Hiring the Right People

Ensuring Diversity

Consider this story…

Jack is the manager of a sales department in a technology company. He has been interviewing potential sales people to join his team. He has ensured that each candidate has met the qualifications of the job. But he has focused on candidates who are very similar to him and his selling style. He notes that it is easier to work with people like him – there are less conflicts that way. This has caused him to eliminate some candidates who have very strong backgrounds but approach selling differently than Jack does.

• What do you think of Jack’s approach to hiring sales people to join his team?
• Is this the most effective way to build a team?

When we hire people who are just like us in how they interact with others, think through problems, work on tasks, etc. – we do not enable for diversity in the workforce. We need to hire people who think differently, who approach problem solving from a different perspective, who have a different approach to interacting with others or getting work done. We need individuals who challenge us on our team.

While it is easier, certainly, to hire those who are just like us, we don’t benefit either ourselves, the team nor the organization when we do so.

Best practice – when hiring employees consider those individuals who have different experiences and education then you have. Look for individuals are different than you to enable for diversity. Diversity enables for innovation and creativity – better solutions to problems and improved products and services to meet customer needs. Yes, they may be more difficult to manage but in the long run the benefits to you, the team and the organization will far outweigh any challenges or conflicts you’ll need to manage.