Full training

Christopher Pell from our group:

Hire slow and fire fast.

Hire Slow

Ask them to do 1 simple thing in the job ad e.g. ‘put CV and covering letter in a Google Drive. Include link in application.’ If they can’t do that it’s unlikely they’ll be able to do more complex things.

Sell the job in the post. What are the great things about working for you? Pay them way more than they’d get in other roles. More importantly, what are the bad things? e.g. ‘if you like lots of meetings and your hand constantly held, don’t apply.’

Before you interview, ask them to do 1 simple task that they’ll do on the job. This should be something that shows whether they’re good or not. Have a strict time limit and get them to jump through a few hoops, such as where to post work, format you want it posted in etc.

Only for those that pass number 3- do personality test. I can’t emphasize how important this is. Use one of the Big 5 online personality tests. Look for people who are high in conscientious and agreeableness. Low in neuroticism.

Interview remaining candidates.

Ask those you think could do the job to work with you on a task for a few hours for free. Normally a longer task and a presentation. They must work with your other team. If 1 team member doesn’t like them for any reason, don’t hire.

Fire Fast

Offer job but put on 3-6 month probation. Make it clear what are fireable offenses.

Link pay to performance. Give bonuses based on certain targets linked to their role. Linking to revenue or profit is simplest. Absolutely key to have this carrot.

Train them properly. Spend a huge amount of time with them at the start. By huge I mean 20-30 hours a week. If you don’t do this, it’s your fault they are bad and it’s not fair if you fire them because you’re not good at training.

Continue to train but slowly back off the number of hours you spend with them. Goal is to get to 0.

If they mess up because of a lack of skill, train them. If they mess up because of a lack of character, fire them immediately. Lack of character- lateness, not communicating problems, dishonesty.

Good interview questions:

Imagine in 6 months time you’re successfully doing your job. What does that look like?

If you’re doing the job successfully in 6 months, what are next steps for you?

Imagine in 6 months, you’re not doing the job successfully, what are next steps for you?

When we speak to your last 2 bosses, and we will speak with them before offering the job, what will they say about you? What will they say you need to improve?

For 1 and 2, you’re looking for someone who can imagine what doing their job successfully looks like. If they can’t imagine it, they won’t be able to do it in reality.

3 is the most important one for us. If they blame other people or external factors at all, end the interview immediately and move on. You don’t want someone who blames others for their shortcomings. If they talk about steps they’d take to improve their own performance, they are normally a keeper.

4 is very revealing because if they are full of shit, they will know they aren’t getting the job now. Study their reaction to this question rather than the content of their answer. If they are uncomfortable, dig in to their answer. It might just be their boss was terrible, but it might also be they’ve been telling lies and they know you’re going to find them out. Look for people who are open and honest about what they can improve; it shows good character.