Dr. John Etheredge <
ethbus@hkbu.edu.hk> wrote:
>>... Tom Gorman asked about "Hiring for Attitude"...If we translate
that to "motivation to learn" it may be easier to deal with...<<
If the hiring choice is an applicant with the right attitude or the
right aptitude, which should we hire? If all else is equal, attitude.
We should hire based on minimal qualifications and maximum attitude.
I recommend Tom Petzinger's "The Front Lines" columns of March 7 and
April 11 of this year regarding the subject of attitude over aptitude.
The following is my note to Tom Petzinger concerning his
"The Front Lines" column on April 11, 1997 in the Wall Street Journal.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Tom:
Thanks for another fascinating column.
The drop caps (TTO) in the column sum it up quite nicely:
"when TTO (Techies Take Over) disaster follows"
Joyce and Vic made mistakes common to well-meaning, technically
trained people--could have been civil engineers.
When Joyce realized that "lower your standards" was not the way to
go she came to an intellectual conclusion that is seldom made by the
technically trained professionals.
The original hiring profile was not that of a successful employee at
ASSI but rather what Joyce and Vic felt should be successful. A feeling
is like a belly button--everyone has one--but like a belly button a
feeling is pretty useless when selecting the right people to hire.
As a technically trained professional myself--Civil Engineer--I have
worked and suffered under technical managers who did not have the
foggiest idea how to manage themselves let alone others.
I applaud Joyce's decision to recruit from a wider pool of applicants
since a narrow pool yields fewer big fish.
We are in discussions with an external consultant to a major, well
known management consultant firm. The consultant told us that he asked
the CEO "what kind of new hire" did the CEO want. The CEO responded
"Stop hiring Ivy Leaguers and start hiring successful employees." The
CEO intuitively knew and so stated that there is more to success on
the job than where the new hire went to school.
If an employer recruits only from Ivy League schools they are really
limited their applicant pool to people who scored well over 1200 on
the SAT. This self-limiting recruitment process effectively screens
out most applicants who could become top performers.
At a School-to-Work meeting in Massachusetts last month one speaker
reported that in 1950 only 20% of the jobs in Massachusetts required a
college degree--which did not surprise me--I was really surprised when
he reported that in 1997 only 20% of the jobs in Massachusetts required
a college degree. This tells me that many hiring managers are using
the wrong selection criteria and are thus depriving themselves of
the opportunity to hire their best employees.
Keep up the theme of attitude over aptitude!
Sincerely,
Bob
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is my note to Tom Petzinger concerning his
"The Front Lines" column on March 7, 1997, in the Wall Street Journal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Tom:
Another excellent column today. I wish all managers could
understand the power of the message in your story.
"1. Hire attitude over aptitude."
We call the concept Job Fit. A simple concept that few hiring
managers know how to implement. Your column may help us convince
some managers to consider the importance of attitude.
"2. Create mission from above, methods from below."
This is great advice. Too many managers, who are not leaders,
try to convince everyone to adopt the vision when, in fact,
what their employees need to do is develop the methods to
achieve the mission.
"3. Foster feedback."
This behavior is often controlled by a manager's personality and
that is why selecting managers is critical to the success of
self-directed work teams--infrequent inappropriate behavior
by the manager may well prevent effective feedback.
"4. Unite the inside and the outside."
This would scare the pants off many a manager--letting the
inside people talk with the clients.
"5. Reward teamwork."
Here it is critical to hire team players. Some people are more
motivated by individual rewards while others more motivated by
team rewards. Some of us prefer to work alone while others prefer
to be a member of a team. Knowing which job applicants best meet
the demands of the job is a competitive advantage that users of
the Job Fit concept enjoy.
Thanks again for a great column, it should help my
sales efforts considerably.
Sincerely,
Bob
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