Last hire didn’t work out? Here’s what you might have missed
Shift your hiring mindset from tasks to outcomes and build a team that thrives.
Picture this…
You’re drowning in work and decide it’s time to hire help…
So you whip up a job description, focusing on the tasks you want this person to do.
But you’re so busy managing your existing employees, you don’t take the time to understand the outcomes your business really needs, let alone what you’re truly expecting from the role.
As a result, you end up hiring someone who is great at the task but who struggles to take initiative or look at the bigger picture.
Frustrating, right??
Unfortunately, this happens more often than you would think. In fact, 46% of new hires fail within 18 months due to misaligned expectations.
The Cost of Hiring for Tasks
If you’ve ever hired a bad fit, you know that it can create a vicious cycle.
You end up doing more work than you intended, which leads to burnout and frustration. Your valued employees, in turn, may feel overwhelmed and underappreciated.
This leads to low morale, decreased productivity, and high turnover.
And it’s because of a sneaky mindset you may not even be aware of.
How to Hire for Outcomes
Too many leaders hire for tasks. But you don’t ultimately want someone who can just do today’s tasks – you want someone who can add value as the business grows.
Here’s how you hire with the idea of growth in mind, and what you need in order to make sure your next hire is your best hire:
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Frame Job Success as Meeting Outcomes
Many job descriptions I see include long lists of duties, aka tasks, and responsibilities. Instead, start with defining the outcomes you want this person to own. This clarifies the goal you want them to achieve rather than describing how a task is performed.
For instance:
- “Follow-up on past due account receivables each week” is a task.
- “Ensure all receivables are deposited within contract terms” is an outcome.
Outcomes clarify the end goal for yourself and others. They release you from providing the “how to” and empower the employee to come up with effective ways to achieve the goal.
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Create Guiding Principles
Guiding Principles provide employees with guardrails when they are considering how to achieve an outcome.
Guiding Principles include the aspirational key characteristics you and your team need to live into, and the 3 critical actions that you and every member of your team can perform each day to move closer to achieving your goals.
For instance, if you’re a business that provides brand design, key characteristics of ideal team members would be:
- Creative & Strategic
- Excellent communicators & collaborators
- Always curious, loves marketing & trends
And their critical actions might be:
- Set clear expectations for client deliverables
- Design with empathy for audience & client
- Deliver on time, on budget
Include your guiding principles in the job posting and use them to vet potential candidates. Those who have the characteristics you aspire to and are excited about fulfilling critical actions are likely to succeed.
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Commit to Employee Coaching & Feedback
Coaching and Feedback are gifts that allow your employees to grow in their roles and provide more and more value.
(And scheduling weekly check-ins to get updates on progress is just the start!)
Syncing on priorities, recognizing good work, and helping employees name and propose solutions to issues is needed to keep them motivated and you free to move onto higher level strategy.
The Importance of Role Outcomes, Guiding Principles, & Regular Feedback
To build a high-performing team that can help you reach your goals, it’s essential to have clear expectations for the outcomes you want your employees to achieve and a set of guiding principles that help you vet talent and set guardrails for independent work. Taking the time to make those clear will make regular coaching conversations productive.
Follow these steps and you’ll have more time to analyze business performance and do what you do best – be the visionary of the company.
Not to mention enjoying everything else life has to offer.
To your success,
Laurie
