Ask any business professional about their top challenges and you’ll find hiring and retaining good employees at the top of their list. Let’s face it, hiring exceptional talent is tricky.
At the top of the list of important things to have for a successful hire is a well-formulated process, including assessing the candidate’s fit, checking references, identifying the fit for company culture, and onboarding. Another important, but often-missed element of hiring is evaluating how you want the job to be executed so that the top goals and performance metrics are more easily met.
To ensure the fit is a solid one you’ll want to make sure there is a strong match between the person performing the job and how you need to have the job executed. First, you’ll want to ask:
1. Is the position best executed by a Generalist – where the result is more important than how it is attained or
2. Is the position best executed by a Specialist – where how the result is obtained is as important as the result itself
For example, imagine you’re working in a hospital setting. There are a team of RN’s caring for the patients. Their tasks may include monitor the patient’s vitals, administer medication, and communicate patient needs with the doctor among numerous other tasks.
As part of the patient-care team is a Medical Assistant. A Medical Assistant provides hygienic care (bathing and toileting), transports patients within the hospital, and assists nurses as directed for a variety of needs.
Now imagine you hired a Medical Assistant who was naturally wired as a Generalist – where the result is more important than how it is attained. The Medical Assistant was told there was a new patient coming in that she would have to transport and to also change the bedding of an existing patient. The Medical Assistant tosses the sheets on the bed and asks the RN to handle the new bedding so that she can go get the new patient.
This is an example of what happens when you have a Generalist who performs a job that is designed for a Specialist. The Medical Assistant is not performing the tasks she is assigned and is delegating back.
Can you see how important it is to have a strong fit between the person doing the job and how you need that job executed? At the root of this issue is natural wiring at work.
The next time you see an employee relation issue, take a look at human wiring. Remember this cautionary tale when hiring a generalist for a specialist position.
Invitation
If you’re inspired to align your workforce to maximize productivity and employee engagement by understanding human wiring, join us for the workshop, Wired to Win 101: How Are You Hardwired? Register now for our December 13, 2022 class at: http://www.excellerateassociates.com/wired-to-win-101/
