expected for this role.
   4. Interview Performance. At the interview you are looking for a motivated candidate who has critical thinking and problem-solving skills necessary to perform in this role.

• Hire for the specific role. It is your job to hire the best person for the position that you need filled. Do not attempt to find someone who can be the best for every position. Understand the distinction. 
• A good fit. Along with considering how a candidate will perform in this position, you also need to think about how they will be a good fit with your current team. 
• There is no such thing as over-qualified. Our Chief Operations Officer Mark Allen has a fantastic hiring philosophy. Always hire the best of the best for every position. If someone is overqualified for a role, it is better to elevate the job description than turn away a great candidate.
• A-players only. There is no reason to have underperforming staff. You must maintain high standards or the business suffers. You have three options for your underperformers: train them to become A-players, move them to a department where they can become A-players, or simply let them go and replace them. 

• The user. This type of candidate uses your offer as leverage to get a better hiring package from another company. They may also employ the tactic of going back and forth with you to get more. If they are comfortable using leverage to get what they want, and you hire them, it will not be long until they are using the same leverage against you. There is no greater strength than one who has leverage and does not use it against you. 
• The uninterested. If the candidate is less than enthusiastic about the job you are interviewing them for, they are likely not right for the role. Red flags that are clear messages of disinterest are: delayed or no response to your communications, late to the interview without providing an explanation, inattentive during the interview, and time constraints on conversations.