How to Identify Long-Term Fit During Times of Rapid Growth

How to Identify Long-Term Fit During Times of Rapid GrowthIdentify long-term employees w/attributional vorstellungsgesprching tips from bradowens.Click To TweetJosh TolanMy name is Josh Tolan and Im the CEO of Spark Hire, the leading video interviewing platform used by thousands of organizations around the world.And this is The Recruiting Reel, a video series in which we discuss real recruiting challenges with prominent recruiting experts to provide you with actionable tips you can apply to your own recruiting.As your organization begins to scale and hiring seems to be happening at a rapid pace, its critical that youre still focusing on the best long-term fits for your organization.Thankfully, we have the perfect person on the show for this topic in Brad Owens. He is a Hiring and Retention Expert at HRCoaching.com. Through his work, Brad helps tons of businesses solve challenges that are plaguing their hiring process. He is also the host of the Small Business Hiring Podcast.So withou t further adieu, Ill hand it over to BradBrad OwensMy name is Brad Owens, I am the hiring and retention expert at hrcoaching.com What Im going to cover today is what are some of the challenges companies face when hiring too quickly during times of rapid growth and what are the top traits and responses to look for in the interview that demonstrate long-term fit. Im just going to get into it right here.So its an awesome problem to have to need to hire very, very quickly because you have a period of rapid growth. But some of the things companies overlook is what type of people youre hiring during that rapid growth. So the typical problem that I see companies issue into is they hire based on skillset. They look at, Heres the project that we have, that needs to be completed. Here are the people that can do that because they have this specific skill set. Good for you in the near term, because youre going to get this project completed. But long-term? You may not be hiring people who are th e best fit for your organization, that will stick around after this project is done. Think about it, if you hire someone who just has one specific technology experience, what happens when that technology is no longer used? Youre stuck with this shell of an employee that now needs to train on something else. Its a really easy problem to fall into when we start hiring simply for skillset.The things that I like to advocate companies doare do interviews focused on specific attributes that will enaya long-term fit for your organization. This is called attributional interviewing. The things youll want to look for are someones attitude, aptitude, accomplishments, adaptability, appreciation, and are they amiable. Lets go into each one of those in detail.Because look, this is not some hey ask this magical question and youre going to find the perfect person for your organization. type of interview strategy. This is simply listening for the right attributes that are going to be a long-term fit for your organization. So, attitude, what do you need to listen for? It kind of depends on your company, but the typical attitude people want to see is is this person upbeat? Are they positive? Do they badmouth their former employer? Or something like that. Just make sure youre listening out for things that will give you some sort of key into their attitude towards work, themselves, other people.Then youve got aptitude. Which is one of the biggest ones when youre scaling quickly because if they dont have the aptitude, which is the ability to come up to speed quickly, youre not really going to have anyone on staff after this project is done. Whatever you are scaling up for, when thats done, this person is not going to be able to learn anything new. So you need to ask them questions around when theyve been faced with having to learn new things quickly before, what their learning process is, and make sure that theyre up to the task of being a long-term fit for your organization.Then t here are accomplishments. Now we all know theres a big difference between what you can do, and what youve done for someone else. You might have this awesome skillset, but if youve never done anything with it, then who cares. Make sure you ask some questions around what this candidate has done with their skillset in the past. And listen for that, make sure theyve actually done something with this amazing skillset they put on their resume.And then theres adaptability. Your organization is going to go through changes, obviously, youre going through one right now, rapid scale. So you need someone whos adaptable, who can run in these types of environments, who can go with this high-paced, huge uptick in activity, but then, when the activity is done, they are still able to hang and be okay, stick it around with the new group thats there. With all these new people coming in, theyre still going to jive with everyone because theyre adaptable. So look for that adaptability.And then, appreciat ion. We all know that person with whom youve had to do an interview that said, Tell me about your former employer. And they just trash them. You dont want that kind of person. You want the person who can show a genuine appreciation for the jobs theyve had and the people theyve had in their lives up to this point because its gotten them to the position where they can interview with your company. Do they appreciate others inputs on projects? Do they understand that they werent the only one that was responsible for all these things, there were other factors that lead to that. Do they show appreciation, youve got to listen for that.The easiest one for you probably to assess just on what people call that gut feeling is amiable. So, are they easy to get along with? Are they well-liked by others? Check their references, make sure theyre well-liked by their former employers, employees, and coworkers. Make sure you check these references thoroughly because youre going to want to make sure th eyre going to fit with you. Dont bring them into an office environment if you want to get a good feel for if theyre amiable if they get along with everyone. What I suggest is people throw a cultural hiring event, something that will reflect your culture. Lets say youre an outdoors company. Go on a big outdoor hike, or rent a big picnic shelter and put a whole bunch of games out there. Bring all these candidates there and let them meet the team and make sure they jive with everyone. So, amiable, are they easy to get along with, are they well-liked.Those six attributes are probably going to be the best thing to keep in mind for long-term fit. Again, this is called attributional interviewing. You can actually get this whole guide if you go to yourinterviewguide.com. You can actually download all these attributes, and example questions for all of them that you want. Make sure you go to yourinterviewguide.com to get that. But really its attitude, aptitude, accomplishments, adaptability, appreciation and amiability. If you look for those six attributes I think youll have a great, long-term fit for your organization. Congrats on your rapid growth, but hopefully you get hiring right.Josh TolanYou nailed it, Brad. I think that one of the things many growing organizations struggle with is they focus on hiring people for the now because the immediate need is so pressing.As a result, they look at can this person do this job right now? and if the answer is yes, they hire them.While that solves the short team need, you might end up with a lot of people that hit a plateau within your organization sooner than later.Your advice on using attributional interviewing is key to finding people who have what it takes to be a positive contributor now and in the future.A 7th attribute Id add to the list is ambition. Does the candidate have the motivation to be at your organization for the long run? Why do they want to join your company? Your growing fast, but the only way to grow faste r is to hire ambitious people that will push the envelope to help you grow even faster.I want to thank Brad Owens for the awesome tips. If youd like to learn more about his company or podcast, check out hrcoaching.com. Connect with Brad and follow him on Twitter BradOwens.Thank you for watching The Recruiting Reel and stay tuned for more episodes. For additional HR and recruiting content, head over to hr.sparkhire.com and subscribe. Also, follow us on Twitter, sparkhire. And subscribe to our YouTube channel to be the first to know about the newest episodes of The Recruiting Reel.Thanks again for watching and happy recruiting

