Hiring the Right Fit

“…it’s important to find and hire passionate people, who genuinely care about the business and its purpose. Purpose is no longer a buzzword. It’s a must-have.”
–Richard Branson

In my latest video, I feature an employee that wants to “do so much more.” This is exactly who we want to hire. We want employees that strive for bigger and better things. Richard Branson expands on this same topic in his blog. He stresses the importance of hiring a person whose personality matches the company’s mission versus someone who may simply have a certain skillset.

Basically, Branson is saying that you can teach someone with the right personality to perform certain skills, but you cannot teach someone how to have a personality that fits in your organization’s culture.

So what does this have to do with my project, Learn to Earn? 

In order for Learn to Earn to be successful, it all starts at the beginning of our employee journey: the interview. Our managers need to have the tools to hone in on an interviewee’s desire to learn and grow with the organization. I have implemented new interview questions into our hiring process that reveal a potential employee’s affinity towards ongoing education.

Here are some examples of those questions:

When was the last time that you volunteered to expand your knowledge at work, as opposed to being directed to do so?
Answer Guide: Candidate should demonstrate a level of personal enterprise and initiative to acquire work knowledge voluntarily.

In which specific areas of your work are you truly interested in expanding your knowledge? How do you intend to achieve this?
Answer Guide: Applicant should be committed to self-development through a continuous learning process, whether at work or away from work. Goal should be to improve their contribution to the workforce and/or the company.

I’m excited to use these and the other questions we have developed to make sure that we are bringing the right talent into our organization. Learn to Earn will be successful because we will have the right candidates in the right positions with the drive to do more for themselves and Blackhawk Community Credit Union. 

Thanks for supporting Learn to Earn!

Colleen Tilton