Hire People with the “Right” Attitude

Client:  US Website
Type:  Ghostwriting (no byline)


The line “hire for attitude, train for skill” is close to becoming a hard-and-fast rule when it comes to employment.  Now, this doesn’t mean you should hire an incompetent candidate who happens to have a “right” attitude.  The phrase means that in hiring people and in getting hired, attitude makes all the difference.
One’s attitude is, probably, the most important factor that determines his success not just at work but also in life.  Even if you have a large capital, ground-breaking campaign materials, and insurmountable potential, a team member’s “bad” attitude could ruin even the best of the dream teams.  One’s attitude determines his views of the world, his take on his team mates, and everyone else’s working environment.

The “right” attitude is subjective.  It differs from one employer to another.  Some managers like employees with the “go-getter” attitude or the eternal optimist who have the guts to speak his or her mind; while some managers like the ones who are uncomplicated and submissive.

Regardless of preferences, it remains that snagging the best candidates with the right attitude is a tough ordeal and this is another reason why job applications take so long to lead to a job offer.  The human resources management looks into every candidate’s personality in order to avoid candidates who have a pessimist take on everything and suck the sunshine out of everyone in the office.  While some HR specialists are successful in weeding out the bunch of candidates, they are bad seeds who still make the cut.  Sadly, you will only get to see an employee’s real work attitude after the first three or six months.

Now, this doesn’t suggest that you should go for the bright candidates with the mega-watt smiles or the meek and mild ones who would never dare complain about anything, not even the beat-up computer unit.  This suggests that hiring for attitude is also dependent on one’s intuition.  Skill is something that everyone can learn over time while a corporate attitude is something that’s hard to alter.

Here are some tips on how to hire for attitude:

The Chain Complainant:  Just like in a relationship, if your present partner keeps spewing expletives about his ex, guard your loins, he or she might do the same to you.  Chain complainants are difficult to coach and this is because they have their own ideas of how things should work.

The First 90 Days:  It’s no secret that a newbie employee shows not only his best foot, but his best everything forward during the first few months of his employment.  If problems arise within this time frame, the odds are they could only get worse.  You might think of extending his probation.

Commitment to Excellence:  Some employees might be sugar, spice, and everything nice but they have an impressive performance in terms of deadlines and quality of work.  Before you mandate a newly regularized employee for his or her habit of delegating work to interns and newcomers, study his attitude and style first.  More often than not, this habit of delegating work is an employee’s way of shaping up his or her apprentice.  As long as the person is committed to excellence, you’re both on the right track.

Are they open-minded?  Beware of the “know-it-all” employee.  While having a know-it-all team member could benefit the company in terms of production, employees who don’t seem to listen to suggestions can wreck havoc when it comes to solidarity.  It’s hard to coach employees who are close-minded and more often than not, they are also the impatient ones.


References:

• http://jada.ada.org/cgi/content/full/133/11/1468
• http://wwwthepeoplepro.blogspot.com/2005/08/hire-for-attitude-train-for-skill.html