Hiring the right candidate for a sales position is a challenging task because if you miss the mark you lose time, money, ene
rgy and customers. I recognize that it is impossible to completely eliminate “hiring mistakes.” However, it is possible to significantly reduce them as well as minimizing their impact when they are made.
Even when you use a hiring process like Top Grading or though the Performance-Directed Selection System (PDSS) your emotions and intuition will still play a big role in the final decision. I look at the final decision being a 50/50 proposition.
Half the decision is technical in nature. It is based on all the quantifiable data, scorecards and information obtained from reviewing resumes, telephone screenings, personal interviews and reference checks. It may also involve your team’s assessment of the candidate’s ability to perform the job. This tells you that the candidate is a “fit” for the job.
The second half of the decision is interpersonal and emotional. It involves your intuitive feel and desire to manage the candidate you choose. This part of the decision is explores the candidate’s “fit” with you.
As a manager, you can’t ignore either part of the decision. An unqualified candidate you like will probably fail just as readily as the qualified candidate you don’t like. Hiring the right candidate requires you to consider both aspects.
The following procedures outlined in the Performance –Directed Selection System or other systems like Top Grading will allow you to place the candidates interviewed into two categories:
1) those that are qualified, and
2) those that are not.
Then you must assess the candidates that are qualified against the specific demands of the job. Finally, you must ask yourself, “Do I have the capability and desire to help make this candidate successful?”
If you can answer “yes” to that question, we feel that the odds of you hiring the right candidate are quite good.
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