Editor: Summer 2016 is just around the corner. Looking at the huge blanket of snow outside you would never think so, but that snow is going to start melting sooner than you think and if you haven’t started planning for your labour needs as yet, it’s time to get moving.
Lots of eager young Canadians are excited about spending time in the Bow Valley. Based on my experience recruiting and hiring, the best and the brightest, the applicants who are serious, engaged and committed, start their job search early. Those are the ones that you want. They plan ahead and so should you. Be strategic. Wait too late and you will end up hiring to fill the needs gap rather than finding that individual that fits perfectly in your organization.
Have you done your homework from last year? What are your key people saying? What worked well that you need to keep doing? What were some of the mistakes that must never be repeated? What major challenges did your team? What opportunities arose from those challenges that you can capitalize on? How much did you invest in training to ensure that customer service is optimized?
Great companies don’t just hire skilled people and hope to motivate them. They hire competent and motivated people and inspire and train them. So, don’t just base your hiring on who is qualified to do the job. Remember the 3 Cs – competence, character and chemistry (how will this person fit in with the existing team?).
Throw away the traditional interview questions. Dig deep to find out what’s the real motivating factor. What will the individual bring to the table? How do they hold themselves accountable? How do they problem solve when there is no manager around? How do they show people that they care?
We are all in the customer service business. If the prospective applicant has superior wine knowledge (or whatever skill required), but have no people skills … how does that best serve your business or your customer? Think on these things until next time.
Tamara Pryce-Fisher,
Banff
