Summary: How do you hire remarkable employees? In today’s competitive environment hiring the best talent is what will differentiate you from all of the rest. This week in CIO Playbook with Jeffrey Hurley we will be discussing ten rules that will get you the best talent in your industry. As a manager the single most important thing you do is hire. Literally your number one priority should be to find and attract the best possible employees for your organization. Because when you have remarkable employees working in your organization you will realize incredible benefits. You don’t want people that can do “the job” you want team members that can think strategically, work on their own, make an impact, have fun and get the work done. Define the Job to Be Done One of the most important things you can do as a hiring manager is define the job that needs to be done. This involves narrowing the down the key tasks that must be delivered to make the role successful. Often when we write out a job description we put in a series of broad statements of what the work might be. But if you don’t understand the essence of the work you need done it will be very difficult to find the person that can do the work and think outside the box at the same time. Define What a Remarkable Employee Is Many of us haven’t really thought about what a remarkable employee really is. we have a notional impression in our minds but really haven’t really challenged that impression. It is important to figure out what the definition of remarkable is especially when you have an interview team that will be evaluating your candidates. I don’t know about you but I have found that each of us has our own impressions and that these impressions don’t always align with one-another. if you are looking for a remarkable employee that will fit within your organization be sure to identify among everyone on the interview team what a remarkable employee is. There are several ways you can go about building a definition of a remarkable employee. The first would be to consult the HR competency guidelines for the various roles in your organization. Each position tends to have a set of competencies that define skills and abilities to accomplish the role or duties. Second, look at successful employees in your organization an determine what it is that sets them apart from the rest. Always be on the Lookout for Talent IT organizations always seem to have a few open positions that they are recruiting for. As a leader always be on the lookout for high quality individuals that could make a contribution to your team, beyond just the current position or positions you are looking to fill. To often in our environments we lock ourselves into what we have available and forget to look beyond the current need and into the future. If you are attending conferences or just happen to meet someone in line at the coffee shop always be looking out for potential team members. We often limit ourselves to the job description or role we are currently looking for without considering the value of “over-hiring” into our organization. If you want to have remarkable employees then look beyond just the current role in the organization. It is the ability to think outside of the box and innovate within a role that will set a remarkable employee apart and really advance your organization. Find Over-Comers Everything in life that is worthwhile takes effort and involves overcoming challenges. What you want on your team is individuals who both understand this concept and have put it to work. There will always be detractors or saboteurs who are threatened by others accomplishments and success. You will want to know if your candidate has had to deal with challenges and how they overcome them. Every project and opportunity will encounter a setback; either in mistaken planning, loss of financing, or the original ideal just didn't work. Has your candidate dealt with any of these? If so,
