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Hiring for Passion
Hiring for Passion
I was speaking with an employer last week, and hearing that their success in hiring was less than stellar. The people they hired had done well in the interview process, however, once in the job their performance was often a disappointment. For most hiring managers, knowledge and training are generally the areas that are considered most important. Maybe it's time for a change.
Most peoplehire based on experience rather than passion. Many hiring managers use task and experience related job descriptions when recruiting. While skills and experience are important and certainly should be considered, hiring for talent and passion will give you a far greater employee success rate. You can teach a skill, but you cannot teach passion and talent.People do their best when they are doing things that they naturally do well and truly enjoy doing.
However, you need to understand what passions are important in the job. So, let's assume that you are a winery looking for tasting room staff, and your leading candidate is passionate about good wine! A perfect fit? Not so fast... The tasting room job isn't just about wine; it's about sales and hospitality. Is your candidate passionate about sales amd customer service? I recently watched a server at a wine bar have a long and passionate discussion about wine with one group, while the rest of the room sat around with empty glasses. I guarantee she was hired because of her passion for wine, when the job was really about customer service.
Of course, passion and experience are not mutually exclusive. Someone who has a long history of success and is still passionate about what they do, is of course your ideal candidate! However, if you have to chose between hiring someone who is passionate about what they do versus someone who has years of experience, I would choose passion every time.
So be sure to ask each of your candidates "What do you really love to do? What are you absolutely passionate about?" And make sure you listen to the answer...
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4 comments
I really liked your questions, regarding the interview process;
“What do you really like to do?” and What are you absolutely passionate about?”
This is so key to everything in the wine business and beyond..
Best regards,
Sean Hyland
Lion Imports Office Manager
Kim Andereck, Vice President for Franchise Sales
Steak n Shake Enterprises, Inc.
36 South Pennsylvania Street, #500
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Website: http://franchising.steaknshake.com/franchise/default.asp
It is also about "who you know" which is equally bad. I always have a lot of passion...one of my favorite (negative) stories was when I interviewed with Pepsi for a IT Manager's job about 20 years ago. I KNEW I could do a great job and thought that I had done a great job interviewing with the Director of the department. Didn't get the job.
About 5 years later my son (who had gotten a job with Pepsi as a college intern) was transferred and went to work for the same person as a staffer. A few weeks into the new position and Vito (the Dir.) invite my son to lunch. As they spoke my son told him that I had interviewed with him (but probably won't remember his father)...Vito shot back that he remembered me very well and even though we had only met once described me to a tee...he told my son that I scared him.
I had all the passion in the world but the hiring manager never gave me the chance.
Will business decision makers ever learn?
Hope your blog makes an impact so others (who have the passion) get the chance I didn't
Mark
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