My most powerful hiring question. Ever.

This is simple. But powerful.

When the time comes to make your next hire, simply ask yourself one key question, before you make an offer.

Think about your next recruiter. Or support person. Or manager. Or Accountant.

Actually, any hire you ever make

‘Will this person raise our average?’

That’s it.

Ask yourself and ask the other hiring managers involved in the decision.

If we hire this person, will she raise the average across all our staff?

Average of what?

The average of things that count.

Energy. Ethics. Skill. Attitude. Network. Innovation. Sales savvy. Niceness.

Whatever it is that is important to you, and your business.

Will this new hire raise the ‘mean employee score’?

Of course, it’s not empirical. No science here. But you will know the answer as soon as you ask the question.

And if you are hiring to ‘fill a gap’, if you are hiring on the basis that  ‘he is the best of a bad bunch’, if you are hiring ‘to give it go’, or if you are hiring when deep down you know this is not a fit, or at least a giant gamble, then asking this question will shine a light on the mistake you are about to make.

Why would you hire any other way?

Are we adding people to dumb our business down?

Do you really want to hire this person, just so you can make your business that little bit worse?

I think not.

There has been a lot of recent talk (much of it from me!) on how hiring organisations need to up their game in terms of making themselves attractive to employees. And that is true. But no one said anything about dropping your standards. Work hard on your hiring process, your interview process, your EVP explanation, your authentic corporate ethos, your salaries, benefits, and flexibility and learning opportunities.

But, in the end…

Only ever add a person if she or he ‘raises the average’

Then, every new person you bring on, makes your business better, not weaker.

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Meanwhile, in other news that will make you a better recruiter, The Savage Truth Book has reached 10,000 sales globally, is still number one on the UK Amazon ‘Recruitment’ category bestseller list, and sells five copies a day worldwide. Not ‘Harry Potter’ I grant you, but shouldn’t you be reading it?

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