How To Hire the Best People

Summary

• When hiring, it's important to balance between experience and culture fit. Assess what you can teach versus what you cannot.
• If I can teach a skill, I'll often hire a person with less experience but great cultural alignment.
• When I can't teach a skill or don’t have the time, I opt for someone with more experience, even though I might need to guide them more.
• The key is understanding the pros and cons of hiring for either experience or culture fit.
• It's essential to pause and evaluate your ability to teach the required role before making a hiring decision.

Video

How To Take Action

I would suggest implementing a thoughtful balance when hiring for your business. First, identify what skills you can teach and which ones you cannot. This will help you decide whether to hire someone with less experience but who fits your company culture, or someone with more experience who might need more guidance.

A good way of doing this is by making a list of essential skills for the role. Then, mark which of these skills you or your team can teach. This will give you a clear picture of your teaching capabilities versus what needs to be present from day one.

Next, when interviewing candidates, look for those who align well with your company culture if you feel confident about teaching them the necessary skills. Remember, a person who fits well culturally might bring more enthusiasm and teamwork, even if it takes a bit more time to train them.

If you lack time to teach or the skill is too specialized, prioritize finding someone with more experience in that area. However, still ensure they resonate with your company’s values even if you need to guide their approach or style.

Lastly, consider doing a self-assessment or team discussion to understand your capacity and resources for training. This reflection can make your hiring process smoother and more effective, ultimately leading to a more cohesive team.

Full Transcript

it's not that you only hire people that are experienced or you only hire people that are inexperienced but a great culture fit it's that you need a good ratio and you need to understand what you're capable of teaching somebody versus not I will say it like this if I know how to teach something then I likely will hire somebody who has a little less experience is a fantastic culture fit because I know I can teach them if I do not have the ability to teach that skill right and I do not have the time to acquire the ability then I will say okay I'm still hiring for culture but I'm going to probably have to hire somebody who has more experience which means I am going to have to course correct them more than I would with this person and so it's like there's pros and cons to both sides it's just a matter of most people don't stop to think can I teach this role or can I not teach this role