As we approach high-season and most tourism businesses will augment their staff and/or volunteer base to accommodate the increased summer travel. An article posted titled “How to avoid hiring the wrong person” in the Harvard Business Review was most thought provoking. It spoke to the importance of having a solid process in place, and despite the challenges of finding the ‘right person’ in today’s world, if the ‘right person’ isn’t there it is better to keep looking for the consequences of hiring the ‘wrong person’ can be disastrous.
What the article doesn’t address is the ‘potential employee’ side. Just as the company needs the right person, an employee needs the right company. Once upon a time, one may have been ‘thankful to have a job’ but times have changed and the generations all have different expectations of their workplace (matures, boomers, Gen X’ers and now Gen Y’s). Key concepts from ‘hiring the right person’ can also be applied to ‘finding the right employer’.
- It can be a time consuming process, but the right fit is essential to a long-term, rewarding relationship.
- Know the traits and values of the company – not just the ones posted to the website and incorporate documents but in assessing the company talk to people who work for/with the firm and see if they ‘walk the talk’. Does the corporate culture match their stated values and approach.
- Know what type of work you are looking for and match that against the competencies the company wants. If they are misaligned perhaps this isn’t the place you really want to work.
- Check out the type of orientation and support you will receive during your probationary period that will set you up for success and provide formative feedback during that critical entry phase.
- Come to an interview having done your research on the company. You can be sure they will have checked you out, otherwise you wouldn’t be there. Ensure you have your own list of questions for the company. If they are covered by the interview process, you can acknowledge where there was a match in Q & A and demonstrate what you thought about in advance and they answered – then if there are outstanding questions, and there usually are, you take advantage of the situation and ask them.
- Inquire about what is really working well at a company and where the challenges are. Having been on many panels, the company wants to put their best foot forward, as do you. However companies are perfect and having a sense of where they need help or are challenged may provide valuable insight. Again, they always ask you about this (one way or another depending on the question), make sure you have reciprocal insight.
I’ve had the privilege of working on, and hiring my own, incredible teams. When the fit is there it is fantastic and so much can be achieved. I’ve also however witnessed the flip side and seen the anxiety to employees and entire departments – it isn’t pretty. So the moral of the story is — hire carefully, choose your employer carefully. We spend way to many hours working to not be aligned most of the time. Yes, ‘most’ … like any relationship, there are ups and downs.