Commuter Barbie knows the public transportation struggle is real

Commuter Barbie knows the public transportation struggle is realCommuter Barbie knows the public transportation struggle is realShes the career girl whos running the world- and running late.A new Commuter Barbie parody video is a playful takeon the everyday (and sometimes harrowing) realities of getting to work on time- especially if youre taking the train in a place like New York.NYC comedians Carina Hsieh and Claudia Arissocame up with the idea, which is a send-up of multitasking New York commuters who dress for their trip to work as if theyre preparing for the apocalypse - complete with jackets that can face the Arctic headphones to block out fellow commuters a phone full of the latest kult podcasts and prestigious-looking books to appear smart.See Commuter Barbie in actionCosmopolitan Magazine editor Hsieh, who is also a comedian,tweeted out a cropped version of the video on Tuesday.In a later tweet, Hsieh toldviewers to click the Facebook link to watch the full version of the video, which clocks in at three minutes.In the video, two strangely wise girls play with the doll, which comes complete with a puffy jacket, a tote bag, an MTA card, aStarbucks Grande Macchiato that really spills, a water bottle, a Clif bar, a Trader Joes bag, and more.A Barbie thats ready for commuting warThis Barbie, a sophisticate, is also constantly on the defense against the indignities of living in New York - or other big cities where people are packed together.Shes not a fan of manspreaders who stretch out and take two seats on the train, or the harassment thats standard in many public spaces.Herheadphones tune out the creeps when youre stuck in the middle seat.This Barbie must also come with the standard stay away from me scowl of many New York commuters, because one of the girls in the video says, but if she cant hear the catcallers, how will she know to smile? which is met with total silenceas both of their faces slowly turn to face the camera.No comment needed, girls - nothing they could say would sum upjust how real that is for women of all ages.A doll that captures multitasking realityHsieh told Gothamist how much the pair relates to the fictional doll.We dont think were Commuter Barbies, if only because we cant afford $800 Canada Goose jacketsBut arent we ALL a little bit Commuter Barbie? Hsieh told Gothamist.What makes the video really brilliant is the wise asides the little girls offer on Commuter Barbies life.One of the girls says,shes got that review coming up at work, to which the other responds, her manager keeps rescheduling. Typical.Commuter Barbie also shows off just how cultured she is, toting around a mini-copy of the book Swing Time by Zadie Smith and a phone to listen to podcasts. When one little girl announces the reviews of the book, the other deadpans, we get it, you read the New Yorker.But Commuter Barbie has to deal with the price of transportation too, with aMetro card sold separately and subject to random fare hikes.The real Barbie chimed inMattel evengot wind of Commuter Barbie, and made a joke about the dolls Los Angeles drive to work.Well played.Commuters cheer their harried BarbieCommuter Barbie already has some fans.Hsieh was right- each of us isa little bitof the doll.