Let's look at the important recruitment standards you should be utilizing to find and retain the right people and some of the questions you need to be asking.



How Proactive Are Your Management Team Recruits?

As you evaluate recruits, you should be looking for the ability to self manage. Do they have the personal skills to manage a team of people? Management recruits should not need managing themselves - they must have the ability to structure themselves and accomplish the goals that are laid out before them.

How Flexible Are Their People Skills?

Can they deal with a group of people under them with differing strengths and weaknesses? Can they deal with the many different personality types of your employees? Your recruitment standards should be set up to identify if the recruit can provide direction for their team and themselves.

Leadership is all about setting the tone and directing the right people toward the right responsibilities. Can they facilitate changes when necessary? Do they recognize when they need to act and have the skills to move their team into a new direction when needed?

Fundamental Skill - Relationship Building?

Your recruitment standards must address one of the most fundamental functions of anyone in a management position. A good leader must be able to work with people.

Not just serve as the boss but actually get in there and get their hands dirty for the good of the team and the mission. Working with people requires the skills and personality to handle many different issues while still accomplishing the objectives laid out.

How Resourceful Are They?

Are they able to utilize the resources available to them in a sensible way? Some personality types tend to take everything onto themselves and not use the many resources available to do the job well. They must be able to hand over some control to others when needed and deal with their leadership responsibilities.

Are They Clear on Results Focus?

The most important recruitment standard is: Can they deliver results? After all, what's the point of instituting recruitment standards, but to produce the best results possible. Generally speaking, a recruit's past accomplishments, with other management opportunities should tell you all you need to know.

So as you carry out your assessment of them, make sure you tease out their own performance as an individual, rather than where they have sailed through to success on someone else's coat tails.

Consistent Standards For ALL Your Team

Basically, recruitment standards should be in place for all management. The important combinations of skills described above are necessary for the success of your management team and your judgment should not be relaxed for anyone.

The skill set required for excellent leadership does not leave room for exception. So, if you do not currently have recruitment standards in place, you really need to consider it carefully soon.

It is too important to your business performance to neglect. If you already have management in place, this is also a great tool to evaluate them. Identify the weaknesses and plan training and development exercises accordingly, because your company and all your employees will be the better for it.

Bottom line is that your management team is only a reflection of you and your performance - and if that is lacking, so will your business performance overall.