Small Business Blog from Atlantic Canada

I am "CA" Atreya (PMP, MBA), the author of this blog. I help businesses in Atlantic Canada achieve their BHAG successfully. You may subscribe to this blog using a feed reader (RSS).

I finished Business life lesson: Business is a team sport with the following words:

“In today’s fast paced business world, no one can do everything. Similarly business owners need good people. Each and every individual has a part to play in building your small business. If this isn’t a team effort, I do not know what is.”

But, as a business owner or a manger, how do you build such a team that clicks? Based on my experience here is my seventh business life lesson - top 3 things to look for when hiring.

Desire to succeed

This blog is the result of my desire to succeed: to achieve my BHAG. I do this outside of my regular work hours and make sure it does not impact my work with clients. Desire to succeed need not be off the job; it can be on the job too. Look at the individual’s contribution on a project. Word of caution: beware of people who are in for a free ride. They are everywhere. Ask specific questions about key achievements and look for tangible numbers. No softie feelie part of the team bullshit. “You improved efficiency? By how much?” “Were you in marketing? How many leads did you generate? What was your contribution in campaign development?” It is important you have people with a burning desire to succeed - who have the drive - on your side. It’s easy to motivate such people. I remember at a software organization I worked, there was this one individual who totally lacked motivation. No drive at all. He just did enough to keep his pay-cheques coming. Worse - he used to bring the team down too. And o by the way, if you are a micro-manager, that is the kind of people you will retain in your organization.

Love for your work

A few years ago I took up a marketing assignment with a software company for insurance claims adjusting. I knew nothing of the industry but I knew marketing. I am always trying to think of new ways of creating a need for the product I am marketing. (If you not a micro-manager you will benefit from the love I have for my work) I also believe you have to have a detailed knowledge of the product you are marketing in order to do a good job. This lead me to; 1. Conduct an in-depth industry research on claims adjusting, 2. Understand the business process employed by adjusting firms, and 3. Understand how the product worked. Three months into this assignment, I found myself taking on the role of the primary business analyst - and I had no idea what a RUP was, what a Use Case was or what a UML was. Within the next four months, I had the client’s business process mapped out and the specifications written for client review. I love my work so much that I will read up on it, burn the candle at both ends, if I have to and become an expert in that area. In short, I will do what it takes to succeed… You need such people in your team. Do you have them?

Integrity

I did not finish the sentence, “I’ll do what it takes to succeed” in the last point. Let me now complete it. “I will do what it takes to succeed, as long as it is ethical.” In short, I will not bribe or be a party to such actions, will not lie, will not offer you my hand and stab you on the back, will always do the right thing keeping the company’s interest in mind. Your business does not have the time and the resources to deal with the problems caused by unethical people. (You may want to check out the about page for what IQI stands for.) However, I have found testing for this is typically hard. References can be a tricky source. Maintaining eye contact during the interview helps. You get the feeling when a candidate is talking bull. Watch out for body language too.

You spend considerable time and resources to hire people. Why not do it right the first time? What are the top three points you look at when hiring? Care to share them?

How am I doing Dave? I see I owe you three more business life lessons.

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