From the Ask Tom mailbag:
Question:
If the first managerial authority (according to Elliott Jaques) is Team Member Selection, and we are evaluating a manager’s effectiveness in this area, how will we know?
Response:
Indeed. Can you spot positive managerial behavior? Negative managerial behavior? What’s the difference when it comes to hiring talent?
I believe hiring a person for a role is much like purchasing a piece of capital equipment. Most often, we do a better job of buying the machine, than we do hiring the person. Could we at least pay as much attention when we are hiring?
If we were going to spend $50,000 on a piece of equipment, what kinds of things would we do?
- Complete current flow chart of production system.
- Modified flow chart of production system including new piece of equipment.
- Create a purchase committee to assist in the elements of the capital purchase.
- Complete needs analysis for new machine in the production system (specifications, capacity, throughput).
- Investigation of possible vendors for the new machine.
- Comparison of machine candidates.
- Research in user experience using machines of this type.
- Creation of specific selection criteria.
- Ranking of selection criteria, absolute criteria, desirable criteria.
- Ranking of machines against selection criteria.
- Reference checking with former and current machine users.
- Machine and vendor selection.
- Negotiation with vendor for purchase price and terms of delivery, installation and warranty.
Do we spend more time and care? Are we more effective at buying a machine than we are at hiring talent?
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Tom.
You raise a good point.
The odd thing is that this illustration of spending 25,000 – 250,000 on a piece of machinery is scutinized budgeted, vetted, and often times there are 3 or 4 commitees looking for the best product for the money invested.
No one is ever placing this kind of focus on hiring. Why?
I feel it returns to our perception of value – Once we buy a machine for 50,000 we are stuck with it and if it is the wrong choice the people who championed the machine will hear about this cost mistake forever!
Hiring is seen as expendable the wrong person is hired, we just fire him, the person does not fit even worse we just transfer her to a new department.
As people we can pass judgement on a machines value, a dis-comfort comes from judging a persons value.
ya.
you have given valuble point about the HR.
everyone wants their team to be best.there is no bad about that.
ur article is realy nice