Right People In The Right Combination Make A Great Team

A team is like a recipe, the taste of which depends on the usage of the right ingredients in the right combinations. For a great tasting recipe it is necessary to have a perfect combination of the exact ingredients. Using substitutes might serve your purpose, but alter the taste. Remember, for a great team you should put that extra bit of effort to search for those people who are tailor-made for the job.

Jim Collins, the author of ‘Good to Great’ explains the subtle difference between a good team and a great team by saying that to be a successful team you should have the right people on your bus.  I have seen many Human Resources teams hiring people based on their qualifications or work experience even though they were not perfectly suited for their jobs. As a result though the team was good and work could be managed, they were not superbly successful. Recruitment officials of top ranking companies attribute the success of their company to setting stringent standards and benchmarks for selection.  For example, they would tell the candidates that they needed very hardworking people who had the energy and zeal to show outstanding results. With this statement they could get only those people who could commit to give what they wanted. Though their team was small, they tasted huge success! Remember, quality matters more than quantity.

Many job portals are doing a good job by defining the attributes of their ideal candidates. You might have read statements like “You should be a go-getter”, “You should be able to meet targets well under pressure”, “You should have ability to convince people” being mentioned in the job profiles posted in job portals. Set standards and match the interviewees against them and pick the one who scores the highest.

Identifying the correct person for a job is not as easy as fitting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Just follow some of these tested methods and you are surely going to land up with the person you’ve been on the lookout for:

1. First, jot down the needs of your organization and the team that wants a new member. These needs are unique for every organization and will give you the fine-tuned criterion on which you’ve got to take your recruitment decision.
2. Along with jotting down the needs, identify desirable attributes in efficient employees who are already working with the organization and have proved themselves perfect for their seats. Are those the attributes that you would like mirrored in your new recruit?
3. Your new employee should be compatible with the culture of your organization. If your organization believes in a traditional vertical hierarchy of authority, then don’t hire one from a liberal culture. He will be simply suffocated! Take a person from the same hierarchical background.
4. Don’t be in a hurry to select candidates. It doesn’t matter if you have to spend on a couple of more classified advertisements and interview sessions. Its better to invest more in getting the best suited candidate than invest for years on an unsuitable candidate.
5. Bear in mind that an unstable boat runs the risk of drowning. For keeping it afloat, carry the correct passengers, not those who’ll help in drowning it by paddling the wrong way.

If you have more ideas you are welcome to share them with me here.