The Four Pillars of Effective Hiring in Agribusiness (Part 2)
May 15, 2024 Last month, we discussed how determining a candidate’s cultural fit and behavioral style are critical components of effective hiring. This article will cover Performance Profile and Skills, the final two pillars in our series.
Performance Profile
Have you ever hired an employee who appeared perfect on paper yet didn’t meet your expectations? It happens more than you might expect. One source of that frustration results from overlooking the performance profile of a candidate in your interview process. Building required skills into a job description and interviewing to measure how a candidate aligns with those skills and experiences isn’t guaranteed success. That process excludes those with high-potential people because they don’t check all the skills or fail to recognize those with a different mix of skills that could be equally as valuable.
The performance profile concept is a conscious shift from the traditional format of comparing skills and experiences they must have to be hired, into a conversation about what they will need to accomplish and how they would accomplish it. For example, rather than say: “Candidates must have five years of ag sales experience,” you say: “Candidates must be able to manage a 20-customer book of business and develop an additional 10% in additional sales each year.” This adjust-ment accomplishes a few key things:
- It prevents excluding candidates that may not meet all minimum requirements but could be close enough to consider.
- It shifts the conversation to “HOW” they will approach the job and “HOW” their experience and skills can meet those expectations.
- It removes the common mistake of assuming a candidate meets your qualifications (such as five years or the ability to provide a fertilizer recommendation); they can do the job the way you want it done.
Consider a scenario where you review candidates for a sales opening that will expand your business into a new territory. A job description for this role may include the required years of experience, proven sales increases, and technical skills that apply to your business. All of which can be uncovered in a good set of interview questions.
Picture yourself being excited about the two final candidates. Both have the years of experience you seek, the technical skills you need, and they have increased sales each year for their current employer. What could go wrong? The reality is a lot could go wrong. It’s likely that, despite exceeding your requirements, one or even both candidates could fail to meet your expectations because you overlooked the performance profile in your process.
A shift to a performance-based interview will uncover HOW they accomplished those things — which can be the key to success or failure in your system. Consider the two candidates in this example: Both have the same experience, skills, and even the same track record of growth. However, until you focus on expectations, you may overlook that “how” one person grew is by having growing customers, while the other candidate is by new business development and adding more customers. When hiring for an expansion territory like this example, you can recognize that one person’s experience and success in business development is better suited than the other, which would be more successful in an existing territory.
The way you apply this approach to an interview is to adjust your questions from the well-rehearsed “tell me about a time” questions to problem-solving and performance-related discussions. Rather than ask: “Tell me about a time you added a big customer.” Instead, change your question to: “We are looking for a representative that can add $200,000 per year in sales growth. How have you accomplished this in your current role, and what would your approach be if you joined our team?”
Do you recognize the adjustment? The difference is subtle, but the results are profound. Shifting questions from a simple “Have you …” to an approach that addresses “How did you …” will shore up the third pillar of effective hiring and significantly enhance your ability to identify the right person for your team.
Skills
The fourth and final step in the Four Pillars process is identifying the ideal skill set. You can now see how, by reviewing cultural fit, Behavioral style, and performance profile before determining the required skills, you will be equipped to determine a far more accurate set of expectations and requirements.
You are now equipped to distinguish between essential skills and desirable skills. Essential skills are non-negotiable and directly related to the job’s core functions. These are skills candidates must have to hit your expectations (performance profile) in their first year on the job. On the other hand, desirable skills can be seen as additional qualifications that are nice to have but not mandatory. These skills are not critical to success in the first year and can be developed over time.
In addition to technical skills, don’t forget the soft skills that are just as important for success in the role. Communication, problem-solving, teamwork, adaptability, and leadership can significantly impact an employee’s performance.
Another approach to defining skills is to evaluate the existing skills of your current team members. Are there gaps in the skill set that the new hire should fill? This analysis can help you prioritize the skills that are sometimes overlooked.
No business leader wants to suffer the costly repercussions of a mis-hire. Yet, the reality is that creating that level of clarity with the four pillars approach often tumbles down the to-do list in the ag sector, where technical skills are crucial and the talent pool with those skills is limited.
Clarifying the Four Pillars of each role is the driving force behind identifying the right match and ensuring job satisfaction for that employee. Spending time up front to outline each of these areas is far easier than constantly pushing an employee to achieve average performance. Regardless of how well a candidate’s goals and motivations are, you can’t truly determine their fit until you use the Four Pillars to compare them to your business needs and the expectations of the position.
Note: Part one of the “The Four Pillars of Effective Hiring” can be found here.
Subscribe Today For
