5 C's For Recruiting Success!

Boiling things down to a few focus areas is key if you are going to be successful in business. No one can work on a dozen things and do them all well. But if you bucket things in three's, four's and five's, that align with your strategy, you have a good chance of getting them done and being successful.

Recruiting and building my teams are always at the top of my list of the most important things I do. A team is never permanent, as business conditions are constantly changing so should your team. That's why I am always on the lookout for talented people who can bring to the table skills that I cannot, as well as to balance and challenge the team I have in place.

Here are five skills I look for in the people I hire. Done right, you will find yourself thanking those you hire for sharing their experiences with you and be well on your way to building an all-star team. Conveniently called “The Five's C's,” try looking for these skills in your next hire… you won't be disappointed.

Commitment - Is your candidate committed to work, the company, industry and family?  Does she share common ideals and understand where work fits in the bigger picture of life? Is there a passion for success and desire to take on tough challenges and win? If someone is just looking for a good job and paycheck, I will pass on them. I want people who seek Big, Hairy, Audacious, Goals (or BHAG's) and who aren't afraid of the challenge realizing failure is a real possibly. I often find myself in these kinds of conditions in my career so having people alongside me who aren't afraid and will commit to me, and more importantly, to the company and our vision, is a big deal.

Capability - Is the person capable of doing the job? I have managed sales teams for years and I don't manage by quotas. I think quotas for solution selling is a waste of time and only distances the producers you might hire from you and your strategy. To me, capable sales pro's show up every day, follow a process, are fearless, understand complex business processes and are expert at networking. I look for people who can handle 3-5 balls in the air at once and when things start to move, can focus like a laser on the one or two that will make a difference.

Communication - Effective communication skills, both written and spoken, are essential to business success. I always thought I had excellent verbal skills but found as success came that I lacked the structure needed to communicate with other senior executives. I learned the Minto Pyramid Principal and try to layer it into my communications as much as possible. I learned, quite painfully, that written communication needs to be short and tight. Today, if an email requires me to scroll down beyond a second paragraph I don't read it. My teams all know to get right to the point with me as I will spend no time trying to figure out if someone is asking me something or telling me something. That's for them to figure out.

Courage - Look for people who have deep conviction in what they are doing and who will take the risks necessary to be successful. I am more likely to hire someone who has recently failed at their most recent endeavor than someone riding a recent high from some level of success. The courageous know what went wrong in their last failure. If they can explain what they learned it shows a level of maturity that will ensure whatever went wrong won't be duplicated. I often say that the combination of lessons learned from all the things I tried that didn't work out were so much more valuable than those things that went right. The courageous know this and keep on pushing.

Culture - This is perhaps the most important of the 5 C's. No matter how skilled your candidate is at the other 4 C's if she doesn't fit in with the company culture she will never reach her true potential and your lofty goals. Non alignment with cultural fit will create disappointment and distraction for the rest of your team as well. Make sure the candidate shares common goals, business traits and interests and that she believes in "how you work" vs. "why you work". There is a big difference and probing around this area will yield promising clues as to whether this candidate will be in concert with your organization. On a side note, if you find that you have hired someone who is not a fit, or goes bad for some reason, you must separate them from the company as soon as possible. The damage they can do to your brand, customers and employees can carry a heavy financial toll which will take a very long time to recuperate from.

To me, there is nothing more important than recruiting. 

I believe, and work with others who share the opinion, that the goal is to have A players in every seat. Never compromise around this. Deploy the 5 C's and you have a good shot at being pumped about your next hire.

My Best,