How To Make Exceptional Staffing Decisions

One of the most important things a leader can do is staff their department to deliver. A leader's job is not to know it all. A leader without anyone on their staff who can design a recruitment strategy better than they can or who is better at [fill in the blank] than they are, is not doing their job.

More telling than seeing who a leader selects for a position is taking a look at who they did not.

It's comfortable, and easy, for leaders to select people like themselves or like others on their staff. It's not a stretch for a leader to evaluate a candidate's skills against need, traits against culture, and like-ability against team dynamics. Nor is it a stretch to consider experience and accomplishments to predict (re: crystal ball) contribution and initiative.

The interview, evidence of performance, references, and yes, even instinct, indicate to the leader that there is one person for the job. It all fits except for one thing and this is the one thing could make the difference between a solid selection and an exceptional one. For some leaders, herein lies the stretch.

Once the skills and culture fit boxes are checked and it's time for a leader to make a decision, the questions begin to flow (admit it, you've thought it too): can I manage this person who is older/younger than me, will they test or stretch my leadership skills, what if . . . he has ideas I hadn't thought of, she wants my job (and she'd be good at it too), he'll fill in a much needed gap and people will realize that I had not, she'll raise the bar and others will be threatened, or [fill in the blank].

These questions have absolutely nothing to do with the candidate and everything to do with the leader.

It's a fact. We are human, we get pushed out of our comfort zone and we feel threatened. Take it from someone who succumbed to the madness, let the good ones get away, and has lived to tell about it. Acknowledge the discomfort but don't let it drive your decision making process. Some of my best staffing decisions were made from outside my comfort zone.

How about you?

Photo credit iStock Photo

Do Women's Networks Belong In The Workplace?

I am a woman, I seek out books and blogs written by women, I am coached by a woman, and I am one of three founding members of the very cool, soon-to-be-released Women of HR website. 

So, why does the idea of a women's network in the workplace make me uneasy? 

A Sum of My Experiences 

I listened closely last month during the Women's Leadership Conference as panel members discussed  women's networks. One senior woman leader stated she declined to participate in the women's network because, "she was not a victim." This stopped me in my tracks with a flicker of recognition. Wow.

Flashback to 1985 to me as a brand new second lieutenant looking to make a name for myself. I was highly encouraged to join a women's network by my battalion commander. That network was the officer's wives club. Good intentions and gender aside, I had little in common with this group.

Flashback to early 1990s to me reporting into a new unit. My commander held the door for me, offered me his seat, and, clearly uncomfortable, asked if he could make me some coffee. Tucking away this little power of balance nugget, I assured him I was more capable than most of the men in his unit. We took it to the pistol range. Girl out shoots boy. Case closed.

The women's networks of 2010 are very different from the officer wives clubs of 1985, yet they leave me with the same uneasiness. 

Proving a Point 

I'd like to say my prowess with a 9mm back in the day was a result of my natural marksman skills, but it was not. It was the result of one non-commissioned officer, my Lady Wesson, weekends at the Ramstein Rod and Gun club, and a desire to prove a point. That was not the first time I felt I had to prove a point, nor was it the last.

I was treated differently because of my gender and that was the last thing I wanted. Is that what this uneasiness is all about? 

Or is it because women's networks do not belong in the workplace? 

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